Power Building Director

Ropers Majeski PC; United States; Remote; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent legal firm is seeking a passionate Power Building Director to lead strategic initiatives aimed at advancing housing justice in California. This role involves collaborating with diverse stakeholders, guiding grassroots movements, and developing impactful community programs. The successful candidate will leverage their extensive experience in organizing and leadership to drive meaningful changes in housing policy and community empowerment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience in housing justice and community organizing.
• Proven experience in leading and managing teams.
• Strong understanding of racial and economic justice issues.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Power Building team and initiatives.
• Develop and oversee housing justice campaigns and programs.
• Build relationships across sectors to enhance community engagement.

Skills

Community organizing

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Collaboration

Effective communication

Job description

We are looking for a Power Building Director to lead our efforts with the Residents United Network (RUN), Housing CA’s signature power building initiative. Our ideal candidate is passionate about leading with a grassroots lens and working collaboratively within our organization and across our broad cross- sector network of partners to drive meaningful, community-driven change.

About Residents United Network (RUN): Launched in 2014, RUN builds power with affordable housing resident leaders and unites them with nonprofit developers and service providers to create an influential force for change in California’s state capital. RUN is a core piece of Housing CA’s strategy to embody our racial equity values more fully, strengthen our work by centering the leadership of people closest to California‘s housing affordability crises, and ultimately grow our collective power by organizing and activating people living in affordable housing across the state.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Power Building Director brings leadership, strategy, and execution to sustain and grow a durable base of engaged leaders to advance housing justice in California. The Director will report to the Deputy Director of Programs and serve as a collaborative member of the leadership team of our organization. The person in this role will have the unique opportunity to bring their power building expertise to our organization’s leadership table to align the different areas of focus within our team alongside the Policy Director, Narrative and Strategic Communications Director, and Strategic Initiatives Director. This role will also manage a team that is currently comprised of two organizers.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Translate Vision to Strategy

• Manage RUN’s member driven, multi-year campaign process (also known as There Ought to Be a Law). Manage the team and RUN leaders to identify, develop, and implement RUN’s priority campaigns.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to evolve Housing CA’s statewide, multi-year power-building strategy—strengthening the influence and power of affordable housing residents and other impacted communities in state policymaking.
• Translate and implement Housing CA’s organizational strategies into concrete and shared actions by working with, and in deep reliance, partner organizations working within different regions.
• Support Housing CA’s role as a “big tent” organization that builds an impactful housing movement through collaboration and connection. Build, maintain, and leverage relationships across our cross-sector ecosystem, breaking down silos and fostering cross-programmatic work both within the organization and beyond.
• Develop, refine, and strengthen RUN governance and decision-making processes and support coordination, alignment, and integration with other parts of Housing CA’s work.
• Contribute to Housing CA’s broader programs and shape the organization-wide vision, ensuring that the strategies and needs of power building initiatives are communicated and integrated into organizational plans and budgets.

Leadership Development, Organizing, and Expansion

• Grow RUN’s influence by developing and managing the organizing infrastructure to increase its grassroots membership and deepen engagement with resident leaders, affordable housing developers, and other partners through relational and digital organizing.
• Lead the Power Building team to develop the leadership capacity and impact of affordable housing residents, service providers, and regional advocacy organizations throughout the state. The Director will do this through training, mentorship, and actions, identifying learning needs and opportunities, and then working with internal experts and external vendors, as needed, to support these activities.
  Build and sustain relationships with nonprofit affordable housing developers, power building organizations, and advocates working in our space to shape opportunities for alignment.
• Serve as the strategic lead on power building convenings and events, including overseeing the planning and execution of RUN’s Annual Summit with logistical and programmatic support from other team members and partners.
• Align efforts across programmatic teams to plan and execute Housing CA’s Advocacy Day and other statewide actions and events.
• Identify and plan for data tracking needs, and track and evaluate the effectiveness of RUN’s strategies.

Policy Advancement

• Work in close partnership with staff and partners to manage and oversee RUN’s legislative, budgetary, and electoral strategy, including developing legislative priorities with residents, monitoring priority bills, researching key legislators, and pro-actively coordinating with the policy team to identify shared goals on priority bills and relevant activities taking place in the Legislature.
• Build and maintain relationships with in-district legislative staff in RUN member districts, in collaboration with RUN leaders, Regional Organizing Coordinators (ROCs), Housing CA staff, and local partner organizations.
• Develop the capacity of RUN leaders to participate in Housing CA’s Policy Committee as well as other committees, coalitions, and campaigns and to engage in legislative and electoral advocacy. This may include planning in-district visits, supporting local and regional organizers to prepare RUN leaders for visits, and holding policy briefings and trainings for RUN leaders.

Strategic Communications and Narrative Change

• Work closely with the Narrative and Strategic Communications team to:
  • Develop and distribute regular RUN communications to create a shared narrative that inspires, energizes, and connects resident leaders, affordable housing developers, service providers, and regional advocacy partners locally, regionally, and statewide and to lift up local stories, highlight RUN’s successes, and advance a shared policy agenda.
  • Develop a cadre of RUN spokespeople, secure earned media coverage, and advance resident stories through op-eds, press events, social media, and other communication strategies.
• Represent Housing CA on power building, organizing, and community engagement issues at public events.

Organizational & Team Development

• Work with the Executive Team to cultivate funder relationships, draft grant proposals and reports, and generally assist with fundraising to support Housing CA’s power building work.
• Maintain close working relationships with Regional Organizing Coordinators (ROCs) who implement a shared power building strategy with residents and advocates in different regions of California.
• Propose and monitor an annual program budget and work plan, managing resources to ensure successful implementation of annual goals and work plans on time, within budget, and with quality; including actively collaborating and coordinating across program teams; establishing processes and procedures, assigning, executing, and reviewing work, and making decisions about budget expenditures.
• Manage a productive and collaborative team, which includes hiring and managing staff, serving as a mentor and a coach to develop staff, and connecting them with opportunities for growth and professional development.
• Work to cultivate and nurture a culture that aligns with organizational values, advances racial equity, creates open communication, disrupts institutional racism, and fosters belonging.

WHO YOU ARE

• Committed to Justice: You have a demonstrated commitment to racial and economic justice and professional experience working on housing justice issues or doing work in a field that intersects with housing justice work. We welcome candidates from a broad variety of related fields with preference given to individuals who have experience organizing statewide policy campaigns and/or working on issues of housing policy, homelessness, equitable development, infrastructure policy/finance, land-use planning, or other closely related fields.
• Seasoned Power Builder: You have 10+ years of relevant experience, including community organizing and building power with communities of color in California.
• Versatile Leader: You have worked with staff, consultants, and partners to create and carry out organizing strategies that are well-coordinated and aligned.
• Agile and Change-Savvy: You are tenacious and committed to moving change through ambiguity and challenges with a track record of collaborating with others across lines of difference to build shared goals and developing and maintaining strong working relationships that produce justice-oriented outcomes.
• Strategic Thinker: You are a strategic and creative thinker who can keep hold of a big picture vision while also managing to execute on the day-to-day details through strong organizational and project management skills.
• Leader and Coach: You have excellent staff management and coaching skills to supervise, mentor, and grow the capacity of staff.
• Effective Communicator: You have a proven ability to communicate (written and verbally) effectively with a variety of audiences, including with policymakers, community-based organizations, people who live in affordable homes or are experiencing homelessness, and the media.
• Results Oriented Facilitator: You are a highly capable facilitator who enjoys bringing groups together to share, learn, and make decisions together.
  Strong Collaborator: You have a track record of collaborating with others across lines of difference to build shared goals and developing and maintaining strong working relationships that produce justice-oriented outcomes.

Additional experience that would be welcomed, but is not required:

• Lived experience with housing instability or homelessness.
• Knowledge and/or experience of public policy analysis and advocacy. Ideally, you also have experience working in the California legislative and budget process.
• Bilingual Spanish/English.
• Experience with non-profit fundraising, including developing and maintaining relationships with funders and writing grant proposals and reports.
• Experience with program evaluation.
• Experience developing or overseeing successful implementation of base-building trainings and workshops.
• Our ideal candidate may have experience that doesn’t directly match the qualifications above, and we encourage people with equivalent experience to apply.