About Lavender Phoenix (LavNix)
Lavender Phoenix (formerly known as APIENC) is a fiscally-sponsored organization that builds transgender, non-binary, & queer Asian & Pacific Islander power. Through organizing in the San Francisco Bay Area, we inspire & train grassroots leaders, transform our values, & sustain a vibrant movement ecosystem. We work to advance healing justice, community safety, & movements centered in values & relationships.
Working at LavNix is fun, challenging, & transformative. As a local grassroots organization, we prioritize deepening our relationships in our team & our community. We envision our work in the trans & queer API community to be powered & led by those who are most impacted by our work.
Position Overview
Lavender Phoenix is hiring an Executive Director to guide our organization’s strategy & culture as we work to advance liberation for all. This person will lead our work to build local QTBIPOC power & the power of the Left more broadly; support our Deputy Director & Lead Organizer to develop leaders, organize strategically, & manage systems; & help develop infrastructure to sustain & strengthen our critical work for the long-run.
This person will have proven ability to connect day-to-day work with big-picture movement strategy; to manage leaders of teams to reach meaningful goals & strengthen shared culture; to model cultural values that contribute to visionary, effective organizations; & to mobilize & manage resources in values-led ways.
At LavNix, we commit to helping our leaders succeed. We intend for our new Executive Director to start with 5 months overlap with our current out-going Executive Director, in order to build relationships & practice skills with dedicated partnership & coaching. In addition, our current Executive Director will be available for optional coaching after the transition, if needed. Read our out-going Executive Director’s letter here!
We are looking for a new Executive Director who is committed to grow alongside our team, & with skills in movement-building, organizational management, & resource mobilization. If you’re ready for a chance to help lead our community & to cultivate power for our people, this role is for you!
Learn More: read reflections from our out–going Executive Director here!
Benefits:
Excellent benefits include 100% employer coverage of medical, dental, vision, long-term disability & orthodontic options; generous vacation & sick leave; annual health reimbursement arrangement (HRA); annual professional development funding; coaching through various foundation partners, & more.
Key Responsibilities
Movement-Building (35%):
- Lead in coalitions to build grassroots transgender political power in San Francisco & CA.
- Oversee the political direction of transformative campaigns alongside our Lead Organizer.
- Coordinate our overall staff & membership responses to new & emergent political crises.
- Serve as a primary spokesperson for Lavender Phoenix across key movement spaces.
- Represent LavNix in & help advance the work of our central national formations, such as:
- Grassroots Asians Rising: a national alliance growing leadership, capacity, & politics of base-building organizations organizing working class pan-Asian communities.
- The Rising Majority: a national coalition coordinating strategy across multiple sectors to build a powerful, coherent, & united Left political force across the country.
Organizational Development (25%):
- Facilitate long-term strategic planning that aligns our day-to-day work with our purpose.
- Work with the Deputy Director to update policies & structures that improve sustainability.
- Oversee overall finances to sustain our work with Deputy Director & Finance Committee.
- Set long-term fundraising strategies with the Development Manager & Deputy Director.
- Serve as primary spokesperson with institutional funders & major donor relationships.
- Work with Cultural Organizer to ensure clear communication of our values & our work.
- Support Leadership Development team to articulate long-term basebuilding strategies.
- Document successes & lessons via annual Year-In-Review letter to our base & supporters.
Leadership Supervision (25%):
- Supervise the Deputy Director & support them to succeed in managing:
- The culture & overall coordination of the staff team as a whole.
- Our Leadership Development Manager & their program areas.
- Our Development Manager & their grassroots fundraising work.
- Supervise the Lead Organizer & help them manage an effective Campaign Staff team.
All-Staff Responsibilities (15%):
- Participate in Lavender Phoenix’s Core Committee of member-leaders.
- Participate in & help design all-staff political education & skills development.
- Participate in both the annual Core Committee retreat & all-staff retreats.
- Play a support-role in our leadership development programs as needed.
- Fundraise at least $1,500 in Lavender Phoenix’s annual grassroots fundraiser.
- Contribute to LavNix’s culture of interdependence & vulnerability.
Qualifications
- Required:
- Overall: 5+ years of experience working & organizing in social justice organizations.
- Management: Experience leading teams of staff &/or volunteers to reach meaningful goals.
- Mentorship: Ability to supportsignificant growth of close colleagues & supervisees as leaders.
- Strategy: Experience developing organizational strategy & helping implement it day-to-day.
- Campaigns: Experience leading or supporting a membership to lead grassroots campaigns.
- Facilitation: Skills to set & facilitate meaningful, engaging agendas for meetings & trainings.
- Speaking: Ability to deliver political ideas in accessible, memorable ways to diverse groups.
- Writing: Ability to write clear & accessible organizational documents (grants, evaluation, etc.).
- Fundraising: Experience working with institutional funders &/or individual fundraising.
- Finances: Proven track record in organizational financial management & budgeting.
- Movement: Familiarity navigating coalitions & with the racial &/or gender justice sectors.
- Prioritization: Able to manage multiple timelines of work across various projects & teams.
- Relationships: Committed to developing relationships with integrity with staff & members.
- Values: Committed to building a compassionate workplace & practice LavNix’s core values.
- Knowledge: Well-versed in our relevant issues of community safety, healing justice, etc.
- Preferred:
- Experience working with LavNix through our programs or community partners.
- Experience with narrative & communications in a social justice context.
- Participated in LavNix’s LEX training &/or Summer Organizer Program.
- Raised in &/or has long-term roots in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Willingness to travel within California & nationally for convenings.
Accessibility Overview:
This role requires long periods of computer work, as well as collaboration through Zoom, email, Slack, & other digital platforms. If needed, Lavender Phoenix may provide a computer & other equipment needed to fulfill job responsibilities. This position is expected to be primarily work-from-home until further notice, with optional weekly in-person work-days. Any Lavender Phoenix events that take place in-person will take place outdoors & masked. Rapid COVID-19 tests will often be used & required for in-person gatherings to further ensure safety. In-person office workspace is available in Chinatown, San Francisco through LavNix’s fiscal sponsor. This position may require work during irregular hours, such as nights & weekends, to engage members—these times will be set & agreed upon, typically far in advance.
How To Apply
To apply, please click the button above and complete the form.
Application Process:
The process will be overseen by a committee comprised of Lavender Phoenix’s out-going Executive Director, Deputy Director, Lead Organizer, Leadership Development Manager, & at least two volunteer members of Lavender Phoenix’s Core Committee. All staff will participate in the final interviews. The process includes:
- By Sun., 3/30: submit written application, resume, & references via this Google Form.
- By Weds., 4/2: select applicants will be notified if they have been invited to interview.
- By Weds., 4/16: select candidates participate in 40-minute introductory interviews.
- By Thurs., 5/1: select candidates participate in 75-minute second interviews & reference checks.
- By Fri., 5/23: select candidates participate in 90-minute final interviews with the entire staff team.
- Afterwards, applicants will be notified of their status by early June.
Fiscal Sponsorship: Lavender Phoenix is fiscally-sponsored organization in the network of Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality (AACRE). Staff hired will officially be employees of AACRE. AACRE is committed to creating a work environment free from discrimination & a workforce that reflects the rich diversity of Asian American & Pacific Islander communities. Women, people of color, immigrants, queer & transgender people, individuals with conviction & arrest records, & disabled people are encouraged to apply. AACRE will consider those who seek visa sponsorship upon hire, & employees may be eligible for green card sponsorship after 3 months of continuous employment, contingent upon leadership approvals.
