Director of Economic Freedom

About Community Change and Community Change Action:

Community Change builds the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to lead powerful and dynamic movements for social change. 

Our vision of a better world centers the leadership of impacted people of color to move our work on immigrant rights, economic justice, and racial equity, including a focus on jobs and housing, early childhood care and education, income supports, and immigration reform.

This position also supports Community Change Action, an affiliated 501(c)(4) advocacy organization. While motivated by the same core values – equity, inclusion, and justice – Community Change and Community Change Action operate independently of one another and each organization has its own board of directors.

Position Description:

The Economic Freedom Director will be responsible for overseeing and coordinating our Economic Freedom work. The Economic Freedom Program is built around poverty abolition. Fully realized, economic freedom means that people have the agency and power to make decisions about their lives free from coercion. The core of our Economic Freedom program is Guaranteed Income. The Economic Freedom Director will be responsible for building broad support for the idea of guaranteed income as the route to economic freedom among our local partners, among the new constituencies we are organizing, and among allies, influencers, and policymakers who can help us to realize this goal.

The Economic Freedom Director will be expected to rigorously test, in “lean start-up” mode, the receptivity of guaranteed income among specific constituencies that are economically insecure. This will require the Director to lead us in constituency organizing, base experimentation, and strategic campaigns at the local and state level.

Assuming that we are able to organize some constituencies at scale, our aim is to coalesce these individual campaigns into a broad-based movement with the vision and power to win universal policies that assure economic freedom for every American.

The Economic Freedom Director will be both inward and outward facing, managing many internal and external relationships. To position the Economic Freedom program in a broader landscape, the Director will act as a national representative of Community Change to various partners, including some national organizing networks, policy organizations, policy makers, and other state and national formations as needed. The Director will also represent Community Change’s Economic Freedom program with certain foundations and individual donors, media representatives, board members, and in other important public contexts. 

Principal Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Develop and execute an integrated and cohesive Economic Freedom program.
• Lead and coordinate a team of supervisors, and senior organizers, to create goals and benchmarks for the Guaranteed Income Campaign and the broader Economic Freedom Program.
• Track program progress to meet internal goals and funder deliverables.
• Coordinate relationships with national allies, academics, policymakers, and donors, alongside other Community Change staff, to ensure program visibility.
• Play a key role in program fundraising.
• Participate in developing communications strategies that position the project in a broader landscape.
• Meet and build relationships and campaign plans with local and national partners.

Qualifications:

• Minimum of 8 years leadership and supervisory experience with a complex team.
• A track record of successfully building and creating team cultures of accountability and intention.
• Significant experience working within and alongside the field of economic Freedom.
• Track record of building and moving teams of individuals to successful actions.
• A track record of creating and executing base-building plans or membership drives.
• Significant experience working with community-based, grassroots organizations, and national-level partners.
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills, including conference presentation skills.
• Ability to produce consistent, quality work in a sometimes fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work at a macro level, keeping in mind the broader vision, while also attending to operational details.
• Experience re-structuring teams and/or building new projects/programs.
• Experience working with a regionally dispersed or remote team.
• Proficiency in Google Workspace, Outlook, MS Office applications, and Salesforce;
• Deep commitment to the mission of Community Change and the project of building power with low-income communities of color; passion for social justice and a commitment to work in solidarity with the people directly impacted by injustice

This person reports to: Deputy Chief of Programs

Supervisory Responsibility: This position will supervise Economic Justice, supervisors, program support staff, and other team members if/as needed.

Travel Requirements: At least 40%

Salary & benefits: Annual salary of $160,000 - $180,000. Community Change also offers an excellent benefits package, which includes 4 weeks of annual paid vacation; additional paid holiday leave between December 24 and January 1 and a Summer break the week of July 4th; 8% employer contribution to retirement account after six months of employment (and 3% employer contribution for the first 6 months); and a choice of generous health insurance plans.

Classification: Community Change recognizes a staff bargaining unit affiliated with IFPTE Local 70, a union for non-profit workers. This position is not included in Community Change's bargaining unit and is not covered under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

Location: Flexible

Equal Opportunity: Our vision of a better world centers the leadership of impacted people of color to move our work on immigrant rights, economic justice, and racial equity, including a focus on jobs and housing, early childhood care and education, income supports, and immigration reform. We strongly encourage the interest and applications of people of color, women, and people in the disabled and LGBTQ+ communities. Community Change is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Closing Date of Position: Open Until Filled

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