Position Summary: The Reproductive Justice (RJ) Program Director is responsible for advancing Groundswell’s reproductive justice grantmaking strategy through our Catalyst Fund and for supporting key staff who lead our Birth Justice Fund and other grantmaking strategies. Working closely with the Senior Director of Grantmaking, Program Officers, Program Associates, Senior Grants Manager, key consultants, grantmaking advisors, and other staff members, the RJ Program Director contributes to the design and implementation of Catalyst Fund grantmaking strategy, capacity building, evaluation, communications, and funder organizing. This includes taking a leadership role in being a spokesperson and fundraising for the Catalyst Fund and Groundswell’s other reproductive justice work. Funder Organizing (fundraising) is an integral responsibility of this role. The RJ Program Director, alongside other leaders in the Grantmaking Department, will also play an important role in the field of philanthropy by generating increased visibility and resources for reproductive justice. Importantly, the RJ Program Director will supervise and manage key program staff, including Program Officers and Program Associates leading our Catalyst Fund, Birth Justice Fund, and Rapid Response Fund. The RJ Program Director will play a senior leadership role in supporting a healthy, connected and joyful Grantmaking Department within a remote work environment, alongside other senior leaders in the Grantmaking Department. 

 

Responsibilities: 

Management and Leadership | approximately 30% 

• • Supervise direct reports, including Program Officers and Program Associates for Catalyst Fund for Reproductive Justice, Birth Justice Fund, and Rapid Response Fund.  
• • Remain accessible on a daily basis to provide guidance and mentorship to direct reports to help live into Groundswell’s value of creating a leaderful organization. 

• • Hold weekly supervision with direct reports and fulfil management responsibilities in a timely manner.  
• • Play a leadership role in the Grantmaking Department, alongside Senior Director of Grantmaking, Black Trans Fund Program Director, Senior Grants Manager, including facilitating meetings, convenings, project plans, planning processes.  
• • Play a leadership role in Groundswell Fund, including collaborating with other Groundswell departments and contributing to Groundswell’s field strategy.

    

Grantmaking | approximately 30%  

• • Lead the Catalyst Fund grantmaking strategy and manage a diverse portfolio of reproductive justice grantees, in partnership with the Senior Director of Grantmaking and other program staff. 

• • Lead comprehensive reviews of grant applicants and facilitate the launch of a participatory grantmaking advisory committee.  
• • Cultivate relationships with grantee partners and prospective grantees.  
• • Conduct grantee site visits, phone calls, virtual meetings, and/or webinars.  
• • Cultivate relationships with Groundswell’s partners, stakeholders, peer funders, and funders to strengthen collaboration and learning to advance our grantmaking.  
• • Partner with Senior Grants Manager and Program Associate to ensure effective grants management processes that are rooted in Trust Based Philanthropy, including developing less burdensome applications and reporting processes, implementing easy-to-use software, ensuring timely grant payments with our Finance Department, and supporting the gathering of necessary grantee documents and information.  

• • Preparation of external and internal communications documents, including dockets or grant summaries for external and internal audiences.  
• • Work with Groundswell’s Communications department to ensure up to date reflection of current grantee information on website, social media, and other written communications.  
• • Identify new grantees, priorities, gaps and opportunities in alignment with Groundswell’s mission and Blueprint strategy. 
• • Research trends in philanthropy, reproductive justice, and related social justice movements.  

 

Funder Organizing | approximately 20%  

• • Lead and support funder organizing (fundraising) for the Catalyst Fund and Groundswell, including providing frequent program updates and helping to organize funder organizing events.  
• • Serve as an effective public spokesperson for Groundswell and raise the visibility of reproductive justice by writing and speaking in diverse forums, including to the media, funders and donors.  
• • Build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with funder colleagues, individual donors, grantees, and other key partners.  
• • Facilitate and participate in presentations and workshops for philanthropic/donor meetings and key movement conferences.  

• • Actively engage in philanthropic networks to promote reproductive justice, Groundswell Fund, and the powerful work of grantees.  
• • Represent Groundswell Fund at external-facing philanthropic and movement-level meetings and conferences. 
• • Lead or assist in the planning of Groundswell-specific funder organizing events, webinar briefings, webinars and activities that help to foster connection and learning among funders, donors, and grantees and to raise more awareness and investments in reproductive justice movements.  

  
  

Capacity Building and Field Building | approximately 10% 

• • Lead evaluation and learning activities to demonstrate the effectiveness and impact of reproductive justice grantees, including stewarding Groundswell’s annual RJ Impact Evaluation. 

• • Regularly monitor and evaluate the progress and impact of grantees.  
• • Manage consultant contracts and supervise consultants who are doing field-facing technical assistance and capacity building programs. 
• • Project manage and/or contribute to the implementation of capacity building and technical assistance programs for grantees.  
• • Support collaborative grantmaking and capacity building support between the Catalyst Fund and other Groundswell funds/programs and external partners. 
• • Partner with the Grantmaking Department, Capacity Building Department, Finance Department, Funder Organizing Department, and Groundswell Action Fund (c4) to implement cross-departmental programming for grantees. 

• • Coach and support grantees to be effective spokespeople and ambassadors through Groundswell’s various opportunities to highlight grantee partners through our communications and funder organizing work.  
• • Remain friendly and accessible to grantees seeking help to strengthen their foundation fundraising, including making introductions to funders where appropriate, reviewing draft applications and proposals to make grantees more competitive with other funders, and offering feedback to strengthen grantees’ work and communications.  
• • Offer resources and technical assistance to grantees undergoing leadership transitions, rapid expansion, and organizational development challenges.  

 

Other Duties | approximately 10%  

• • Maintain a collaborative, positive, professional and friendly approach to working with supervisor, other staff, grantees, and external stakeholders.   
• • Work proactively and in good faith to support and strengthen the overall stability and effectiveness of the organization.   
• • Utilize direct communication and proactive problem solving to address internal organizational challenges and disagreements.    
• • Attend all required internal and external meetings.  

• • Complete required reports, workplans, and paperwork on time.  
• • Participate proactively to fulfil staff duties, including making every effort to meet deadlines, particularly around HR, IT, Finance, Funder Organizing, and program-related matters.   
• • Perform other duties as assigned. 

  
  

Qualifications:

Essential 

• • This is a remote position and applicants must be able to work from home.  
• • Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively via phone and email with a range of stakeholders.  
• • 4 to 6 years of experience within the reproductive justice movement, reproductive justice movement, and/or social justice philanthropy.  
• • Prior experience successfully managing staff and consultants.  
• • Strong commitment to Groundswell’s mission, including support and knowledge about reproductive justice, abortion access, contraception justice, birth justice, young pregnant and parenting people, LGBTQ issues, trans justice, sex worker rights, people who use substances, people with experience with the criminal legal system, undocumented and immigrant communities, disabled people, and economic justice and racial justice issues. 

• • Strong interest in philanthropy, grantmaking, and organizing funders to support reproductive justice and social justice issues. 

Strongly Preferred 

• • Previous grantmaking experience for social justice issues, including participatory grantmaking experience.  
• • Foundation fundraising experience, grassroots fundraising experience, and/or media and communications experience.  
• • Strong interpersonal and group facilitation skills.  

• • Comfort working across cultures and difference, including experience and comfort working with people of color and transgender and gender expansive people.  
• • Strong analytical, critical decision making, project management, and process improvement skills.  
• • Unwavering commitment to excellence and producing high quality work products.  
• • Superb attention to detail and deadline-driven. 
• • Ability to work independently, on multiple projects at a time, and across several time zones.  

Preferred 

• • Bilingual, Spanish/English is a plus. 
• • At least 3 years of experience working in social justice movements.  
• • Experience with Slack, Fluxx, Asana, Box, GSuite, Microsoft Office, and Neon.  
• • Comfort with technology and learning new technologies.   

  

Computer Skills:  To perform this job successfully, the candidate should have comfort and a high level of proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite of programs, the ability to work with basic web platforms, database software, web browsers, social media, and conferencing software. Familiarity and comfort  with the following software and platforms are preferred: Slack, GSuite, Zoom, Neon, Calendly, Bill.com, Concur, Asana, and PC and/or Mac Computers.