Director, Racial Equity Initiative

Context

Blue Star Families has long believed that all military families deserve to feel welcome in their community, to feel appreciated, and to feel a sense of belonging. We believe that when they feel this way, it not only makes military families stronger - it also strengthens our military readiness.

The national focus on race in our country this year, and the movement that has emerged from it, have renewed and amplified a national call for action. Individuals, communities, and organizations are taking important steps to ensure that they are delivering on a vision that everyone in this country, inclusive of all races and ethnicities, has the opportunity to lead a fulfilling life, to thrive, and to belong.

Blue Star Families supports this national call for action, and is taking steps to ensure that we are delivering on our vision that all military families feel a sense of belonging. We are sharpening our focus and our understanding of how the experiences of military families of color differ from those of white families.  In many ways, the military community - through its shared commitment to service -  fosters positive bonds across race and ethnicity. We know, however, that the shared bond of service is not enough to prevent real differences and challenges from persisting across families. Our preliminary work shows that there are systems and attitudes that are undermining the experiences and outcomes of service members and military families of color.  

For Blue Star Families, this reality is not acceptable. We believe we can be part of a positive change. As we enter 2021 and beyond, we seek to address the inequities in the service experiences of military families of color, and to increase their sense of belonging in communities nationwide. We will harness new resources, build new programs, and bring new collaborators to a sustained effort to change this unacceptable reality that far too many families face. 

General Description

The Director, Racial Equity Initiative will be the primary leader of the REI. The Director will work directly with the CEO, leadership team, and leaders across program, research, and communications to execute the five impacts of the REI framework:

RESEARCH & ADVOCACY — Conducting research via focus groups, applying new lenses to prior surveys, and launching new surveys to further understand the unique experiences of military families of color. We will then pair these findings with data-driven policy recommendations geared to meaningfully improve their experiences.

TRAINING — Building programs that seek to train new cohorts of racially-diverse leaders who will help lead efforts to improve the service experiences of military families of color and increase their representation in the MSO/VSO space. These fellows will immediately provide leadership at the local and national level so that military families of color can see themselves in the support organizations that seek to serve them.   

LEADERSHIP — Assembling and engaging a committee of established leaders who will help inform strategies, programs, and outcomes of the initiative, and will provide thought leadership on racial equity to the entire military- and veteran-family support sector.

COLLABORATION — Harnessing the involvement of a cross-sector group of organizations to create collective action, share programs, and drive change across a broad set of stakeholders.

COMMUNITY IMPACT — Building programs and engagements that focus directly on improving the experiences of military families, on fostering inclusion, and on increasing the sense of belonging in communities nationwide. 

Key job functions

• Create and execute programs that meet the goals and vision of the Blue Star Families’ Racial Equity Initiative and additional initiatives
• Design, implement, manage, and grow the DEPLOY MC Fellow program
• Serve as the primary liaison with Blue Star Families Racial Equity Committee (REC)
• Provide strategic advice to survey and research work with the Applied Research team, and coordinate survey research to appropriate military families
• Collaborate with corporate partners, institutional partners, non-profits, and military-support organizations (MSOs) and veterans-service organizations (VSOs) to create cross-sector partnerships and programs
• Coordinate and advise our Strategic Communications department on messaging related to the REI
• Serve as an internal and external spokesperson spokesperson for the REI
• Determine and track metrics to measure effectiveness of REI pillars
• Fundraise through active partnerships to sustain current and future programs
• Develop intentional relationships within Blue Star Families and with external organizations to offer insight and opportunities for change and collaboration
• Engage and advise the senior leadership team

Required experience, skills, background

• A demonstrated commitment to strengthening the diversity, equity and inclusion of the military community and improving the experiences of military families of color
• At least 5 years of experience managing complex projects
• Understanding of military family life
• Excellent written, communication and presentation skills; comfortable being the spokesperson to various audiences; demonstrated knowledge of professional correspondence
•  Ability to work both independently and collaboratively
• Ability to produce high quality work on deadline; comfortable managing multiple projects, priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Keen attention to detail
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google suite
• Salesforce experience or ability to learn new software
• Experience and/or comfort working in a virtual environment
• Commitment to the highest standards of professionalism
• May be required to work nights, weekends, and holidays as necessary to carry out key job functions
• Some travel required to attend meetings, trainings, events, etc. (based on current national health standards)
• Limited out-of-town and overnight travel may be required (based on current national health standards)

Desired experience, skills, background

• Bachelor’s Degree 
• Not necessary but a plus: Certified Diversity Professional (CDP); Certified Cultural Diversity Executive (CDE); Certified Diversity Trainer (CDT); PHR/SPHR or SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP
• Experience with membership driven organizations