Director of Community-Centered Conservation

The Land Trust Alliance Inc; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 120,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The Land Trust Alliance seeks a Director of Community-Centered Conservation to lead national and regional programming, build strategic partnerships, and accelerate community-centered conservation aligned with DEI principles. The role focuses on expanding impact beyond the traditional land trust network and advancing policy and programmatic initiatives.

Reporting to the Chief Program Officer, the Director collaborates with senior leaders and serves on the Common Ground Implementation Team to

Job description

Director of Community-Centered Conservation

Posted on June 13, 2022

The Land Trust Alliance (the “Alliance”) is the voice of the land trust community. As the national leader in land conservation policies, standards and education, we work passionately to support land trusts across America so they can save more land and better serve their communities.

Our natural places and working lands are a lifeline to clean air, water, food and good health. These lands also bring us together, inspire us and provide opportunities to recreate and recharge. The land trust community is a crucial component in this equation. With important places under continual threat, land trusts need access to the best tools, information and policy advocates. Armed with a diverse network and valuable resources, the Alliance is the land trust community’s source for the knowledge and capabilities they need to reach their goals. From tax and funding policies on Capitol Hill to innovative ideas, partnerships and initiatives, we ensure our land trust members can always be heard and achieve more.

The Alliance commits to building the constituency for conservation and elevating land conservation as a priority nationwide. We envision a reenergized, more inclusive and relevant conservation movement, in which land trusts join with partners that have not traditionally identified as conservation organizations around shared interests in protecting special places. Together, the Alliance, land trusts and partner organizations can ensure that land conservation serves and meets the needs of all people.

The Alliance is committed to ensuring that the principles of community-centered conservation and diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded into every aspect of our organization’s work. Building on a longstanding history of community conservation-focused efforts, the Alliance approved the Common Ground Implementation Framework in December 2020. The Framework establishes the foundation for the Alliance’s organization-wide priorities and activities for community-centered conservation and diversity, equity and inclusion, focused on:

• implementing operational changes at the Alliance;
• improving programmatic offerings and tools for land trusts;
• bringing an equity lens to the Alliance’s grantmaking;
• cultivating new and non-traditional partnerships; and
• improving Alliance communications with new audiences.

To support these priorities, the Alliance is building a community-centered conservation department that includes the Director of Community-centered Conservation and a program manager/coordinator position to be hired by the end of 2022. The department’s primary focus will be on the Alliance’s external work, particularly cultivating new partnerships and developing and implementing new programming for land trusts. Internal work at the organization—e.g., diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training (DEI) for staff and related revisions to employment policies—will be within the purview of the Alliance’s Human Resources department. Notwithstanding this division of responsibilities, Community-centered Conservation staff and Human Resources staff will coordinate closely to ensure cross-fertilization and consistency.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Director of Community-Centered Conservation position offers an exciting opportunity for an entrepreneurial, energetic conservation leader who is deeply committed to advancing the strategic goals of the Alliance. The Director will be responsible for developing, leading and implementing strategies and programming at the national and regional levels to support the Alliance’s efforts to accelerate community-centered conservation. The Director will be responsible for initiating, building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, especially those outside the traditional land conservation network, and cultivating opportunities for strategic partnerships at the national, regional and local levels. The Director will serve as an advocate and resource to advance the Alliance’s commitment to embed the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion within the organization’s own program work and its national network of land trust members and partners in land conservation. The Director reports to the Chief Program Officer (CPO), works closely with the Vice Presidents of Conservation Initiatives and Education, and is a member of the Alliance’s Senior Leadership Team. The Director also serves as a standing co-chair of the Alliance’s Common Ground Implementation Team, a cross-department advisory and coordinating body that helps to strategize, conceptualize, and connect activities to implement the Framework and its principles of community-centered conservation and DEI across the organization.

COMPENSATION

$120,000.00 to $130,000.00