Racial Equity and Justice Fund Director

The Early Childhood Funders Collaborative (ECFC) (ecfunders.org) is a network of national, regional, and local funders that supports the healthy development and learning of children prenatal to age eight and their families.  We increase the effectiveness of philanthropic investment in systemic, equity-focused approaches to early childhood.  ECFC promotes federal, state, and local policies and practices that support young children, their families, and the early childhood community. Our strategic priorities include bolstering relationships within philanthropy and across sectors, emboldening early childhood to advance equity and justice, and fostering the conditions for policy and narrative change.  ECFC is a fiscally sponsored organization of TSNE (tsne.org).

The Racial Justice and Equity Fund (RJEFRJEF), a project of ECFC, increase funding, capacity, and influence of leaders and organizations representing the voices of lived experience in historically underserved communities to mobilize and lead on broad-based, cross-sector/multi-issue, early childhood (prenatal to age five) state and community change efforts within states. An emphasis will be placed on BIPOC-led and focused nonprofit organizations. To date, RJEF has raised over $6 million and provided grants to 10 organizations representing 11 States and the Navajo Nation.  

The Racial Justice and Equity Fund Director oversees all aspects of the RJEF, including fundraising, grant making, funder education, and building relationships with grantee partners and external partners.  RJEF is governed by an Executive Committee of participating funders and Community Experts.  The RJEF Director devises strategy and supports the Grants Committee participatory grant making approach to making funding recommendations to the Managing Committee, including the Executive Committee.

Essential Functions

Grant making & Grantee Relationships

• Devise RJEF’s grant making strategies, including prioritizing the types of grantees that RJEF will seek (e.g., by geography, type of organization, equity for historically underinvested organizations.)
• Identify and develop relationships with potential grantees, working with national, state, and local partners.
• Work with the Grants Committee, comprised of proximity experts, on critical strategic questions, and administer the fund with respect for the perspectives of community leaders in the field.
• Develop trusting and respectful relationships with grantee partners.
• Develop and implement grant-making practices that build in grantee perspectives and transparency, while ensuring accountability for funds and an understanding of the impact of grants.

Fund Development, Funder Relationships, and Fiscal Management

• Devise and execute RJEF’s fundraising strategy toward the strategic goal of raising twenty-five million dollars and funding 30 organizations.
• Develop grant-making opportunities, write concepts and proposals, and oversee all reporting to participating funders.
• Develop and manage partnerships with potential and participating funders in RJEF.
• Manage budget planning and execution, in partnership with the Executive Committee, ECFC Chief of Equity and Strategy, and TSNE fiscal staff. Financial management of RJEF includes determining grant levels, duration of grants, grant agreements, and timely grant payments.
• Manage incoming and outgoing funds, working with TSNE and ECFC staff on grant and contract development and execution, timely payment of grants and invoices, and overseeing all fiscal transactions related to RJEF.
• Staff and facilitate the Executive Committee of participating funders and community experts that provides oversight on strategy and grant making policy.

Management, Communication, and Partnerships

• Provide team leadership for team members working on RJEF, including ECFC staff and consultants.
• Oversee RJEF communication strategy in partnership with the Director of Communications to tell the stories of our grantees and the impact of RJEF, including but not limited to written reports, social media content, press relations, and speaking engagements nationwide.
• Leverage RJEF’s expertise to advance ECFC’s Strategic Priorities through virtual and in-person programs, formal and informal consultation with ECFC members, and representing ECFC at philanthropic conferences and meetings.
• Develop partnerships with local, state, and national movement and advocacy organizations to advance RJEF’s and ECFC’s mission and policy priorities.
• Use RJEF’s expertise and experience with equity and trust-based grant making for funder education on equitable grant making, power- and movement-building on issues affecting young children and families.

We will consider exceptional candidates who demonstrate a strong combination of the specific qualifications and skills described below.

• Commitment to ECFC’s goals, mission, and values, especially including ECFC’s commitment to racial equity.
• Experience with public policy, movement building, and advocacy in the early childhood arena or a related policy area.
• Experience with development of philanthropic grants and relationships with foundations, including proposal writing and grant reporting, a significant track record of securing large private grants for advocacy, policy, or movement building projects.
• Experience managing a philanthropic collaborative with pooled funding and collaborative governance.
• Experience with grant making to state and community organizations, including devising grant processes that open equitable opportunities to smaller organizations or organizations without a history of securing foundation funding.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those for this position. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. Work is performed in an office environment and in close proximity to other workers.

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is required to:

• Handle, or feel objects, tools or controls;
• Reach; traverse; sit (usually for longer periods of time); occasionally ascend/descend; and position self (to) move;
• Occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds;
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate;
• Job is not subject to significant occupational or environmental hazards;
• Likelihood of personal injury would be relatively slight;
• Environmental and work hazards are not present to a measurable degree.

Compensation and Benefits

Location: Work will be primarily performed remote, with a preference for candidates in the DC metro area, for ease of participating in national policy meetings. 

Compensation: The salary range for this position, based on part-time hours is $135,985 - $151,200/yr. and is commensurate with experience.

Benefits: This position is eligible for a full benefits package including:

• Generous Paid-Time-Off (PTO): twelve paid holidays, prorated vacation, one week of personal holiday, and ability to accrue up to 487.5 hours of health leave time for benefited staff.
• 80% Employer-paid, offering some $0 deductible Health Insurance through Harvard Pilgrim along with several low-deductible plans;
• Low-cost Guardian Dental and Vision.
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for Health and Dependent Care.
• Employer-paid Life, Long- and Short-Term Disability Insurance.
• Employer-paid Pension and Employee-paid 403b plan through TIAA.
• ...and more!

TSNE/ECFC strives to achieve excellence through a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment that embraces all of our individual and collective differences. Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Middle Eastern and North African, Bilingual and/or Bicultural candidates, and LGBTQ2SIA+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We value and honor the unique talents, learning styles, and lived experiences of each individual that enrich and strengthen our workplace culture, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

All employment conditions are based on an individual’s performance and job qualifications. TSNE/ECFC prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, creed, color, religion, native language, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, parental status, pregnancy, race-based hairstyles, or any other protected characteristic stated by federal and state law. Regardless of any class’ protection under the law or lack thereof, TSNE/ECFC celebrates diversity and values the strengths that come with having a diverse team of employees. It is represented in our workplace culture, and it is who we are.

TSNE/ECFC's EEO statement extends to volunteers, interns, contractors, vendors, and clients.