Director of Racial Justice

Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is the global organization’s presence in the United States. We engage people in the U.S. to fight injustice all around the world, while we also work to protect people’s human rights here in the U.S. Amnesty International USA has more than one million members and activists in all 50 states, who are part of a larger global movement of 10 million people in 150 countries. We are a democratically governed, grassroots membership organization, which means that our members vote on key policy issues and elect our Board of Directors. Some of our members are experts on specific human rights issues, parts of the world, or advocacy areas, and they serve as volunteer leaders. Others are volunteer leaders of local or student groups in towns, universities, states, or regions of the country. Amnesty International USA’s elected Board members, staff, and members work together to lead the organization.

Job Summary

The Director of Racial Justice is a newly-created position at AIUSA, and will manage a distinct portfolio of work to further the goals of Outcome 4 of our Strategic Framework, specifically, the adoption and protection of “critical anti-racism and racial justice laws and policies at the local, state, and federal levels that strengthen security and political and economic rights to advance transformative justice for BIPOC individuals and communities in the United States.” This position requires an experienced leader with an extensive background in racial justice work in the human rights and/or social justice sectors who will lead AIUSA’s racial justice work on domestic and international human rights issues.

This role is a union position and covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Communication Workers of America (CWA), Local 1180.

Essential Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a portfolio of programmatic work to advance racial justice and achieve human rights impact on specific racial justice issues, including reparations, police violence, economic and social rights, and/or right to protest, among others
• Develop, execute, and track progress against an annual budget, strategic goals and objectives, key performance indicators, and initiatives for making human rights impact
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders in designing and implementing effective strategies and tactics to achieve the program’s goals and objectives, including; advocacy, coalition building, grassroots activism, media advocacy, social media advocacy, and public education
• Ensure that the program’s human rights work contributes towards the organizational goals and objectives laid out in AIUSA’s Strategic Plan
• Build and maintain effective, collaborative internal and external relationships and partnerships to advance AIUSA’s racial justice work
• Partner with, train, and sustain AIUSA’s members and the public in effective activism by creating useful and compelling actions, training modules, and materials
• Increase AIUSA’s involvement and, when appropriate, leadership around racial justice across relevant coalitions and advocacy movements
• Serve as the key external spokesperson and AIUSA representative on racial justice issues with the media, policymakers, coalition partners, and other key stakeholders
• Other related duties, as needed

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Deep subject matter expertise of the United States’ historical structural inequality and its impact on Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities; Anti-Black racism; and the intersection of racial justice and human rights work, required
• Deep subject matter expertise in one or more issues related to racial justice that might include reparations, police violence, economic and social rights, or the right to protest, among others, required
• Demonstrated skills and success working with BIPOC communities on social justice and/or human rights issues, required
• Demonstrated skills and success in uniting diverse stakeholder groups in trusting and collaborative relationships, including navigating and resolving conflict in ways that reinforce inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) values and managing different stakeholder bodies with competing priorities, required
• Demonstrated project management skills, ability to successfully manage multiple competing priorities, and successfully navigate and creatively solve ambiguous and/or complex situations, required
• Demonstrated advocacy experience and ability to successfully design and implement both long-term and multi-pronged influencing strategies, as well as specific tactical initiatives, required
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous self-learning and growth and modeling this approach with others required.
• Excellent verbal communication, research, writing, and presentation skills, required
• Ability to occasionally travel required, e.g. staff retreats, regional office visits, and annual AIUSA conference, required
• Ability to occasionally work nights and/or weekends, required

Education and Experience

• BA/BS and 10 years of progressive responsibility in areas at the intersection of racial justice and human rights/social justice required OR MA/MS and 8 years of progressive responsibility in areas at the intersection of racial justice and human rights/social justice required. Any combination of education and experience accepted
• Experience working with/for progressive movements, required
• Ability to occasionally work nights and/or weekends, required
• Ability to occasionally travel required, e.g. staff retreats, regional office visits, annual AIUSA conference

We recognize the valuable skills that can be gained through internships, fellowships, volunteer work, and non-traditional work experience. This experience helps build competencies and knowledge that may translate to our job openings. We seek a diversity of experience and skills for our workplace and encourage people from all backgrounds to apply to our openings.

HOW TO APPLY AND OUR EEO STATEMENT

All applications must be completed online and we do not accept paper submissions. Please visit our Careers Page to review all current job postings. You must complete the entire online application, and electronically sign, in order for an application to be considered “complete.” We send emails via Paycom so please check your spam folders for any updates. Please email talentacquisition@aiusa.org for technical difficulties ONLY.

Amnesty International USA is an equal-opportunity employer. AIUSA encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Black people, Indigenous people, people of color; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people; women; people with disabilities, protected veterans, and formerly incarcerated individuals are all strongly encouraged to apply.

OUR COMMITMENT AS AN ANTI-RACIST ORGANIZATION AND TO INCLUSION, DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND ACCESSIBILITY (IDEA)

Dismantling white supremacy is central to the fight for human rights in the United States and around the world. As we mobilize staff and activists and work with partners to help transform the multiple systems where oppression operates in the world around us as part of our human rights mandate, anti-racism must be integral to our work. What does that

mean for Amnesty International in the United States? It means using our people power to fight injustice and centering the voices and experiences of those most impacted by racist structures, beliefs, and laws. Fundamentally, it means doing our human rights work differently than it has been done before, because we know that who we work with, how we work, the work we do, and ultimately who we are, are all interconnected.

As an international, intercultural, intergenerational and intersectional movement of activists committed to protecting and advancing human rights for all, Amnesty is deeply committed to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility (IDEA). To learn more about how we integrate IDEA into our programs and workplace, visit: https://www.amnestyusa.org/idea/

Remote and Hybrid Workplace Policy

Because the health and safety of our employees and candidates are a top priority, we are currently conducting our hiring process virtually.  Staff, office visitors, and event attendees to be up to date with COVID vaccines before entering AIUSA offices or attending AIUSA events or in-person meetings. If anyone wishing to enter the office or attend our events is not vaccinated, they will need to have tested negative for COVID within 24 hours of entry. We expect that all staff and visitors entering the office or attending AIUSA events will, by accessing our facilities, be attesting that they are vaccinated or that they have tested negative within 24 hours of entry.

Please review the job description, which will state whether a role is hybrid and remote. Some roles may require travel domestically and/or internationally.