Program Officer — Civil Society

The Civil Society program’s mission is to foster engaged, empowered and equitable communities worldwide. Its grantmaking is global in reach and reflects a sustained presence and particular interest in North America, Latin America and Africa. The program is currently organized around three initiatives, the first two of which may be directly relevant for this role:

• The Common Ground initiative equips community foundations with the tools and resources they need to bridge divides and solve local issues together with their communities. The initiative is based on the idea that building common ground starts at the local level — where people live, work and interact every day. The Mott Foundation has worked with community foundations for decades, both in the United States and globally.
  
  This work has shown how community foundations — grounded in place and rooted in their communities — are uniquely positioned to partner with others to address polarization and inequity from the ground up. Grant funding, primarily to intermediaries and field builders, supports increasing and enhancing the effectiveness of community foundations building common ground in their communities. The initiative also supports capacity-development efforts of national-level organizations that provide technical assistance and other resources to help establish new community foundations and strengthen existing ones in Latin America and Africa.
• The Protection of the Sector initiative seeks to strengthen the philanthropic ecosystem and support civil society defenders. The initiative is based on the theory that a resilient philanthropic sector and empowered civil society organizations are essential to driving meaningful, lasting change in society. Strengthening nonprofits is vital at a time when civil society is facing attacks, including new laws that restrict nonprofit operations, negative narratives that undermine trust in institutions and the use of technology to target civil society.
  
  Grant funding supports research, monitoring and analysis to inform policies that enable the work of nonprofits and philanthropy, while also providing physical, digital, psychosocial and other forms of protection for civil society defenders.

The Civil Society program’s third initiative, Access to Justice, seeks to help individuals understand, use and shape the law to protect their rights and improve their lives.

Altogether, the Civil Society program awarded grants totaling over $22million in2025 and expects to award a total of $190million through these three grantmaking initiatives over the next 10years.

The program officer will lead and manage a Civil Society program portfolio spanning elements of its Common Ground or Protection of the Sector initiatives — or potentially of both. The Foundation is particularly interested in candidates with a record of and interest in strengthening community foundations or the philanthropic ecosystem, or in supporting civil society defenders within the United States. Experience in Latin America also may be favorably considered.

A relevant portfolio will be defined in context of the successful candidate’s specific background and experience.

The program officer will join the Civil Society program at an important time, as the Foundation translates an ambitious program plan into action, supported by a new coordinated evaluation and strategy framework.

The position reports to the director of the Civil Society program. This is a full-time position located in Flint, Michigan, and it requires frequent international and domestic travel.

The program officer will have responsibilities in three areas:

• Design and execute effective multiyear grantmaking strategies within the Common Ground and/or Protection of the Sector…