Job Posting: Executive Director, Progress Virginia & Progress Virginia Education Fund

Progress Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. Women, people of color, persons with disabilities, veterans, and LGBTQI+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

About Progress Virginia:

At Progress Virginia and Progress Virginia Education Fund, we drive powerful, values-based narratives to uplift and amplify grassroots voices through innovative digital communications and earned media strategies. We build progressive power alongside marginalized communities to tear down systems of white supremacy, advocate for equitable policies, and ensure leaders reflect the communities they serve. We strive to be anti-racist in all that we do. We are committed to dismantling white supremacy and interrogating our work to ensure we are actively working toward racial equity, and all of our programs are tied to specific racial equity goals both internally and externally. 

PV/PVEF are the Commonwealth’s progressive communications and digital hub. You can learn more about our work at www.progressva.org. PV/PVEF are the state affiliates of ProgressNow, a national network of state-based progressive communications hubs. ProgressNow supports state  partners by offering management, strategic advice and resources to meet advocacy and organizational goals. Learn more about ProgressNow here: https://progressnow.org/about/

Core Responsibilities:

Develop, mentor and retain a strong team

  • Ensure a high-performing team is in place to own the day to day operations and programs 
  • Lead teams and programs in establishing and meeting goals 
  • Work with team to establish and build towards individual professional development goals
  • Ensure great results across the team 

Drive and Own Fundraising:

  • Bottom-line efforts to achieve Progress Virginia’s fundraising goals, including cultivation and stewardship of institutional, foundation, and individual donors to support PV/PVEF’s work
  • Be proactive in identifying prospective funding opportunities
  • Oversee growth of grassroots fundraising efforts
  • Ensure all grant reports and donor communications are timely, accurate, and impactful

Advance Progressive Wins

  • Shape PV’s overall strategy and own priority campaigns as needed to deliver progressive results 
  • Ensure PV and allies lead with values-forward communications that center the voices of impacted communities 
  • Cultivate a culture of innovation and experimentation to take big swings in advancing the organization’s work and testing new approaches 
  • Maintain relationships with allied elected officials 

Build Progressive Infrastructure & Political Power through Partnerships:

  • Cultivate and maintain relationships with external stakeholders and partners to maximize broad progressive results and power building 
  • Work closely with progressive partners to set and drive long-term strategy for Virginia’s progressive movement
  • Ensure PV/PVEF effectively engages in coalitions to support and execute compelling communications strategies

Organizational management & board development:

  • Work in partnership with staff to advance internal race equity work and goals 
  • Own management and oversight of organizational health, including budget development and tracking, financial systems and compliance
  • Manage board development and relationships

Who You Are:

  • A compelling leader with a strong vision for a progressive and equitable Virginia
  • Committed to progressive values and anti-racist work
  • An experienced strategist who can deconstruct complex challenges to identify a path forward
  • A strong communicator with excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Comfortable in front of a camera for media interviews, in front of a room to lead a presentation or training, or pitching potential donors at a networking event
  • Audacious and willing to push the envelope to take risks with new ideas and challenge the status quo

Requirements:

  • A demonstrated record of successfully managing high-performing teams in a remote or virtual environment.
  • Experience in labor, issue, political or community organizing and campaign communications. 
  • Willingness to travel to key locations around the state and Washington, D.C. as needed. National trips for meetings/conferences 3-6 times per year. (Post pandemic)
  • Strong people skills, ability to exercise good judgment, and extreme discretion are a must.
  • Experience working with Peoria profiles, or other values-based digital targeting strategies
  • A strong record of collaboration and relationship building
  • Fundraising experience across multiple categories, including major donors, grant writing, and grassroots programs.

Salary and Benefits:

Because negotiating is inherently inequitable, we want to be transparent about what benefits we can offer up front and avoid negotiation. 

The starting salary for this position is $80,000. Progress Virginia staff members get two weeks of vacation every year, plus the week between Christmas and the New Year, an additional 9 paid holidays throughout the year, and paid sick days. We also provide health and vision insurance benefits. 

All Progress Virginia employees develop a customized professional development plan to support learning and growth in their position. Employees can also work with their supervisor to create a flexible work schedule, especially while people are juggling childcare and work during the pandemic. 

Details: 

Progress Virginia operates a virtual office. Candidates should expect to work from home anywhere in Virginia or Washington, DC, with occasional travel, sometimes on short notice. However, all travel and in-person work is suspended at the moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is unclear when travel will resume (but we hope soon). 

To Apply: 

Fill out this application. Part of the application will ask you to upload your resume. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible. If we find your skills match those of the position, we will contact you for an interview. If you have any questions about the position, you can email jobs@progressva.org. No phone calls please.