Community Economic Justice Program Director
: Job Details :

Description

East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) is a non-profit legal services organization, the community-based clinical program for U.C. Berkeley Law School, and one of the Bay Area's largest and most effective systems disrupters. With a dual service and teaching mission, EBCLC is a racial justice organization committed to building a culturally diverse workplace, centered on equity. With about 75 staff, 100 law students a year, and a nearly $10 million annual budget, EBCLC is the largest provider of free legal services in Alameda County, providing multimodal, collaborative, and holistic legal services to over 4,000 clients annually and engaging in legislative and policy advocacy at the state and local level.

The Opportunity

EBCLC is excited to recruit a Program Director for its Community Economic Justice (CEJ) program who can lead a team of 4 advocates in our effort to promote people-oriented economic development through the advancement of community-based businesses and affordable housing solutions. Under the supervision of EBCLC's Deputy Director, the Program Director supervises 2 Staff Attorneys, and a Program Manager, and helps train and supervise law students. The Program Director spearheads CEJ's community-centered transactional law practice and engages with EBCLC's 7 other legal practice areas, as well as other organizations and foundations.

Please note that CEJ is currently recruiting for both Program Director and Staff Attorney positions but only one of these positions will be filled immediately. The other position is expected to be filled in January 2025. The sequence of which position will be filled first will be determined by the strength of the candidates.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop strong reciprocal relationships with local anti-displacement and economic justice advocates and continually refine CEJ's goals and services to support community needs and social movements;
• Manage CEJ, providing vision, planning, and implementation of the work within the context of EBCLC's larger racial justice mission to ensure the programs' multi-modal approach remains coordinated and strategic;
• Identify opportunities to deploy transactional legal tools to preserve social, economic, and cultural resources in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods through community benefits agreements and limited scope representation of individual small businesses, nonprofits and cooperatives;
• Supervise and support a 4-person team providing support on professional development, performance evaluation, workload management, and wellness;
• Ensure the training, supervision, and support of law students, including helping to design curriculum, providing highly interactive legal and skills training, and co-facilitating weekly individual and group supervision meetings;
• Participate in ongoing professional development to improve management skills, client services, and student supervision;
• Work with Executive Director, Deputy Director, and development team to attract financial support for the CEJ program, oversee grants management, and provide general administrative oversight;
• Serve on EBCLC's management team, providing input and support for the broader organization;
• Serve as the primary contact with the community and media, including responding to press and service provider inquiries, making presentations to the public, community, and other professional groups, and overseeing staff to whom these tasks have been delegated;
• Other tasks as assigned by the Deputy Director.

Salary and Benefits

Starting salary for this exempt position is $104,000 – $115,000, as dictated by the EBCLC salary scale.

Benefits include fully paid health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) for employees and their dependents, life and disability insurance, and generous paid leave (vacation, sick, and holidays); EBCLC also offers flexible spending accounts for qualified health, dependent care, and commute expenditures; and retirement options.

Workplace Expectations

EBCLC is a hybrid workplace. Please note that this position will require attendance at in-person meetings and/or engagement in in-person fieldwork. Your supervisor will review EBCLC's Office Use Protocol with you, which outlines the safety protocols employees are expected to follow when using the office.

Working at EBCLC

EBCLC is a unionized workplace and members of the bargaining unit are represented by the Engineers and Scientists of California Local 20, IFPTE. This position is part of the bargaining unit.

EBCLC is strongly committed to advancing justice through education and advocacy, and the need to transform legal services and legal education. Please take time to review EBCLC's mission, vision, programs, and website, and ensure that your cover letter reflects how your background, experience, and expertise have prepared you to be successful in performing the responsibilities of the position.

Additionally, EBCLC is committed to building a culturally diverse workplace centered on equity and providing an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients.

To achieve this goal, EBCLC works actively to improve our office climate, systems and structures, communications, and community engagement to create an inclusive and respectful workplace where differences are acknowledged and valued. In your cover letter, please address how your personal background and experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to contribute to our commitment to cultural responsiveness and diversity amongst our staff.

We strongly encourage individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply. EBCLC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior contact with the criminal legal system, or any other basis prohibited by law.

Application Process:

The position will remain open until filled. EBCLC will review applications and interview applicants on a rolling basis and will only review complete applications. A complete application must include a cover letter, resume, short writing sample, and names/contact information for three professional references. Please submit your complete application as one single pdf file by uploading it under “Upload your Resume.”

Requirements

• J.D. required (member of California Bar in good standing preferred);
• Minimum 5 years of experience working as a transactional lawyer;
• Experience in (i) legal services on behalf of low-income clients, (ii) policy advocacy in partnership with community organizers, grassroots coalitions, and/or social movements, or (iii) another form of community- or movement-lawyering;
• Demonstrated commitment to racial justice;
• Demonstrated inclusive leadership skills;
• Excellent time management, priority-setting, and organizational skills;
• Strong interpersonal skills, flexibility, and demonstrated ability to work well independently and as part of a team;
• Ability to provide supervision and guidance within a highly collaborative working environment;
• Excellent written and oral advocacy skills;
• Ability to partner and work effectively with a diverse range of people, including but not limited to clients, law students, service providers, school staff, judges and other government employees, community partners, elected officials, and law school faculty.