Executive Director

About the Indiana Abolition Coalition

Indiana Abolition Coalition (IAC)’s mission is to build consensus to end the death penalty in Indiana through education, collaboration, and activism. Founded in 2002 as the Indiana Information Center on the Abolition of Capital Punishment, IAC seeks its first full time staff to help lead a new chapter for the organization.

Indiana stands at a pivotal moment in the national movement to end capital punishment. IAC seeks an Executive Director who can help grow public support for abolition, strengthen the organization’s long-term sustainability, and advance meaningful policy change in Indiana.

The Role

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director is responsible for advancing IAC’s mission, strategic vision, and organizational sustainability. This role combines movement-building, public advocacy, policy engagement, communications, and organizational leadership.

The Executive Director will serve as the public face of the organization and lead efforts to build relationships across political, geographic, religious, and ideological lines. The ideal candidate is an effective communicator, strategic thinker, coalition-builder, and organizer who understands both the importance of grassroots power and the realities of legislative advocacy.

Because IAC is a small and growing organization, the Executive Director should be comfortable balancing big-picture strategy with day-to-day operational responsibilities.

This is a remote position based in Indiana, though the lease of office space in Indianapolis is possible in the future. Some evening and weekend work, as well as in-state travel, will be required.

Primary Responsibilities

Policy and Legislative Advocacy

• Build and maintain relationships with policymakers, legislative staff, and other government leaders to advance efforts to end the death penalty in Indiana.
• Track developments related to Indiana’s death penalty system, including indictments, legislation, executions, court decisions, and national trends.
• Coordinate advocacy strategies with coalition partners and stakeholders.

Public Leadership and Communications

• Serve as the primary spokesperson and public voice of IAC. Represent the organization in media interviews, public forums, coalition meetings, legislative hearings, faith communities, and community events.
• Serve as a trusted resource on death penalty issues for lawmakers, media, coalition partners, and supporters.
• Develop public education materials, including fact sheets, presentations, action alerts, op-eds, and digital communications.
• Generate public attention and media coverage around death penalty issues through earned media, social media, and storytelling.
• Communicate regularly with supporters and provide meaningful opportunities for engagement and action.

Grassroots Organizing and Coalition Building

• Grow and strengthen IAC’s statewide grassroots supporter base.
• Build and maintain relationships with organizations, faith communities, advocates, legal teams, impacted families, and other stakeholders working toward abolition and related criminal legal reform efforts.
• Collaborate with organizations and community leaders across Indiana to build broad-based support for ending the death penalty.
• Support volunteer engagement and leadership development.

Organizational Leadership and Administration

• Supervise staff, contractors, and consultants as applicable. (IAC currently has no staff beyond this role, but there are funding opportunities that could allow for future hires.)
• Maintain strong communication and collaboration with the Board of Directors.
• Work with board leadership to manage organizational operations, including budgeting, vendor and contractor relationships, compliance requirements, and financial oversight.
• Manage a committee that will carry out fundraising efforts, including foundation grants, individual donor cultivation, direct mail, and digital fundraising.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated commitment to ending the death penalty and advancing a more just criminal legal system.
• Experience in advocacy, organizing, public policy, nonprofit leadership, political campaigns, communications, non-profit fundraising or related fields.
• Strong relationship-building skills and ability to work effectively across diverse political, ideological, racial, geographic, and religious communities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including public speaking and media engagement.
• Ability to work independently, learn quickly, manage multiple priorities, and lead strategic initiatives.

Bonus

• Familiarity with Indiana’s political and cultural landscape.
• Proficiency with common digital communication and organizational tools, including Google Workspace, ActionNetwork, Zoom, email marketing platforms, and social media.
• Experience working on death penalty abolition, criminal legal reform, civil rights, faith-based advocacy, or related issues.
• Existing relationships with Indiana advocacy organizations, faith communities, policymakers, or media.
• Lived experience with the criminal legal system, whether directly or through impacted family or community members.

Health insurance benefit, retirement contribution and match, professional development allowance, phone/internet stipend, home office setup, and paid vacation, sick days, and holiday.