Job Description

Law for Black Lives (L4BL) is seeking a visionary leader to join the organization as the Executive Director. This position is a unique opportunity to lead an emerging network of lawyers, law students, legal workers and local organizations across the country working towards Black liberation.

Law for Black Lives Background:

Law For Black Lives (L4BL) is a Black femme-led national network of nearly 4,000 radical lawyers and legal workers committed to building a responsive legal infrastructure for movement organizations and cultivating a community of legal advocates trained in movement lawyering. We are deeply committed to supporting the leadership of directly impacted communities and building the power of organizing to defend, protect and advance Black Liberation across the globe. Our policy related work is focused primarily on reparations, invest/divest, bail and pretrial detention, and decriminalization.

BASIC FUNCTION

The Executive Director will be key in refining and leading the implementation of L4BL’s strategic vision and mission. The Executive Director will be responsible for the overall health of Law for Black Lives and will supervise a dynamic staff team to ensure the continued development of the organization’s membership program and partnerships. The Executive Director will provide strategic leadership, visioning and will supervise staff charged with overseeing the Membership and Partnership program, our policy work and our operations and will be responsible for fundraising. We are seeking a passionate leader with proven leadership and management skills to direct this critical work.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Continue the life-sustaining and system-changing work of Law for Black Lives including supporting the implementation of its strategic vision and supporting the needs of movement actors and organizations throughout the country by spearheading the coordination of L4BL relationships with local base-building organizations, local and national legal organizations, and members. The Executive Director will provide the direction for the organization and will be responsible for moving forward the following key pieces of work:

LEADERSHIP:

• Implement the L4BL strategic plan;
• Fundraise on behalf of L4BL to raise necessary funds for its operation and growth;
• Support other L4BL Leadership and develop strategy in concert with the Board;
• Supervise Organizational Directors;
• Develop and maintain strategic relationships with movement partners
• Act as face of organization and media liaison when appropriate;
• Work with Membership Director to ensure the growth of a paid membership network;
• Work with the appropriate Directors to assess the current legal related needs of movement organizations and actors and work with members to get those needs met in a sustainable way;
• Support a healthy staff culture that encourages growth and leadership of staff;
• Strive to bring the values of Law for Black Lives into practice

COMMUNICATION:

• Maintain regular communication with local and national legal organizations to ensure coordination and support;
• Identify national spaces that L4BL can contribute to and coordinate network involvement and consistent communication to staff, advisory board and members;
• Regularly report progress to Board (on programming, strategic plan, budget, membership updates, etc);
• Oversee the implementation of a comprehensive communications strategy.
• STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES:

• Assess resource opportunities as they arise, identify points of leverage, opportunity and alignment.
• Maintain and grow any institutional funder and individual donor relationships for L4BL and aim to cultivate new strategic resource partners.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Deep commitment to and enthusiasm for Law for Black Lives.
• Familiarity and comfort with L4BL’s values and those of fellow abolitionist movement partners with a strong understanding of Black organizing, Black liberation, intersectionality, anti-oppression principles and practices.
• Proven track record of utilizing personal and professional engagements to successfully engaging with Law for Black Lives politics (including Black Queer Feminism, prison industrial complex Abolition, and movement lawyering)
• Experience engaging community and movement organizations, preferably with strong relationships with organizations doing Black liberation work.
• Experience working in the legal field, with lawyers, law students, and legal workers. A law degree is preferred, as are relationships with public interest, racial justice, and movement lawyering organizations.
• Able to effectively represent L4BL to a variety of audiences and communities.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Exceptional leadership and organizational skills for effective project management.
• Able to work well with a team and to prioritize the growth and development of staff within a fast-paced environment.
• Experience interfacing with fiscal sponsors is a plus.
• Proven track record of creative fundraising for a nonprofit organization.

Position: Full time employee. 40+ hours per week. Overtime exempt.

Compensation: $120,000- $135,000 commensurate with experience. Through NEO Philanthropy, this position is offered a full benefits package, including 100% medical coverage for the employee and 90% medical coverage for dependents; 100% coverage for vision, dental, life/AD&D, long-term disability. NEO also offers a 401K retirement savings plan, Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), Medical FSA, Dependent Care FSA, commuter benefits, Employee Assistance Program, other supplemental benefits and paid time off.

Location: This is a remote position

Start Date: May 2023

Reports To: Advisory Board

TO APPLY: Submit an application, cover letter, resume, writing sample, and 3 references.

L4BL at NEO Philanthropy is an equal opportunity employer. We consider applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other legally protected status. We strongly encourage black people, people of color, women, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and people who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system to apply

Law for Black Lives Guiding Values

• We believe in using the law for the people and that legal tools should be used to build the power of movements.
• We are committed to liberation and self-determination of all Black people — including Black women and LGBTQIA folks.
• We hold ourselves accountable to support movements for Black liberation including organic uprisings. This means following the leadership of movement organizers and taking direction and feedback from our partners.
• We are political. We understand that this work requires political lawyering and explicit partnership with movement activists/organizers.
• We strive to think creatively and collectively about how the law can be used to support movements while respecting activists’ and organizers’ political choices.
• We are unapologetically committed to developing and following the leadership of Black people within the law.
• We believe in the importance and necessity of an agile and radical legal infrastructure that supports liberation movements.
• We believe in actively combatting the elitism, hierarchies and lawyer-centric tendencies within the legal world.
• We believe in an internationalist approach that draws connections between the struggle for human rights and dignity in Black communities in the United States and across the globe.
• We are committed to continued growth and in the words of Mary Hooks we are willing and ready to be transformed in service of the work.
• We believe in creating a space that is affirming, healing, transparent, and respectful. We work to ensure that those spaces don’t replicate the kinds of oppression, harm and trauma that we are working against.

How to Apply

Job Categories: Equal Opportunities. Job Types: Full-Time. Salaries: 100,000 and above.

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