Liberation Ventures- Vice President of Narrative Change

POSITION TITLE: Liberation Ventures- Vice President of Narrative Change

LOCATION: Remote/Oakland, CA

STATUS: Exempt

APPLY BY: Open Until Filled

Liberation Ventures Overview

Liberation Ventures (LV) is building the power to win federal, comprehensive reparations for Black Americans. LV is a field catalyst and intermediary, and exists to support the incredible field of people and organizations across the country building momentum toward that North Star. LV is guided by five organizational beliefs.

LV’s three pillars of work include:

• Mobilizing abundant resources by investing in organizations that accelerate the reparations movement & co-creating grantmaking strategies with practitioners in the field.
• Spreading irresistible narratives by building narrative power, amplifying the stories of our movement, and framing reparations as the issue of our time
• Strengthening movement capacity through relationship and connective tissue building, research, and tailored organizational development support.

Liberation Ventures is laying the groundwork to secure racial repair, at scale, in our lifetime. LV is building a multiracial democracy that works for all of us – and realizing a dream in our name, where reparations for Black people unlock true belonging for us all. To find out more about LV’s work, visit Liberation Ventures’ website.

Position Summary

This position is an exciting opportunity to join the staff at Liberation Ventures. Working closely with the Co-Founder & CEO, the LV team, and external consultants, the Vice President of Narrative Change will drive our narrative and culture change efforts. The VPNC will be responsible for implementing the narrative change pillar of LV’s work and will work in deep collaboration with colleagues across the organization to ensure that narrative change is also embedded in LV’s grantmaking, capacity building, and communications programs/functions.

This role is designed for someone with experience developing and implementing narrative and culture change strategies, who can also ensure that the organization’s communications function is aligned to those strategies. They have experience with understanding audience segments and designing tailored interventions to move specific audiences toward a goal, and they can roll up their sleeves while also holding the big picture. Exceptional candidates will possess clear thinking and strong communication skills, enabling them to effectively convey complex information to various audiences. Moreover, they should be enthusiastic about collaborating with both internal and external stakeholders, serving as a valuable partner in all of LV's endeavors.

The VPNC will report directly to the Co-Founder and CEO.

Core Responsibilities and Qualifications

Mission and Values Alignment**:** This person understands the dynamics of at-scale movements for justice and political and cultural change, and can hold the complexity required to be deeply accountable to a myriad of stakeholders.

• Key qualifications:
  • Deep belief in Liberation Ventures’ mission
  • Demonstrated commitment to LV’s beliefs in practice.
  • Strong understanding of LV’s field of work — racial, economic, and gender justice and their intersections, and the systems and structures that cause ongoing harm in these areas.
  • Able to hold multiple truths at the same time related to running a liberatory organization within a capitalist system, and able to take decisive action from that position.
  • Understands complexity as it relates to identity; able to hold and understand parts of one’s identity that are historically marginalized as well as parts of one’s identity that are historically powerful and/or hold more contemporary power (i.e. social capital)
  • Able to see, name, and navigate power and privilege dynamics in a group and contribute to a working environment where all people are equally valued, feel cared for, and are accountable to each other.

Narrative and Culture Change Strategy: This person will design and implement the next phase of LV’s narrative and culture change strategy. This strategy will build on the first phase of the Reparations Narrative Lab, and support LV and the reparations movement at large to tell a new story to the country about reparations: what it is, who it is for, and why it matters.

• Key qualifications:
  • Seasoned practitioner; has experience developing and implementing creative and strategic narrative and culture change strategies and evaluating their impact.
  • Communications experience: able to work with LV staff and contractors to ensure that LV’s communications strategies are in line with narrative change goals.
  • Strategic and informed decision maker; able to zoom out and see the full picture, synthesize data from many different sources, identify implications for Liberation Ventures, operationalize those implications into organizational plans/priorities, and communicate them with clarity and nuance.
  • Strong and humble listener: able to receive feedback from partners and act on it with humility and care.
  • Experienced movement leader with a strong network of existing relationships inside the progressive/social justice movement
  • Highly innovative and adaptable; passionate about staying abreast of current shifts and trends in the field, and able to track opportunities, challenges, and progress on narrative change within the movement across the country over time and adjust LV programs accordingly.

Internal and External Partnerships: This person will build relationships with LV’s 40+ movement partners (grantees) and other organizations across the movement (e.g., nonprofits, academics, researchers, activists, artists, etc.). They will contribute to LV's 2025 grantmaking process (which will begin in mid-2024) by advising LV’s narrative and culture change grantmaking, as well as work across the organization to ensure that narrative change goals are embedded into LV’s capacity building efforts.

• Key qualifications:
  • Experienced relationship builder with peers, movement leaders, and funders from all backgrounds; skilled at building new partnerships through tensions and nuances that exist in the field.
  • Skilled at articulating strategic goals and organizational tradeoffs; able to hold boundaries and complexity in live dialogue with partners.
  • Comfort with public speaking and engaging with diverse audiences. Ability to communicate effectively via multiple platforms and in person, in both small and large groups.
  • Track record of creating conditions for healing, repair, and wellness across people and organizations within a movement

Accountable and Compassionate Management: Experience managing a team (internal and contractors) infused with collaboration, growth, and equity.

• Key qualifications:
  • Proven track record of senior leadership in a mission driven organization.
  • Able to manage multiple contractors to deliver high-quality, timely, aligned services to Liberation Ventures.
  • Exceptional project management skills: strong attention to detail and equitable, streamlined processes; highly organized and able to manage multiple streams of work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
  • Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
  • Track record of building “high EQ” teams dedicated to personal and professional growth.
  • Track record of serving as a thought partner and strategic advisor to executive leaders as well as reporting to and managing a board of directors.
  • Track record of building strong partnerships with team members at all levels of an organization; relational, collaborative approach to management and leadership.

Work Environment

This position is open to candidates in any location in the US. Liberation Ventures has a flexible, remote working environment. The Liberation Ventures team has quarterly in-person retreats, usually in New York City.

This position requires some travel; approximately two to three trips per quarter.

Compensation and Benefits

The starting salary range for the position is $150,000 - $190,000, dependent on experience. PolicyLink provides an excellent and comprehensive benefits package that includes unlimited vacation, medical, dental, vision, 401k match, ancillary benefits, access to Flexible Spending Accounts, commuter expenses, and generous leave benefits.

For this position, Liberation Ventures also provides a professional development stipend, coaching stipend, and annual healing bonus.

How to Apply

We only accept online applications.

Please note: No phone calls please. Only those selected to participate in our hiring process will be contacted.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT

PolicyLink strongly values equity and believes in a just and fair society where all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. We work towards a more inclusive world and as such we are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, skin color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood. PolicyLink is committed to maintaining a diverse and multicultural working environment.

“Proof of eligibility to work in the United States must be provided if selected for hire.”

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