Executive Director
Executive Director
Remote or On-Site Sacramento, California
End systemic racism. End poverty. Ensure justice for all. Everyone thrives.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations (CCWRO) invite applications and nominations for their next Executive Director. Through the lens of economic and racial justice, CCWRO litigates, educates, and advocates in courts, counties, the State Capital, and the public arena to secure just public benefits and services for Californians with low incomes. Throughout all this work, CCWRO works to leverage their partnerships, passion, and expertise to transform systems, end poverty, and create a socially just world for today and generations to come.
CCWRO’s talented and dedicated staff of 4 are a truly statewide presence and the “go-to” team amplifying the marginalized voices of low-income Californians across a range of issues and contexts. CCWRO has an annual budget of just over $1.5 million.
The next Executive Director will build on the achievements of outgoing Executive Director, who deepened CCWRO commitment to centering racial justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in its strategic litigation, administrative advocacy, and policy advocacy work.
The next Executive Director is well-positioned to build and refine organizational strategy that increases this impact through CCWRO sixth decade and beyond.
ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
The passionate group of persons with lived experience created a unique organization, guided by the belief that all Californians deserve the finest possible legal representation before every institution that shapes their lives.
Organizational North Star CCWRO seeks to eliminate poverty and advance racial and economic justice by dismantling and transforming systems so all communities in California can thrive.
Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director leads the CCWRO. At a time of unprecedented opportunity for impact, and with the support of an outstanding staff, strong financial resources, and excellent statewide relationships and reputation, the new Executive Director will be poised to implement a vision for growth and continued leadership on the critical and persistent challenges driving CCWRO work. Specifically, they will engage with the following opportunities and challenges:
Vision & Leadership
- Collaboratively formulate and advance a clear organizational vision for transformative, system-wide public policy solutions to help millions of low-income Californians.
- Building on the existing strategic plan, bring bold, new ideas, approaches, networks, and strategies to the continued work of raising CCWRO profile – both in the field and in the broader public consciousness – such that its reputation as a “go-to” partner to represent the interests and voices of low-income Californians continues to grow and develop.
Team Management, Partnerships, & Culture
- Inspire, lead, and manage a diverse and talented team of professionals and staff who are connected across roles by a shared commitment to social justice and who are results driven. Invest in authentic relationships and dialogue across individuals and teams to build trust, cohesion, brave space, and opportunities for team members to do their best work individually and collectively.
- Lead in a collaborative, connecting way across the team, developing strong feedback loops, empowering members of the team to take on leadership roles and opportunities, and building internal structures and policies that foster unity and alignment across the organization.
- Manage the performance and professional growth of team members across multiple locations.
- Partnerships & Networks
- Build and expand partnerships, relationships, and strategic alliances with other legal services programs, community-based organizations, leadership and staff of various agencies providing public benefits, legislative members and their staff, foundations, Legal Services Trust Fund Commissioners a private lawyer, and other stakeholders and interested parties.
- Provide thought leadership to the legal services field and broader legal and social justice communities on critical approaches to anti-poverty work.
- Stewardship of Organizational Resources & Infrastructure
- In close collaboration with the Director team, ensure that organizational structures, processes, and support systems across finance, technology, HR, and other core functions are adequately resourced and continuously well-aligned with CCWRO values, strategy, and vision.
Daily Operations
- Draft grant requests, provide reports, manage monitoring visits. and implement Corrective Action Plan from the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission of the California State Bar who are the primary funding source for CCWRO.
- Manage financial audits, tax filings, insurance, lease, etc.
- Manage financials, approve expenditures, obtain estimates for procurement or delegate responsibilities to ensure compliance
- Hiring, posting, interviewing, onboarding or delegating responsibilities to staff
- Ensure company policies are in writing, clear, up to date, and complied with, either through direct efforts for delegating
- Responsible for evaluation of staff for continued improvement
- Drafting of board agendas and minutes for meetings or delegated to ensure coverage
Board Engagement
- Support the engagement, recruitment, and onboarding of board members as thought partners and key advisors, effectively leveraging their diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences to inform the strategic direction and growth of CCWRO and ts continued financial strength.
- ∙Support effective governance practices and mechanisms and seek opportunities to marshal the board’s collective capacity to champion and advance CCWRO mission.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications listed, strong candidates will possess many of the professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences enumerated below.
The Executive Director must be a courageous leader who models integrity, conviction, and clarity, with a vision to fight injustice and seek restorative action on behalf of impacted communities externally and the ability to hold space for and effectively address differences and critical conversations internally. Strong candidates will bring experience with poverty law and knowledge of both California-based and federal programs impacting low-income people and prior professional experience with legal services or community-based organizations.
They also will be experienced in formulating and discussing public policy and be knowledgeable about state and federal civil rights laws. Exceptional engagement skills with communities, public entities, funders, corporations, and individual donors and partners are essential.
- Demonstrated ability to shape and refine an organizational vision and drive it to execution through highly collaborative leadership. They must be able to discern opportunities to raise an organization’s profile, exercise thought leadership, find new avenues for impact and influence, and build lasting support.
- Lived experiences that motivate and inform their personal and professional journey; meaningful connection and ability to reflect the experiences, backgrounds, and cultures of those impacted by poverty and discrimination; and ability to use their personal understanding of and connection to the issues to serve impacted communities.
- Exemplary public communication and media engagement skills and experience participating in national and regional convenings as a panelist or keynote speaker to effectively represent CCWRO’s mission and expertise.
- Demonstrated experience building and leading teams in dynamic environments, mentoring and helping team members navigate evolving goals and urgencies with agility, teamwork, shared accountability, and trust in one another.
- Experience stewarding an organization’s key assets through growth and change, with an eye toward fostering financial sustainability, talent development, communications and branding, and support systems.
- Ability to connect and communicate with a variety of stakeholders (e.g., staff, board, partners, funders, community members); in all interactions, listen well, reflect an understanding of others’ perspectives and needs, and clearly articulate shared understandings, decisions, and actions.
- Flexibility, adaptability, and resilience; possessing a high tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity and exhibiting an entrepreneurial spirit that embraces continuous learning, adaptation, patience, and innovation in service of social justice.
- A J.D. is strongly preferred.
- Multilingual candidates also are preferred.
The target salary range for this position is $140,000 or more depending on qualifications and comes with a generous benefits package, including leave policies, vacation, and paid December holiday office closure.
TO APPLY
Please find more information about the CCWRO at ccwro.org and email resumes to: