Director of Narrative and Communications

ABOUT CJSF

Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) is a national collaborative that links philanthropy with the power of grassroots organizing to transform schools. CJSF’s partner network includes 80 organizations across 22 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Ontario, Canada. CJSF has a current budget of more than $8.5M and is supported by a donor table of approximately 17 foundations and philanthropic donors. CJSF supports grassroots organizing groups of parents, students, educators, narrative producers, arts and cultural organizers, healers and community members coming together to learn about and address specific challenges and build momentum for the transformation of public education and education in the community. CJSF provides a combination of long-term multi-year grants, capacity building and technical assistance, convening, and liberatory education to our partners. Our partners’ education-specific work includes organizing around dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, ensuring police-free schools, investing in culturally affirming social-emotional learning and mental health supports, liberatory curricula and pedagogy, restorative and transformative justice, parent partnerships, meaningful youth engagement, participatory budgeting, and much more.

CJSF’s long-term, sustained support of its local-, state-, and in some cases national-level organizing partners is grounded in our commitment to ensuring that the education justice movement has the resources and support necessary to build long-term change grounded in abolitionist principles, liberatory education, organizer and community leadership, and removing structural and systemic inequality. Building on a seven-year track record, CJSF has: 1) Moved more than $26 million in core support to partners in the field of education justice since 2016; 2) Encouraged funders to become more equitable and relational in their philanthropic practices; 3) Curated a rich suite of learning opportunities for partners, donors, members, and other stakeholders; 4) Served as a vocal advocate for education justice through federal strategies work, as well as through narrative power-building efforts; 5) Invested in crucial base-building, power-building and network aligning efforts; and 6) Catalyzed powerful policy wins.

Led by a woman of color and with a dedicated growing team of six staffers who work virtually across the country, CJSF is poised to expand our team this fall. The Director of Narrative and Communications will report to the Executive Director.

ABOUT NEW VENTURE FUND

CJSF is a project of New Venture Fund (NVF), a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new & innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. NVF is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. NVF’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you work.

POSITION SUMMARY:

This position is dedicated to leading and advancing the communications, narrative building and storytelling work of Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) in support of its national network of partners and the movement for racial justice in education. The Director of Narrative and Communications will build strong narratives, strategic communications, and overall messaging about CJSF’s mission, organizational work and priorities (55%). The Director will also collaborate with CJSF’s movement partners by providing strategic communications and narrative building training in support of portfolio and movement wide communications and storytelling efforts (30%). The Director will also co-manage an Operations Associate and collaborate across the organization in learning, training and overall relationship management with key stakeholders (15%). The goal of this position is to expand CJSF’s reach and increase donor, partner, and philanthropic engagement and collaboration, and to support CJSF and our movement partners in building impactful narratives and achieving our communications goals in service of the education justice movement.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:

• Update CJSF’s organizational branding across all online and in person materials
• Co-create communications and narrative work plans with goals, timelines, and deliverables across and for all departments
• Elevate CJSF’s public voice and communications presence by creating and distributing strategic communications in philanthropic and public journals, newspapers, digital and print media for local and national outlets
• Build and manage external media partnerships
• Gather and synthesize the internal and external flow of information and data from program and operational staff, donor members and movement partners; support stakeholders to analyze and interpret information to improve our collective work and impact
• Redesign and maintain CJSF’s website and social media presence across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others, including setting targets and tracking metrics
• Develop and implement event marketing strategies for CJSF hosted events such as webinars and workshops, in person annual convenings, galas, training and capacity building offerings
• Partner with and manage external communications consultants who support the creation and distribution of digital, video, and audio content
• Align with CJSF partners to develop organizer-centric communication and narrative building strategy and tools
• Train and facilitate strategy and learning sessions for movement partners, staff and donor leaders on narrative power-building and strategic communications
• Increase access of CJSF partners to communications-related resources and research strategies
• Amplify the voice of movement partners
• Support staff with in hosting CJSF webinars and the production of knowledge pieces by our Programs and Development team, ensuring digital and other accessibility needs
• Develop CJSF content in collaboration with the senior leadership team that aids our fundraising and mission, and strategic priorities such as quarterly presentations to donors, annual reports, end of year recaps, thought pieces, newsletters, and email communications to stakeholders

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE, AND SKILLS:

• Desire and proven experience in developing communications and narrative power building strategies that center and speak to the expertise of community organizers and our analysis around education and racial justice
• Experience creating flyers, websites, social media or online content, op-ed pieces, annual reports and quarterly presentations
• Experience writing, speaking, facilitating, and developing media strategies that communicate social justice politics
• Strong writing and copy-editing skills and the ability to break complex topics down into accessible terms without sacrificing storytelling quality or impact
• Creative with experience taking large ideas and turning them into concrete project plans with actionable strategies, tactics, and deliverables
• A demonstrated commitment to advancing racial justice and equity and building Black/Brown solidarity and a keen analysis on how to build narrative and communications power for social justice movements
• Background in managing staff and seasoned consultants
• Experience designing and delivering trainings to young adults and adults including staff, donors, organizers, and directly impacted leaders across diverse geography, race, ethnicity, language (primarily English then Spanish) and age
• Strong understanding of the strategic communications and narrative power building field
• Possess a vast network of communicators, media producers, and narrative producers in service to the racial and social justice movement

Compensation & Benefits

The salary range for this position is $120,000-$160,000. Final offers for the role will be based upon several factors including the position requirements, candidate’s experience level, and capabilities. We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees (and their families). Employees are able to enroll in 401k retirement plan and are eligible for a 3% automatic contribution and up to a 3% employer match on 401k contributions. Employees are also eligible for pre-tax transportation benefits. Employees will receive up to 80 hours of health leave, up to 2 days of casual leave, and 20 hours of volunteer leave annually and be able to accrue up to 120 hours of vacation time per year. Employees will also receive 13 paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Employees are eligible for 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave after 90 days of employment.

Applications

To apply, please email your cover letter, resume, 2 written work samples (for example, a communications or narrative power building strategy and work plan) and marketing/communications content created such as a newsletter, annual report, social media handle or website you’ve developed. Please also include a list of references that includes their names, affiliation, description of relationship with you, phone number, and email address, in confidence to: info@cjsfund.org References will not be contacted until the final stage of the search and candidates will be given an opportunity to notify their references in advance.  

NVF Non-Discrimination Policy

New Venture Fund is a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides grants and capacity building resources to the U.S. reproductive justice movement. We are committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and that enables each of us to realize our potential. Our work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of races, ethnicities, national origins, ages, sexual orientations, gender identities, beliefs, religions, faiths and ideologies, cultures, socio- economic backgrounds and levels of physical ability.

NVF Race, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Commitment

We envision a more equitable world, built on fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all. As changemakers building the most effective charitable projects, we know that advancing race equity, equity, diversity and inclusion (REDI) is essential to solving our world’s most pressing problems. As such, we dedicate ourselves to integrating REDI into our work and our culture. As we learn more, we will do more — ours is a continuous journey of learning, growth, and innovation.

New Venture Fund COVID-10 Vaccination Policy

To center the safety and well-being of its employees, Communities for Just Schools Fund requires that any employee who is required to conduct in-person activities for their job must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 within four weeks of their start date. This position may require candidates to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Accommodations may be sought and approved in accordance with the law by contacting human resources at HR@newventurefund.org