Director of Racial Equity

ABOUT CLASP

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is seeking a director of racial equity to help us take the next step in our racial equity journey, both internally and externally.

CLASP is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advancing policy solutions for low-income people. For nearly 50 years, our knowledgeable staff has included the voices of children, families, and individuals living in low-income households; equipped advocates and organizers with policy ideas that work; built coalitions and partnerships to advance a bold vision; and helped public officials put good ideas into practice.

CLASP works to develop and implement federal, state, and local policies (in legislation, regulation, and on the ground) that reduce poverty, improve low-income people’s lives, and create pathways to economic security for everyone. That includes directly addressing barriers people face because of race, ethnicity, and immigration status. We also fight back against bad ideas as well as political attacks on effective policies and investments.

CLASP policy teams are focused on childcare and early education, postsecondary education and workforce development, job quality, issues affecting young adults, criminal justice, mental health, income and work supports, and immigration.

CLASP is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, immigration status, primary language, disability, age, or veteran status.

CLASP’S COMMITMENT TO RACIAL EQUITY

CLASP recognizes the central role our nation’s entrenched history of racial injustice plays in creating and maintaining barriers blocking low-income people from economic justice and opportunity. This has undermined the wellbeing of past, present, and future generations of color.

We’re committed to a systemic, structural racial equity agenda that strengthens equitable public investments, promotes economic opportunities and security for all, protects civil rights, addresses the challenges of immigrants and their families, and honors the voices of communities of color. 

CLASP has taken a hard look at our own institutional policies and practices and the ways they’ve perpetuated existing systems of power, including racism. We have made changes to our recruitment, hiring, promotion, and contracting practices; undertaken organization-wide training; developed internal tools for assessing our policy work; and created time and space for open dialogue.

We have also been reflective about the organizations with which we partner as well as the ways we interact with them. CLASP continues to be on this journey to address racial equity through our internal practices and the policy areas we focus on. 

Following several years of work by a cross-cutting team, CLASP is ready to take a major step by recruiting a senior leader devoted full time to accelerating the pace of change and strengthening the work.  We seek an innovative, deeply knowledgeable leader who can build on and leverage the extensive engagement we’ve seen from staff and board members while creating an even more powerful path toward the future. 

The director of racial equity will build our capacity to effectively advocate with a racial equity lens across our teams and policy areas; engage the board, senior leadership,  and CLASP staff in jointly defining next steps and leveraging the talent and passion already devoted to this work; and hold board, leadership, and staff accountable for effectively implementing the plan.

The successful candidate will address concerns or topics that arise within the organization in relation to racial equity while working on a broader, long-term equity agenda. He/she will be a member of CLASP’s management team, reporting directly to CLASP’s chief operating officer. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Lead inclusive, collaborative processes (including board, staff, leadership, and external stakeholders) to:
    • Develop, operationalize, evaluate, and refine principles, goals, priorities, and a workplan for building a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization in fulfillment of CLASP’s mission and values;
    • Strategies and mechanisms to advance those goals across the organization, including identifying the resources needed; and
    • Develop key benchmarks and metrics of progress, ongoing assessment, reporting mechanisms, and other accountability measures to ensure racial equity is incorporated into all of CLASP’s work. 
  • Increase institutional knowledge and capacity (for example, by coordinating internal trainings on topics related to race within the context of CLASP’s work); identify opportunities for external training; and strategize with staff on how best. 
  • Serve as internal advisor for staff, management team, and senior leadership on racial equity content for policy work, including helping staff incorporate perspectives of different communities of color early in the research or writing process. 
  • Continue to strengthen CLASP’s internal structure for organizing and carrying out racial equity work, including assessing the existing racial equity committee structure and providing support and leadership for next steps.
  • Ensure ongoing communication and partnership between staff, the racial equity steering committee, management team, executive director, and board.
  • Partner with the finance and administration team to strengthen equitable hiring and professional development policies, institutionalizing racial equity work throughout CLASP. This includes expanding talent identification, recruitment, and retention strategies that increase racial/ethnic staff diversity across every level of the organization. 
  • Partner with the communications team to integrate a racial equity context into communications strategies, including but not limited to written pieces, photographs, social media, and the website. 
  • Connect our work to other coalitions and grassroots organizations, including helping to identify opportunities for partnership, particularly with those farther along their racial equity journey. The goal is to ensure CLASP is connected to appropriate coalition partners, diverse conferences, etc. 
  • Serve as senior advisor to CLASP’s leadership, ED, and board on all aspects of racial equity including external context, organizational best practices, challenges and solutions, and other issues that may arise.
  • Lead and/or manage cross-organizational consultants responsible for researching content on racism (including racial justice, power dynamics, systems of oppression, and other dynamics) for all of CLASP to learn about.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • A demonstrated commitment to CLASP’s mission of reducing poverty and improving the lives of people with low incomes, including a commitment to equity and reducing disparities based on race and ethnicity.
  • Deep knowledge and sensitivity to racial equity and intersectionality, including historic and structural barriers to advancement of diverse people and communities and how these factors can operate in a workplace.
  • Demonstrated experience and success leading and managing organizational change processes, especially as they relate to equity and inclusion. 
  • Capacity to work effectively with staff at all levels, including mentoring and peer leadership.  
  • Highly effective communicator orally and in writing.
  • Experience leading cross-organizational teams. 
  • Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills, including the ability to listen deeply, facilitate challenging conversations, build rapport and trust, mediate disputes, and collaborate and uplift diverse constituencies. 
  • Substantive knowledge of one or more of CLASP’s policy areas is a plus but not required. 
  • Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 9 years’ related experience or a master’s degree or other advanced degree and 7 years’ related experience.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Salary is commensurate with experience. CLASP offers exceptional benefits, including health insurance; dental insurance; life and long-term disability insurance; long-term care insurance; a 403(b)-retirement program; flexible spending accounts; and generous vacation, sick leave, and holiday schedules.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Resumes will be accepted until the position is filled. NO PHONE CALLS, PLEASE. 

The Center for Law and Social Policy is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age.