Vice President, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

About National Women’s Law Center

The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy, and in our society—working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us—especially women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. Please visit: https://nwlc.org/about/ for more information about NWLC’s history, impact and leadership.

National Women’s Law Center is entering a new phase as an institution, crafting an updated vision and strategy for impact. The organization seeks to enhance and leverage its expertise, multi-issue approach, relationships with movements and influencers, and status within the legal community to drive a bold gender justice agenda. Working meaningfully at the intersections of race, gender, LGBTQ+, disability, age, national origin, and income, the National Women’s Law Center aspires to be recognized and trusted by a broad range of stakeholders.

About the Opportunity

National Women’s Law Center has been deeply engaged in its own journey to become an anti-racist organization and a leader in prioritizing, centering and advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in its work and culture. This first-ever Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at NWLC, has the exciting opportunity to make a transformational impact on the organization’s broader work. This new leader will design and help the organization live up to its commitment to creating the conditions for a safe, equitable and inclusive workplace grounded in gender, racial, and economic justice.

Reporting directly to, and partnering with, both the President & Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Operating Officer & Chief of Staff, the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging will serve as a member of the senior leadership team. The incoming VP-DEIB will bring significant expertise to develop the vision and strategy for the next phase of NWLC’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging work, operationalizing it throughout the organization.

Critical to this role and its work is a leader who has a deep familiarity with and understanding of the historical underpinnings of racism and how it intersects with and is magnified by misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, ageism, xenophobia, poverty, and other forms of oppression, as well as how to create diverse, equitable and inclusive cultures within organizations that are themselves trying to create more diverse, equitable, inclusive and justice-driven outcomes through their vision, mission and impact.

Areas of Leadership

Executive Strategy & Leadership: Serve as a member of the senior leadership team, partnering with the President & CEO, COO & Chief of Staff, General Counsel, and other Vice Presidents to shape the organization's strategy, priorities, and resource allocation and integrate work across teams and functions, fostering healthy communication and collaboration.

• Lead the continued development of a vision and strategy for equity and inclusion work, including values, shared language, and metrics, and establish the organization’s dedicated DEIB team, operations, and structures to advance the work over time.
• Partner with the internal equity team, labor-management committee and senior staff colleagues to continue shaping NWLC’s north star for its DEIB work and commitments, translating organizational values for equity and inclusion into systems, practices, and day-to-day work and helping to lead, facilitate and support ongoing organizational change.
• Help NWLC translate its organizational vision for DEIB into organization-wide planning, systems and policies that are designed, implemented, and regularly reviewed for equity and inclusion.

Organizational Culture Leadership: Develop, build upon, and steward the NWLC culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion - one that helps retain and attract staff of all backgrounds - and foster authentic and genuine belonging.

• Honor and support the staff’s ongoing DEIB work by building on previous work to create shared values, language and definitions.
• Develop and lead a learning agenda that fosters a culture of equity, inclusion, and belonging and disrupts bias, including training and coaching on giving and receiving feedback, having courageous conversations, and navigating conflict.
• Collaborate with human resources staff, ensuring that NWLC’s vision for diversity, equity, and inclusion shows up in its hiring, onboarding, promotions, compensation, and performance management practices with the goal of attracting, retaining, and developing a talented and diverse staff.

Key Qualifications

Mission & Values Alignment:

• Demonstrated commitment to fighting for gender justice across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls.
• Understanding of mission-driven organizations who work at and use their power to influence at national and state levels, as well as in communities, courts, with legislative and executive bodies, and in media and culture.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Expertise:

• Demonstrated experience visioning, creating and integrating a short and long-term DEIB strategy throughout an organization’s programs, operations and practices.
• Familiarity with research and expert-based best practices that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across a widely networked, nationally focused organization and its internal team.

Executive Leadership Experience:

• Demonstrated success serving as a senior leader within a mission-driven organization, with a large staff driving programming and impact.
• Demonstrated success building and directly managing a team that works cross-functionally.
• Demonstrated ability to design, develop and facilitate the implementation of organizational strategies and goals, working with and through Senior Leadership team members and other organizational stakeholders to advance DEI-goals.

Change Leadership:

• Ability to identify and lead through change, including organizational and behavioral change across levels and audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively work with and manage through change to arrive at equitable and inclusive solutions.
• Demonstrated success with implementing new ways of operating and operationalizing and sustaining change within the culture, processes and structures of an organization.

Relationship Building & Collaboration:

• Demonstrated ability to cultivate, grow, and manage mutually beneficial and trusting relationships at all levels of an organization, and to guide direct reports in this work.
• Proven collaborator and facilitator with the ability to work with and through senior leadership teams, as well as across all levels of a team - individually and collectively - to address conflict and build a healthy culture.

Compensation & Benefits

National Women’s Law Center’s compensation framework is based on role and years of relevant work experience. A minimum salary of $213,639 will be provided to the successful candidate with up to 20 years of experience directly relevant to this role.

The Law Center offers a comprehensive benefits package, and four weeks of annual vacation.

NWLC is a non-profit organization whose headquarters and staff are based in Washington, D.C., with our office located in historic Dupont Circle. However, due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, all NWLC staff are temporarily working remotely. We continue to monitor public health guidance and keep safety, science, and flexibility top of mind as we evaluate what reopening looks like for our team. This role will be based out of NWLC’s D.C. headquarters.

To apply, please submit your application and cover letter using this link.