Associate Vice President of Community, Justice, & Impact

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We take on the biggest, most precedent-setting cases across the country. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health; to preserve magnificent places and wildlife; to advance clean energy; and to combat climate change. We partner with thousands of groups, supporters, individuals and communities to engage the critical environmental issues of our time, and bring about positive change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.

Founded in 1971, Earthjustice has a distinguished track record of achieving significant, lasting environmental protections. We achieve this by hiring people who share a passion for justice and a healthy environment. Our headquarters are in San Francisco with offices in Anchorage, Bozeman, Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Juneau, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.

In 2025, the Community, Justice, and Impact (CJI) Department introduced the Justice Framework to meet current organizational needs and to help drive strategic and operational alignment and direction around the organization’s values and mission to advance justice. CJI serves as a strategic partner to the entire organization that must deliver the Justice Framework, strategies and tools for a practice of justice, community building, and impact assessment and analysis that connects internal and external communities, policies and practices, and effectively engages the Ecosystem of Justice.

CJI must work strategically, synergistically, and effectively to scale our efforts to meet the needs of the entire organization. Therefore, CJI must be comprised of strategic, transdisciplinary thought leaders who can effectively operationalize and execute bespoke projects, programs, and initiatives while also using the Justice Framework to help build community.

Reporting to and in deep collaboration with the SVP, the Associate Vice President of Community, Justice, and Impact will serve as an organizational leader for the department to advance the Earthjustice mission, the justice framework, institutional community building, external partnership support, impact assessment and analysis and justice ecosystem support.

This position can be based in one of Earthjustice's offices or remotely from the U.S.

Responsibilities

Institutional Leadership (20%)

• Serve as a thought partner to the SVP of Community, Justice, and Impact, as well as a high functioning, collaborative senior leadership team.
• Serve as a transdisciplinary thought leader and applied justice practice strategic partner for all departments across Earthjustice to use the Justice Framework to advance strategic organizational alignment, a collective practice of justice, and internal and external community building and impact analysis.
• Design and drive strategies and practices in alignment with organizational goals and priorities that advance justice within the internal Earthjustice community and the external communities and causes that Earthjustice serves.
• Develop partnerships and support teams across Earthjustice to steward partnerships that support the overall Earthjustice mission, communities, and causes we serve and advance an appropriate role within the ecosystem of justice.
• Serve as a thoughtful and strategic organizational ambassador for Earthjustice within the Ecosystem of Justice.
• Serve as the CJI department lead for internal and external strategies, programs and initiatives, and communications amongst staff, Board committees, partners and other stakeholders that drive Earthjustice’s mission and an organizational practice of justice.

Community / Institutional Community Building and External Community Building (20%)

Community represents a strategic imperative to help build and operationalize a cohesive sense of community amongst all Earthjustice staff grounded in Earthjustice’s values and driven by its programmatic work. Moreover, Community represents the communities and causes that Earthjustice serves through its programmatic work.

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for internal and external community building strategies, programs, infrastructure, and initiatives.
• Partner with key leaders and departments across Earthjustice to ensure a practice of justice is applied and justice impact is achieved through organizational policies and practices.
• Collaborate with the SVP to develop and manage a comprehensive portfolio of organizational relationships amongst organizations within the ecosystem of justice.

Justice / Justice Framework (20%)

The Justice Framework is a bespoke organizational framework that invites every member of the Earthjustice community to use an inquiry-based model to engage in an intentional practice of justice to support the Earthjustice internal community, external community and communities we service to advance the Earthjustice mission.

• Serve as a thought partner and collaborate with the SVP to build bespoke infrastructure, tools and strategies necessary to roll out and apply the justice framework and advance a practice of justice throughout Earthjustice.
• Drive innovation in the development, implementation, and application of the Justice Framework to support organizational resilience and sustainability to advance justice and the Earthjustice mission.
• Lead justice impact initiatives that are grounded within the Earthjustice mission to support internal and external communities and the causes Earthjustice serves.

Impact (20%)

Measuring impact extends beyond recognizing outcomes. It allows Earthjustice to strategically align and navigate toward its ultimate goals around justice. The organization must understand its impact to identify how it is achieving its mission and to orient its position within the Ecosystem of Justice. While each team remains responsible for their own impact, CJI will collaborate with teams across the organization to help develop organizational impact goals and measures. Measuring the organization’s justice impact will be a long-term collaborative organizational effort that relies in large part upon CJI’s ability to support the adoption and application of the Justice Framework and success in community building strategies and efforts. While impact may only be measured in hindsight, it must be presently, continuously, and strategically planned.

• Develop and drive strategies and practices to build institutional alignment and metrics to tangibly and effectively measure impact that is legible to internal community and external communities.
• Collaborate with organizational leaders and teams to use impact analysis to inform and support strategy, goals, policies and practices.
• Lead the design of impact analysis processes, tools, and effectiveness.

Team leadership and development (10%)

• Serve as a dotted-line supervisor and assist in team development responsibilities for members of the CJI team.

Communications (10%)

• Collaborate across Earthjustice departments on communication plans, strategies and initiatives.
• Collaborate with the Communications team to design and implement strategic communication plans and content to advance the CJI charge, align organizational strategies, and locate Earthjustice within the Ecosystem of Justice.
• Design effective internal and external communication strategies and practices to support and deepen CJI’s community building programming and practices that leverage the justice framework and are grounded within Earthjustice’s mission.
• Develop presentations & talking points and present to internal and external audiences on how to effectively advance community building.
• Use the Justice Framework to model effective communication within the department and across the organization.

Qualifications

• 10-12 years progressive experience in a related position.
• An understanding of the legal profession, and an ability to effectively connect and communicate with all functional areas of Earthjustice, as well as the communities and causes Earthjustice serves.
• Experience leading organizational change to drive measurable impact.
• Experience in developing and implementing organizational frameworks.
• Experience leading strategic program development and impact assessment and analysis.
• Experience in leading applied practices of justice.
• Proven record of accomplishment in the development and implementation of collaborative organizational cultural change.
• Experience scaling programs or initiatives to serve a large, professional, non-profit organization.
• Experience collecting and synthesizing data and trends to inform decision-making.
• Minimum five years of experience in managing and developing staff.
• An understanding of the mission and day-to-day work of Earthjustice, as well as the challenges faced by the environmental field within the context of advancing justice.
• Strategic leadership.
• Agile and critical thinking skills combined with effective design and implementation skills.
• Active and demonstrated ability to effectively apply the Justice Framework to one’s own role and responsibilities.
• Exemplary professional judgment and emotional intelligence.
• Must possess advanced applied knowledge of current applied justice practices, as well dynamics that impact Earthjustice’s practices and the Ecosystem of Justice.
• Outstanding communication and comprehension skills as demonstrated through clear writing and speaking as well as the ability to translate complex issues for non-expert audiences.
• Experience facilitating programs and initiatives that effectively drive impact.
• A skilled inclusive leader.
• Ability to communicate effectively and appropriately.
• Experience successfully leading projects to completion with strategic thinking and agile problem-solving.
• Contributes towards an equitable and inclusive work culture that encourages partnership, active listening, and integrating diverse perspectives.
• Supports Earthjustice’s core values of partnership, inclusion, justice and excellence.

We offer a competitive salary and excellent, comprehensive benefits. We also offer a casual and congenial work environment.

Salaries at Earthjustice are determined by experience level and working location.

Salary range in San Francisco, CA and New York, NY: $220,800 - $245,300 Salary range in Washington, D.C., Chicago, IL, Seattle, WA, and Los Angeles, CA: $209,800 - $233,100Salary range in Denver, CO and Philadelphia, PA : $198,700 - $220,800Salary range in Miami, FL, Bozeman, MT, and New Orleans, LA: $187,700 - $208,600 Remote salary range will vary depending on specific location: $187,700 - $245,300

To Apply:

Interested candidates should submit the following materials via Jobvite by September 21st, 2025 to be considered.

• Resume
• Cover letter

Please reach out to  jobs@earthjustice.org if you are having technical difficulties submitting your application. No phone calls, drop-ins, or hard copies. Earthjustice only accepts resumes submitted for positions that are currently open. Unsolicited resumes, or resumes for posted positions that are not submitted via the online application process (where available), will not be reviewed or retained.

Earthjustice is driven by a passion for justice, inclusion, partnership, and excellence. Our core values lead us to seek a broad range of perspectives and backgrounds to achieve our mission and to maintain an inclusive environment where all staff are valued and respected. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to employment practices that ensure that employees and applicants for employment are provided with equal opportunities without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or any other factor that is not related to the position.

For positions located within the City and County of San Francisco Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment-qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

For positions located within the City of Los Angeles: We will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.

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