Reporting to the President and serving as a member of the senior leadership team, the Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will contribute creative, dynamic, and forward-thinking strategy to lead Earthjustice to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace and centering justice in our mission-driven work.  Primary responsibilities include managing and providing strategic direction to the DEI Team consisting of a Sr. Director of DEI, a Director of DEI Learning & Development, a DEI Program Manager, and a DEI Team Manager.

Responsibilities

LEADERSHIP, MISSION, VISION, GOALS (30%) 

• Lead ongoing development, implementation, and support of a comprehensive, integrated strategy that reinforces diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as key organizational priorities and builds on progress to advance clear DEI goals.
• Provide strategic and operational leadership for DEI initiatives including lifelong learning, assessment and evaluation, and ongoing work to support DEI work on individual teams.
• In partnership with the Executive Leadership Team and Internal Communications, evolve and implement the Revised Roadmap for Excellence in People & Management to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion practices across the organization.

POLICIES, CULTURE & COMMUNITY (30%)

• Partner with Human Resources, serving in an advisory capacity on tools used for recruitment, retention, talent development, career advancement, staff recognition and performance management.
• Lead as a champion of change and utilize change management best practices along with staff input, as needed, when implementing new projects/initiatives.
• Support the efforts on the part of Litigation Program leadership and teams through a lens of DEI to build collaborative partnerships that diversify networks for programmatic opportunities and recruitment pipelines.
• Advise and work with committees of the organization Board of Trustees to ensure that the governance process is aligned with and supportive of DEI goals and strategies.
• Partner with HR to analyze and report on results of Employee Satisfaction Survey and ensure appropriate action is taken on DEI-related input.
• Oversee and support staff with the creation and maintenance of Earthjustice affinity groups (AG) and employee resources groups (ERG).

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT (10%)

• Support the Director of DEI Learning and Development in creating and implementing an organization strategy to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion competencies across the organization.
• Ensure that management and diversity, equity, and inclusion approaches are unified; work with departments and managers to incorporate equity and inclusion in their management practices.
• Manage DEI communications in collaboration with the Internal Communications team.
• Promote Earthjustice’s commitment to diversity and DEI learning to funders, the environmental community, and the broader social sector.
• Develop and manage a comprehensive portfolio of relationships among external equity-related organizations, with a focus on DEI, especially those in the environmental advocacy field.

MANAGEMENT (Essential Functions) (30%)

• Develop clear team strategy and goals, in alignment with Earthjustice strategy, mission, and vision, in collaboration with the DEI team.
• Partner with the HR and DEI teams to recruit and hire qualified candidates who fit position requirements and the work environment.
• Create and model a respectful and inclusive work environment for DEI team.
• Collaborate with DEI team and staff across the organization.
• Actively prioritize and contribute to DEI team members’ learning by encouraging training and professional development opportunities appropriate to role and co-creating development plans with each DEI team member.
• Provide DEI team members with consistent performance feedback – both positive and constructive – and serves as a coach and mentor.
• Foster a learning culture, by conducting collaborative debrief sessions after completion of significant stages of projects.
• Ensure direct reports with supervisory responsibility are properly executing required functions and have the tools and support of their manager to fulfill this expectation.
• Create and identify strategic opportunities for team building, encourage individual and overall staff engagement to strengthen teamwork, interaction, and collaboration.
• Value and leverage individual differences and talents to improve employee satisfaction and the quality of collective work.
• Celebrate successes and help team members to understand and manage setbacks.