Policy Analyst

About the Legal Aid Justice Center:

The Legal Aid Justice Center is a nationally recognized, non-profit organization that partners with low-income clients and communities of color in Virginia to fight for racial, social, and economic justice. We understand that the harms our clients endure are inextricably linked to overarching systems of injustice. Together we are dismantling those systems through a combination of community organizing, litigation, policy advocacy, public relations, and individual legal services.

Founded in 1967, LAJC has offices in Charlottesville, Richmond, Petersburg, and Falls Church and provides services under six key program areas: Civil Rights & Racial Justice (focuses on the criminal legal system), Housing & Consumer Justice, Youth Justice, Health Justice & Public Benefits, Immigrant Justice, and Worker Justice. As examples of LAJC’s recent work, our lawsuit and organizing against the state forced reform of Virginia’s unemployment insurance system, including advocacy that resulted in the distribution of over $1 billion in illegally withheld payments to over 160,000 Virginians. During the pandemic, we demanded and secured a statewide eviction moratorium and emergency pandemic protections that helped hundreds of families avoid eviction. We reduced incarceration across the state, including reducing the population of a local immigration detention center down to historically low levels through a coordinated effort of organizing paired with impact and individual litigation. Our staff are on the front lines of some of the most important anti-poverty fights happening today.

With a staff of over 90, the past few years have been a time of exciting growth and opportunity for the organization. In addition to the growth of programmatic efforts including increased organizing capacity, LAJC has expanded its operations and administrative capacity, created new opportunities for professional growth and leadership among staff, engaged in ongoing race equity work, and explored changes to organizational structure to deepen its efforts to create long-term, sustainable, community-driven change.

LAJC’s latest strategic plan is available at https://www.justice4all.org/lajc-strategic-plan-2022-2026/#area%20d.

For more information about LAJC’s work and programs, visit www.justice4all.org.

About the Position:

The Policy Analyst will help support the development and implementation of Legal Aid Justice Center’s legislative and advocacy priorities.

The Policy Analyst will work with the Director of Policy and LAJC programmatic teams and community partners to advance LAJC’s ambitious agenda to achieve economic, social, and racial justice throughout the Commonwealth. The Policy Analyst will help support and improve internal infrastructure, engage in research efforts, provide support for developing and tracking relevant legislation, lobby on behalf of LAJC’s legislative priorities, coordinate legislative meetings, attend meetings, support the creation of compelling testimony, assist with community engagement efforts, and build trusted relationships with members of the community and elected and appointed officials.

This is an ideal opportunity for someone who thrives on learning new policy issues, enjoys building relationships, and is eager to work at the intersection of multiple program areas. The Policy Analyst will be a clear and concise writer, organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable navigating cross-programmatic work. The right candidate is also a confident public speaker, flexible in adapting to shifting schedules, tech-savvy, and capable of working both independently and collaboratively across diverse teams.

Job Duties:

Policy Advocacy Infrastructure:

• Support the development of internal and external systems that facilitate information-sharing and efficiency across programs on shared policy goals and targets
• Help promote policy advocacy skill development across the organization and work with the Director of Policy to ensure that staff receive any necessary trainings, mentorship, and technical assistance on legislative and administrative advocacy, including providing in-house trainings or recommending trainings for staff to attend
• Help maintain a system for analyzing and tracking bills across LAJC’s programs that allow LAJC’s policy team to better understand the position, progress, and impact of our legislative agenda
• Work with the Director of Policy to ensure that LAJC complies with all state and federal laws related to lobbying, including any that pertain to 501(c)(3) status

Policy Implementation:

• Work with the Director of Policy to help develop and implement LAJC’S legislative agenda and advocacy priorities, including but not limited to lobbying state as well as local and federal government officials, analyzing and tracking legislation, attending state agency and board meetings, committee and commission meetings, drafting legislation and amendments, engaging in government agency advocacy and preparing and delivering written and oral testimony as needed
• Coordinate and participate in legislative meetings to advocate on behalf of LAJC’s legislative agenda both with legislators and community members and partners
• Provide support and develop content for policy newsletter drafts and social media content related to LAJC’s legislative advocacy

Relationship Building:

• Work with the Director of Policy to develop relationships with key legislative and administrative policymakers and media. This will require spending significant time at the General Assembly while it is in session, and actively supporting the facilitation and development of such relationships by LAJC staff
• Provide support as needed to LAJC staff and community members to provide expertise to policymakers, the press, and other coalition partners
• Build, strengthen and maintain trusted, respectful relationships with impacted community members, other partners, coalitions, elected officials, and other decisionmakers who share our strategic priorities to support our organizational and legislative goals
• Help develop systems that facilitate client and directly impacted community members’ involvement, growth, and leadership in policy advocacy development, including meetings with decision makers, drafting legislation, and attending and offering testimony at legislative and administrative hearings

Racial Equity: Promote racial equity across all dimensions, including within LAJC, by doing the following:

• • Helping to recruit, retain, and support both staff and leadership that reflect the racial composition of our community.
  • Cultivating respect for the work of and expanding resources for non-attorney staff that are disproportionately people of color.
  • Creating spaces for staff to discuss issues of racial, gender, and all other issues of marginalization.
  • Pushing for institutional and cultural changes by management, the board, and staff to further promote racial equity.

Required Qualifications:

• Strong commitment to social, economic, and racial justice
• Strong organizational and time management skills while navigating fast-paced environments
• Clear, compelling, and concise writing ability with strong editing and proofreading skills
• Comfort with public speaking and presentations
• Ability to conduct research, gather information, and analyze that information to support policy priorities
• Ability to read and analyze legislation and budget proposals
• Ability to establish and maintain collaborative working relationships across identity and party lines
• Ability to work independently and within a team
• Willingness to work weekends, evenings and travel as needed
• Eager to expand knowledge and skills to fully support LAJC mission

Preferred Qualifications:

• Spanish fluency
• Experience with policy advocacy and navigating the Virginia General Assembly, local and/or federal government, or administrative bodies
• Knowledge of Virginia policy landscape
• Experience using systems to track legislation and policy landscape, such as Legislative Information System, Virginia Public Access Project, the Virigina General Assembly Website or other similar platforms