Program Officer, Racial Equity Initiatives

The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo is seeking to hire a Program Officer, Racial Equity Initiatives (Evaluation & Education Focus).

The
Program
Officer, Racial Equity Initiatives (Evaluation & Education Focus) plays a key role in advancing the Foundation's racial equity strategy by integrating program management, evaluation, education, and organizational capacity building into the Foundation's work and partnerships. Reporting to the Director of Racial Equity Initiatives (DREI), this position collaborates across Foundation teams and with community partners to ensure racial equity initiatives are thoughtfully designed, effectively implemented, rigorously evaluated, and continuously improved.

This role serves as both a strategic program officer and a racial equity educator, helping organizations and community partners apply a racial equity lens to policies, programs, and decision‑making. Through facilitation, education, coaching, and evaluation, the Program Officer supports organizations in making racial equity actionable and measurable by using racial equity lens training, shared language, historical context, and data‑informed learning.

The position manages initiatives from planning through implementation and evaluation, coordinates internal and external resources, develops learning and measurement frameworks, facilitates trainings and workshops, and helps strengthen the Foundation's role as a regional leader in advancing racial equity.

• Support the planning, implementation, and continuous improvement of racial equity initiatives through research, program development, analysis, and evaluation.
• Coordinate with Foundation staff, community partners, consultants, and grantees to ensure projects align with strategic priorities and racial equity outcomes.
• Develop and manage project timelines, work plans, budgets, and deliverables.
• Organize and facilitate meetings, convenings, and events related to racial equity initiatives.
• Support the Director of Racial Equity Initiatives and the Associate Vice President in advancing strategic priorities, partnerships, and cross‑functional initiatives.

• Design, develop, and facilitate racial equity learning experiences, including the Foundation's Racial Equity Lens Training for Foundation staff, nonprofit partners, community leaders, and other stakeholders.
• Develop and continuously improve curriculum, facilitation guides, learning activities, and educational resources that translate racial equity concepts into practical tools for organizational and community change.
• Help organizations apply racial equity frameworks and impact analysis tools to policies, programs, grantmaking, budgeting, and organizational practices.
• Provide coaching, consultation, and technical assistance, in partnership with the Director of Racial Equity Initiatives (DREI), to organizational leaders and teams as they integrate racial equity into decision‑making and operations.
• Foster shared language, historical understanding, critical reflection, and practical application of racial equity principles that strengthen collaboration and support measurable organizational change.
• Evaluate and refine training content and instructional approaches based on participant feedback, emerging research, and community needs to ensure learning experiences remain relevant, engaging, and impactful.

• Design and/or work with a consultant to design and implement evaluation frameworks and logic models for racial equity initiatives, identifying key performance indicators and data collection strategies.
• Develop and maintain dashboards, metrics, and reporting systems with the assistance of the Knowledge Management Officer that track progress toward racial equity goals.
• Conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis to assess the effectiveness and impact of the Greater Buffalo Racial Equity Roundtable and Community Foundation‑supported programs and partnerships.
• Synthesize and present findings in accessible, actionable ways for internal teams, leadership, and external partners.
• Work…