Director of State & Local Initiatives

POSITION TITLE: Liberation Ventures Director of State & Local Initiatives

LOCATION: Remote

STATUS: Exempt

APPLY BY: February 15, 2025

TARGET START DATE: June 1, 2025

Liberation Ventures Overview

Liberation Ventures (LV) is building the power to win federal, comprehensive reparations for Black Americans. LV is a field catalyst and intermediary, and exists to support the incredible field of people and organizations across the country building momentum toward that North Star. LV is guided by five organizational beliefs.

LV’s three pillars of work include:

• Mobilizing abundant resources by investing in organizations that accelerate the reparations movement & co-creating grantmaking strategies with practitioners in the field.
• Spreading irresistible narratives by building narrative power, amplifying the stories of our movement, and framing reparations as the issue of our time
• Strengthening movement capacity through relationship and connective tissue building, research, and tailored organizational development support.

Liberation Ventures is laying the groundwork to secure racial repair, at scale, in our lifetime. LV is building a multiracial democracy that works for all of us – and realizing a dream in our name, where reparations for Black people unlock true belonging for us all. To find out more about LV’s work, visit Liberation Ventures’ website.

Position Summary

This position is an exciting opportunity to join the team at Liberation Ventures to support state and local reparations initiatives across the country. This person will collaborate closely with other partners in the movement, like First Repair, to bring the full suite of LV assets and capabilities to bear in order to help state and local efforts be successful. This person is an exceptionally organized Jack of all trades, who can track and support many different moving pieces of the movement and synthesize their insights to support the greater whole. This person will work closely with LV team members across the organization, and especially the VP of Movement Building, Manager of Data, Strategy, and Impact, and the CEO.

Core Responsibilities

• Technical assistance to state and local efforts (70%): This person will help provide support to state and local reparations efforts across the country. This will include a combination of providing direct support themselves, as well as making connections and sourcing other forms of support. Support will likely include working directly with government representatives and public officials as well as working with advocacy organizations, coalitions, and campaigns. Key responsibilities include:
  • Directly supporting local and state-level reparations ecosystems (including advocacy organizations, legislators, commissioners, and others) to design and pass strong reparations policies. Types of support will vary depending on the need, but could include political and legal strategy, facilitating task force meetings, policy development, strategic planning, team building, stakeholder convening, community engagement, and more.
  • Co-leading and project managing an emerging coalition focused on legal technical assistance to local reparations efforts.
• Internal & external knowledge production (20%): This person will regularly synthesize insights and learnings from their work to create knowledge products and learning opportunities that inform LV’s programmatic areas as well as support the entire movement. Key responsibilities include:
• Collaborating with LV partners, such as First Repair, to create resources (e.g., toolkits, databases, etc.) that support state and local reparations efforts
• Recommending organizations for LV funding based on learnings from technical assistance projects
• Creating trainings and other learning opportunities for our movement ecosystem
• Landscape scanning and relationship building (10%): This person will track the progress of state and local reparations efforts, with specific emphasis on LV’s priority cities, states, and counties. They will build relationships with advocates, legislators, commissioners, and other people in LV’s priority places, and keep tabs on progress, opportunities, and challenges. Key responsibilities include:
• Continually scanning the landscape to understand the status of state and local reparations efforts and working with the Manager of Data, Strategy, and Impact to ensure Liberation Ventures is up to date
• Attending place-based commission hearings, meetings, and other events

Key Qualifications

• Mission and Values Alignment: cares deeply about LV’s mission, and can speak passionately, clearly, and personally about the imperative of our work.
  • Deep belief in Liberation Ventures’ mission
  • Demonstrated commitment to LV’s beliefs in practice.
  • Strong understanding of LV’s field of work — racial, economic, and gender justice and their intersections, and the systems and structures that cause ongoing harm in these areas.
  • Able to hold multiple truths at the same time related to running a liberatory organization within a capitalist system, and able to take decisive action from that position.
• Exceptional relationship builder: can build trust quickly with all different types of people, across lines of difference, especially race
  • Able to see, name, and navigate power and privilege dynamics in a group and contribute to a working environment where all people are equally valued, feel cared for, and are accountable to each other.
  • Track record of building strong partnerships with team members at all levels of an organization; relational, collaborative approach to management and leadership.
  • Resourceful and highly aware of power dynamics across groups/organizations; able to work effectively from a position of power without being extractive or transactional
• Exceptional project management skills: strong attention to detail and can effectively manage equitable, streamlined processes with multiple stakeholders
  • Clear and structured written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
  • Track record of exceptional execution; able to act with minimal oversight to move projects from A-Z.
  • Highly organized and able to manage multiple streams of work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
  • Attentive to detail and accountable to others; can operate at a quick pace with minimal oversight
  • Able to manage multiple contractors to deliver high-quality, timely, aligned services to Liberation Ventures.
  • Extremely low-ego; no task is too small
• Clear and structured thinker and communicator; able to distill complex processes and concepts into tools and documents that everyone can easily use
  • Comfort with ambiguity and hustle; able to get smart on new topics quickly and figure out how to do things one doesn’t yet know how to do
  • Highly observant and able to track and synthesize many forms of data into a coherent, clear picture
• Experience working within and/or supporting state and local government initiatives, especially on issues of racial/social justice
  • Experience with lobbying and policy development
  • Understanding of state and local politics in California and/or New York (ideal but not required)

Work Environment

This position is open to candidates in any location in the US. Liberation Ventures has a flexible, remote working environment. The Liberation Ventures team has quarterly in-person retreats, usually in New York City.

This position requires travel; approximately 1-2 trips per month.

Compensation and Benefits

The starting salary range for the position is $110,000 - $130,000, dependent on experience. Liberation Ventures provides a comprehensive benefits package that includes unlimited paid time off, employer-paid medical, dental, and vision premiums, employer contributions to a 401(k) plan, and access to health and flexible spending accounts.

For this position, Liberation Ventures also provides a professional development stipend and annual healing bonus.

How to Apply

Apply here.

We only accept online applications.

Please note: No phone calls please. Only those selected to participate in our hiring process will be contacted.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT

Liberation Ventures is deeply committed to equity and envisions a just and fair society where everyone can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. As part of our dedication to fostering a more inclusive world, we are an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate against any team member or applicant on the basis of race, skin color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood. Liberation Ventures is steadfast in creating and sustaining a diverse, multicultural working environment that reflects our core values.

“Proof of eligibility to work in the United States must be provided if selected for hire.”

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