Program Director & Senior Staff Attorney, Opportunity To Learn Program

Who we are: 

Situated at the forefront of the national stage in the racial justice movement, Advancement Project is a cutting-edge, no-holds-barred national organization dedicated to building local power in communities of color. Centered on a movement lawyering approach, defined as community-centered racial justice lawyering, the Advancement Project supports power building in grassroots organizations working to eliminate oppressive structures in our laws and institutions and shift narratives towards transformative change. From ending the school-to-prison pipeline to the fight to expand the right to vote, from calling for a complete overhaul of how we view the police and carceral state, to fighting for immigrant justice, Advancement Project impacts real change from the ground up. Building on more than 20 years, we continue evolving our strategic thinking and creativity to imagine a more just world where people of color can thrive, be safe, and free and we are excited to bring on new talent to forward our vision.

The Advancement Project’s track record of success includes:

• Pioneering the school-to-prison pipeline movement, winning significant victories in several school districts across the country to reform disciplinary policies and practices and remove police from schools entirely, including building and nurturing a grassroots movement of parents and youth. This work led to federal guidance on racial discrimination in school discipline.
• Launching the National Police Free Schools Campaign with the Alliance for Education Justice, supporting local youth-led campaigns to end policing in their schools and calling for national demands for change for safety in public schools.
• Serving as legal counsel in the 2000 President law edition case in Florida, successfully challenged North Carolina’s voter suppression law, and was the founding member of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition that won the ballot initiative to strike down the state’s ban on voting for those with felony convictions.
• Supported legislative efforts to pass the Virginia Voting Rights Act, the first voting rights anti-discrimination law in the South.
• Supporting Close the Workhouse Campaign in St. Louis, led by Action St, Louis, secured the city’s agreement to close a jail and reinvest money into the community.
• Working with survivors of Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans to ensure their voices were heard in the reconstruction process.
• Partnering with Ben & Jerry's to launch a new flavor of ice cream, Justice Remix’d, the first time the company put an organization’s name on its containers.

Position Overview:

Advancement Project seeks a seasoned creative attorney, a strong community advocate, and an experienced and innovative program administrator to serve as Program Director & Senior Attorney of the Opportunity to Learn Program. The Program Director will supervise staff, build relationships, work closely with partnering grassroots organizations, and use a variety of legal, policy, communications, and coalition-building strategies to assist our community partners in achieving an equitable educational system.

This position is based in Washington DC and executes program plan initiatives under the supervision of the Deputy Executive Director.

 What You’ll Do:

The Program Director will lead a dedicated team of professionals from multiple disciplines working to secure equitable public education opportunities. This position will address “Quality Education for All” and “Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline,” namely the overuse of punitive school discipline policies and practices that are disadvantageous towards students and push – especially students of color – out of school and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

Advancement Project has been a pioneer in reforming school disciplinary models to prevent the pushout of young people. Through state and local campaigns with grassroots partners, we have reduced suspensions, expulsions, and the criminalization of young people of color leading to improved educational outcomes. We have also done groundbreaking work to challenge school closings in communities of color and privatization efforts that exacerbate education inequity. The strategies and tactics of the Opportunity to Learn Program are carried out within the broader goal of racial justice.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Develop the strategic direction for the Opportunity to Learn Program.

• Develop the strategic plan for assigned projects, including identifying and overseeing the implementation of litigation, advocacy, policy, organizing, and outreach initiatives.
• Plan project activities, develop new initiatives, including in response to political and legal developments, and ensure projects and activities comply with relevant and trending legislation and policy.
• Cultivate a broad and effective network of partners, including maintaining current national and local partnerships and developing new partner relationships.
• Participates in all aspects of federal and state civil and appellate litigation, as needed, including Identifying litigation strategy, conducting legal research, and drafting legal memoranda, motions, and briefs, among other documents.

 Enhance the organization’s capacity to advocate on issues related to assigned projects.

• Serve as the subject matter expert on issues related to the assigned project area.
• Provide education, training, reports, and direct feedback to team members.
• Identify funding opportunities and work with the Development team to pursue them.

Collaborate with other teams on the management and planning of programs and project efforts.

• Share information regarding movement on program and project initiatives across the organization.
• Works closely with the campaign strategy team and communications team to implement planned strategies.

Lead and provide direction to team members.

• Develop and execute plans and strategies to meet team goals and objectives, and assist with the development of organizational goals, objectives, and strategies.
• Assist senior leadership in creating and maintaining a positive and collaborative organizational culture.
• Disseminate, implement, and enforce organization and team standards, policies, and procedures, including providing proper guidance to those carrying out related duties. 
• Assist in the development, implementation, and administration of the annual team budget. 
• Directly manage project team members, including training, assigning and directing work, evaluating and providing informal performance feedback, contributing to annual performance reviews and formal disciplinary actions, and assisting with addressing employee concerns.
• Participate in recruiting new employees, including interviewing and making hiring recommendations, as well as making recommendations for employee separations, promotions, or special assignments.
• Other related duties, as assigned.

 Minimum Qualifications:

• At least 10 years of relevant experience in a similar position and/or performing similar tasks.
• Knowledge of legal and policy issues surrounding civil rights, and education law.
• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited college or university.
• License to practice law in Washington D.C. or possess the ability to waive into the Washington D.C. bar.
• At least three years of experience managing people, mentoring, and training staff attorneys.
• Ability to frequently travel locally, regionally, and nationally.
• Ability to occasionally work evenings and periodically work weekends, as needed.

 Depending on experience, this position pays a minimum of $130,000 and a maximum of $160,000.