Public Justice is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to taking on the biggest systemic threats to justice of our time – abusive corporate power and predatory practices, the assault on civil rights, and the destruction of the earth’s sustainability. We connect high-impact litigation with strategic communications and the strength of our partnerships to fight these abusive and discriminatory systems and win social and economic justice.

In particular, we ensure access to the civil justice system, protect the civil rights of students, boldly lead efforts to reform the industrial agriculture system, fight to end modern-day debtor’s prisons, enforce the nation’s most important environmental laws, and much more.

Public Justice is seeking an experienced, strategic, and highly organized professional to serve as our Board Relations Manager & Executive Assistant to the CEO.

This is a unique opportunity to help shape and lead the governance infrastructure of a national public interest litigation organization, while also serving as a close strategic partner to our Chief Executive Officer. The Board Relations Manager & Executive Assistant to the CEO designs, leads, and owns Public Justice’s board development and governance infrastructure, serves as the organization’s chief Board relations officer, and advises the CEO and Board leadership on governance strategy and board development priorities. This role also works closely with volunteer Board members to help them fulfill their duties, oversees board meeting logistics and scheduling, manages the annual board election and recruitment strategy, and serves as executive assistant to the CEO.

This is an exempt position and reports to the Chief Executive Officer. This position is based in our Washington, DC office.

Job Responsibilities:

Board Relations – estimated at 70% of the annual workload.

Serves as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to the CEO and Board leadership on all matters of governance, not merely administering established board processes but designing, improving, and owning the organization’s board-governance infrastructure, and helping to develop practices and procedures that strategically guide and develop the organization’s most senior leaders.
Serves as a primary point-person, project manager and facilitator for Public Justice’s 63-member Board of Directors, 40+ Past Presidents, and the organization’s Emeritus Board, maintaining deep, institutional knowledge of the Board’s bylaws and resolutions, providing critical information, insight, and guidance regarding board best practices, governing strategies, bylaws, resolutions, policies, and procedures, and providing expert staff counsel to the CEO and board leaders, especially Public Justice’s Board President and Executive Committee.
Provides staff leadership to the Board Development and Nominating (BDN) Committee, designing and leading the strategy for identifying and recruiting Board candidates who meet the organization’s strategic and governance needs, including:
Serving as primary staff liaison to the BDN Committee;
Ensuring the proper tracking of board terms, renewals, and board service history;
Managing the annual BDN calendar for nominations, elections, and other critical and time-sensitive timelines;
Overseeing election balloting and outcomes, including managing and distributing the board candidate roster;
Identifying, cultivating, and vetting potential board candidates and nominees; and
Managing the board mentorship program for newly elected board members.
Ensures proper tracking, and quarterly reporting, of annual board service requirements and board members’ status vis-à-vis requirements, and proactively engages Board Members to sustain their active participation in the Board’s governance work.
Serves as a secondary staff liaison to the board Executive Committee, working closely with, and advising, the board officers and CEO on board governance and management issues.
Oversees preparation, editing, and management of all board and committee meeting minutes, and works with the Secretary of the Board on minutes and other board communications and record-keeping.
Ensures timely preparation and distribution of the organization’s quarterly board package.
Anticipates board needs and questions, and provides timely and proactive solutions to board leadership and the CEO.
Manages the scheduling and logistics of board meetings, including securing meeting facilities, distributing related board materials, managing calendar invitations, and serving as staff point-person for meeting vendors.
Ensures all board committees, including the Board’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility Committee and the Board Development & Nominations Committee, remain engaged and properly focused on their areas of work, encouraging and supporting regular meetings and advising on board communications, policies, bylaws, and resolutions.

Executive Assistant to the CEO – estimated at 30% of the annual workload.

Provides comprehensive support services to the CEO that ensures outstanding communication and responsiveness.
Provides sophisticated calendar management; prioritizes inquiries and requests, troubleshoots conflicts with little guidance, and makes judgments and recommendations to ensure smooth day-to-day engagements.
Supports the CEO with internal and external communications.
Conducts research on issues of interest or relevance to the CEO.
Manages all scheduling and travel logistics for the CEO.
Prepares and edits correspondence, presentations, reports, and memos.
Completes expense reports.
Organizes meetings and events for the CEO.
Maintains quality filing and communications systems, including contact management, document management, and archiving.
Supports the CEO’s donor and funder relations work.
Assists with other administrative tasks as needed.

Requirements and Qualifications:

Minimum 10 years of senior-level administrative, governance, Board, or similar experience advising and working with organizational or other leaders.
Exceptional communication, writing, and editing skills.
Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to take initiative, multi-task, be flexible, adapt to shifting priorities, and prioritize work.
Experience with donor or other CRM/database services (such as Bonterra, Salesforce, etc.) is strongly preferred.
Willingness to travel as needed, including to quarterly Board meetings and other organizational meetings and events.
Sensitivity to the needs and concerns of, and the ability to work with, individuals and groups from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and orientations.
Prior experience in non-profit or governmental committee, governance, or other administrative leadership positions is a plus.
Good judgment and ability to function independently.
Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Adobe applications.
Ability to manage up.
Experience handling sensitive and confidential situations with diplomacy and maintaining confidentiality.

Salary and Benefits:

Public Justice offers a mission-focused work environment, a teamwork and community-oriented work culture, and a competitive compensation package. We recognize and support healthy work-life balance policies, including operating on a four-day work week year-round. We also offer a generous benefits package, including flexible time off, two weeks of sick leave, all federal and some local holidays, end of the year office closure, employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance premiums for employees and eligible dependents, and a 401(k) plan.

Public Justice has offices in Washington, DC and Oakland, CA. Because Public Justice handles litigation, education, and advocacy nationally, this position may entail some travel, including to quarterly Board meetings.

Public Justice uses a structured, step-based compensation system, developed with an independent compensation consultant and benchmarked to the 60th percentile of the D.C. market, to ensure consistent, transparent pay for every role. This position is classified as Job Level 4, with a salary range of $124,270 to $133,439, depending on experience.

Applications

Please send your cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to pjjobs@publicjustice.net.

Public Justice EEO Statement

Public Justice is an equal-opportunity employer and values a diverse workplace. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equitable employment opportunities are available to all applicants. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, disability, veteran status, record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. People of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender and gender-diverse people, women, people with abilities in multiple languages, immigrants, people living with disabilities, veterans, and formerly incarcerated individuals are strongly encouraged to apply. Public Justice is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you require reasonable accommodations during any part of the hiring process, please email hr@publicjustice.net.

Studies have shown that members of marginalized groups tend to underestimate their qualifications and are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every single one of the qualifications in a job description, despite the reality that applicants rarely ever meet 100% of the qualifications. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization and are most interested in finding the best candidate for the role. That candidate may come from a background less traditional to our field of work, and that’s okay! We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of the qualifications described.

No phone calls please. For more information on Public Justice, please visit our website at http://www.publicjustice.net.

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Board Relations Manager & Executive Assistant to the CEO