Vice President, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (EJ)

Vice President, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (EJ)

Posted on December 21, 2018

About Earthjustice

“Because the Earth needs a good lawyer.” Earthjustice is the nation’s premier environmental law organization, built on the belief that everyone has the right to a healthy environment. Since its founding in 1971, Earthjustice has tirelessly defended that right by using the power of the law to protect people’s health, preserve wildlife and wild places, advance clean energy, and combat climate change.

In 1965, the attorneys who founded Earthjustice (then known as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) created a groundbreaking foundation for environmental law by taking on Walt Disney in a landmark case to defend California’s stunning Mineral King Valley from destructive development. Since then, Earthjustice has filed thousands of lawsuits on behalf of the environment and all the life that depends on it. Earthjustice partners with hundreds of organizations and thousands of passionate supporters to take on the most pressing environmental challenges of the day, such as climate change, fracking, air pollution and oil drilling in the Arctic. The organization focuses on bringing cases with the greatest possible impact – in order to set precedents for generations to come, with an increasing eye on partnering with organizations that can help bring cases that improve the connection between human life and the environment.

Over time, as the organization’s work has continued to grow and expand, Earthjustice has created domestic and international programs to address human rights, trade and environmental issues; a communications team to build a groundswell of public support for the issues and cases it takes on; and a policy and legislative team to craft laws that support and extend the organization’s gains and to prevent legislative efforts that undermine environmental progress. Now, Earthjustice seeks its next Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion to drive strategy and implementation of the organization’s equity and inclusion work both inside and outside the organization. To date, the DEI team has engaged a wide range of staff in workgroups, focusing on recruitment, partnerships and internalculture and engagement. Earthjustice has a staff of more than 320, including more than 150 attorneys, across 14 offices; a budget of $85 million; and an active policy and communications agenda. On a current path of rapid growth, Earthjustice stands poised to expand and deepen its mission well into the future. Leading in the areas of diversity and inclusion is a key aspect of Earthjustice’s strategy for impact, both inside the organization and externally in its work, as diversity, equity and inclusion are essential to mitigating environmental harm. Earthjustice will continue to be a leader in recognizing the role of everyone in environmental health and activism.

Learn more about Earthjustice at www.earthjustice.org !

Position Responsibilities

Reporting to the President, and serving as an integral member of the senior leadership team, the Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will be a thoughtful and influential communicator who can contribute creative, dynamic, and forward-thinking strategy and execution to lead Earthjustice’s efforts in fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, as well as deepening Earthjustice’s work with diverse communities, who are disproportionately affected by environmental challenges. The Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will work closely with the President on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives inside and outside the organization, and will serve as a key advisor on managing an organization and movement that is evolving in progressive ways around these issues. Primary responsibilities include strategic oversight of the organization’s diversity work both inside and outside the organization, catalyzing and facilitating organizational cultural change, providing key leadership around the development of internal culture and policies on DEI learning and compliance, and managing related budgets across the organization.

Specifically, the Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will be responsible for :

Ongoing development, implementation, and support of a comprehensive, integrated strategy that reinforces diversity and inclusion as key organizational priorities that builds upon and amplifies previous strides in this area

Providing strategic and operational leadership around the body of work in diversity and inclusion, leveraging current diversity and inclusion initiatives

Partnering with Human Resources, serving in advisory capacity on tools used for recruitment, retention and performance management

Support the efforts on the part of program leadership and teams to build collaborative partnerships that diversify networks for programmatic opportunities and recruitment pipelines

Working diligently to ensure that management and equity / inclusion approaches are unified; working with departments and managers to incorporate inclusion in their management practices

Facilitating the embedding of diversity and inclusion perspectives and practices, including applying an equity lens, into individual departments, so that they have ownership and investment in the work, and that diversity and inclusion efforts are not the exclusive province of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team

Developing and managing a comprehensive portfolio of relationships among external diversity-related organizations, especially those in the environmental advocacy field

Working with relevant stakeholders to continue harmonizing training and development with recruitment, retention, and advancement goals for broader success in diversity and inclusion outcomes

Managing internal communications and professional development initiatives with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion matters

Developing opportunities for the entire organization to engage in advancement of the diversity, equity and inclusion work; for example, continuing to develop workgroups that convene participants from across the organization

Promoting Earthjustice’s commitment to diversity and DEI learning to funders, the environmental community, and the broader social sector

Developing and maintaining budget for organizational diversity work

Supervising a small team of program and project managers and administrative staff

Profile of the Successful Candidate

Earthjustice seeks a senior leader who has high emotional intelligence, is curious in nature, results-oriented in approach, committed to the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, and knowledgeable about how those principles can be effectively applied in practice. The Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will have a proven track record in the development and implementation of organizational cultural change. The successful candidate will be creative and entrepreneurial, combining a facilitative leadership style with the ability to deliver and execute on innovative ideas and solutions that serve the goals of the entire organization. Earthjustice seeks a professional with superb leadership, communication, strategy, and execution skills, demonstrating an appreciation for complexity combined with a problem-solving instinct and a willingness to explore new ideas. As a key leader of the organization, the Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will know how to think across the organization, bringing a track record of moving a sizable organization forward. The Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will lead by example, cultivating and maintaining best practices with regard to inclusiveness in Earthjustice’s workplace. Finally, the successful candidate will have a strong work ethic with high personal and professional standards of transparency and accountability, and will be able to help support a talented, committed team as it evolves into a leading organization of the 21st century.

More specifically, Earthjustice seeks a professional who reflects (or has) the following :

Having an advanced degree in a related field or equivalent experience in a related discipline; a law degree is not required, but the ability to work in evidence-based organizational environments will be critical

Ten years of progressive experience in the development and management of diversity and inclusion initiatives for a multi-site organization

Passion for leading a diverse staff and a commitment to creating an equitable and inclusive work culture

An understanding of and a deep appreciation for the mission and day-to-day work of Earthjustice as well as an understanding of the challenges faced by the environmental field, both internally and externally

An understanding of the legal profession and keen ability to connect and communicate with all functional areas of Earthjustice

Exceptional communication skills and demonstrated ability to find common ground among diverse perspectives

Highly developed understanding of skills, competencies and practices that reflect a true organizational commitment to DEI

A sophisticated understanding of how discriminatory dynamics affect organizational relationships – supervision and management, culture, partnerships, campaign and coalition work; an understanding of how systematized discrimination affects present-day work and office cultures, and the ability to advance equity goals through a variety of strategies

Current knowledge of best practices in promoting an inclusive workplace, including effective approaches to recruitment and retention

Demonstrated experience in organizational consensus-building and facilitation, with a demonstrated ability to meet people where they are on their “equity journey”

Exceptional interpersonal and management skills, with an understanding of the difference between leadership and management and the ability to exercise both

The ability to make decisions in a dynamic environment, with an appreciation for how future needs may affect those decisions

Proven ability to design, develop, and implement strategy

A persuasive oral and written communication style, rooted in keen interpersonal sensitivity and openness

High tolerance for experimentation, and the ability to learn from failure

Start Timeframe

We seek to have someone in place by Spring 2019.

Compensation

This position offers a competitive salary and includes a comprehensive benefits package. We actively welcome all candidates from a wide range of backgrounds who have the skills to fulfill this role – regardless of compensation history.

To Apply

All applications are held in strict confidence. Please submit your credentials and a letter of interest through our private applicant portal to The 360 Group at http : / / the360group.us / portal .

Applications should be directed to the attention of Vincent Robinson, Managing Partner. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Earlier applicants may receive priority consideration. To be considered, The 360 Group encourages all interested candidates to submit their applications promptly, via the confidential applicant portal linked above.

At The 360 Group, we know that a richly diverse mix of professionals makes organizations more effective. Using that principle as our “North Star,” we make diversity a hallmark of our firm, and all of our search engagements.

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