Program Officer, Vote Your Voice

The Program Officer for the Vote Your Voice (VYV) donor advised fund (DAF) is responsible for representing SPLC internally and externally, building, and nurturing funding and other relationships with nonprofit partners, public institutions, aligned funders and other movement leaders in voting rights. As the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) primary liaison with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (CFGA) where the DAF is housed, they will be chiefly responsible for ensuring that SPLC’s goals for VYV are realized through the DAF’s diverse grantmaking, strategic activity, and communication and coordination with grantees.

Vote Your Voice is a donor advised fund housed at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. SPLC has committed $100 million to it through 2031 to fund voter registration, voter mobilization, civic engagement, and capacity building among non-profit organizations conducting this work in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. SPLC’s goal is to increase voter and civic participation among communities of color, help voters of color overcome barriers to voting that target them, and improve participation in the 2030 census so that the next redistricting process results in more accurate and fair representation.

The Program Officer is simultaneously a coordinator, strategist, and philanthropic officer, responsible for championing the SPLC grantmaking ethos with the CFGA and potential funders. They are responsible for convening key SPLC stakeholders to provide oversight to VYV including:

• Review and decision making for VYV grant applications.
• Development of new grant programs.
• Establishing and maintaining relationships with VYV grantees.

This position will end in 2031 as funding for this program will end at that time.

Primary Job Functions: 

• Primary liaison and thought partner with the CFGA.
• Support the design and execution of an effective strategy for the Vote Your Voice 10-year grantmaking strategy.
• On behalf of SPLC, facilitate final decisions on VYV grant awards (recipients, award amounts, duration, etc.).
• Implement grantmaking review and approval processes and structure for relevant SPLC staff. This includes partnering with CFGA in managing the intake, design, and launch of new VYV funds, grantmaking and strategic programs (i.e., capacity building, training, convenings, etc.) and includes setting clear goals, scoping, process, and communication needs and ongoing quality assurance and monitoring.
• Identify potential conflicts where SPLC must leave grantmaking decisions solely to the CFGA.
• Create and coordinate opportunities for VYV grantees to convene and partner and secure new funding sources for the VYV DAF.
• Form relationships with VYV grantees to identify challenges in implementation and/or gaps which VYV could help solve.
• Identify new and emerging organizations for potential funding.
• Using data, identify and prioritize counties and regions where VYV should focus resources for greatest impact.
• Review and analyze progress reports to develop new/changes to grant programs.
• Represent the VYV/SPLC at external events.
• Work with CFGA to support grantees in sharing and submitting evaluation and/or outcome data feedback loop with SPLC and CFGA for impact assessments.
• Work with the CFGA staff to identify partners and vendors that can provide support services to all grantees.
• Prepare progress reports on the overall VYV initiative for SPLC senior staff and board of directors.

Qualifications –

Education and Related Work Experience:

• A minimum of seven (7) years of grantmaking or philanthropic foundation experience, including working directly with grantees.
• Demonstrated experience related to voting rights, civic engagement, and/or community organizing.
• Familiarity with IRS rules governing a 501(c)(3) organization — specifically boundaries of (c)(3)-permissible voter engagement.
• Demonstrated experience interacting with the communities that VYV serves.
• High school diploma or GED.

 Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to build honest and responsive relationships with current and potential grantees.
• Inspires trust, invites collaboration, and engenders an environment of teamwork.
• Ability to coach SPLC staff on the appropriate role of a funder and uses of a DAF, i.e., grant requests, reporting requirements, level of communication with grantees, etc.).
• Ability to make balanced decisions that are both supported by data and include qualitative measures.
• Ability to meet deadlines, take initiative, receive constructive feedback.
• Strong project management skills.
• Experience working across departments or teams within an organization.
• Experienced with voter data, including the voter engagement platforms commonly used by grantees;
• Experience working in diverse communities and with grassroots organizations.
• Excellent writing and public speaking communication skills.
• Must have continual attention-to-detail to all projects while establishing priorities and meeting deadlines.
• Must be able to work in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to manage multiple competing tasks and demands.
• The ability to work independently and/or with a team and prioritize several projects at once.
• Ability to travel up to 30 percent across the southeastern states.
• Commitment to fostering anti-racist work culture and to anti-racist principles and learning; and
• Commitment to the mission, vision, and values of SPLC.

Work Designation:

This role has the following work designation options:

• Remote Distant: Will work remotely and are not expected to work in the states in which the SPLC has an office or in an SPLC office. They may be required to attend occasional meetings or activities in the states in which the SPLC has an office or elsewhere.

Compensation:

• This is an exempt role, and the minimum starting salary is $92,033 annually.  Salary will be commensurate with experience.

Other Special Considerations:

This job is performed under general office conditions and is not subject to any strenuous physical demands or dangerous conditions.

This position is represented by the Washington-Baltimore News Guild.

Up to 30 percent of this position’s time is expected to be spent traveling and working on-site with grantees across SPLC’s five states, as well as meeting with the CFGA staff in person, in Atlanta on a regular, scheduled basis.

This position will end in 2031.

Disclaimer:

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the employee in this position.  These statements are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of a person in this position.

An Equal-Opportunity Employer with a Commitment to Diversity

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and as an organization committed to diversity and the perspective of all voices, we consider applicants equally of race, gender, gender identity, color, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability, political affiliation, national origin, or prior record of arrest or conviction.