Program Officer, Racial Justice Program (WPF

Program Officer, Racial Justice Program (WPF)

Posted on March 29, 2019

Wellspring Philanthropic Fund (WPF) seeks a Program Officer to join its Racial Justice Program. Launched in 2016, WPF’s Racial Justice Program envisions a day when Black people and other people of color in all corners of the U.S. thrive and experience full participation in the U.S. democracy. In service of this vision, the program provides grants and field support that build power within Black communities and communities of color creating a more just and equitable society by challenging anti‑Black racism and White supremacy that perpetuate structural racism and a racialized criminalization system.

WPF seeks to hire a Racial Justice Program Officer with deep knowledge of the U.S. criminalization system who shares our core institutional and program values, including:

• Humility: openness to listening to and learning from groups and leaders working on the ground, from colleagues in philanthropy and across WPF, and to elevating the work of our grantees, not ourselves,
• Respect: for WPF grantees and colleagues, their perspectives, pressures, and contributions,
• Teamwork: a desire to work collaboratively and supportively with grantees and WPF colleagues, and
• Courage: to support work that is bold, strategic, and informed by those most impacted by criminalization and injustice.

The Racial Justice Program at Wellspring Philanthropic Fund is dynamic and growing. Under the direction of the Racial Justice Program Director, the Racial Justice Program Officer will work in close collaboration with three program teammates to continue building out an ambitious grantmaking strategy and rooting the program within WPF and the philanthropic sector. The Program Officer’s responsibilities fall in to three broad categories, each of which is central to the role:

Grantmaking: The Racial Justice Program Officer, in collaboration with the Program Director, will shape and manage a portfolio of grantees within the Racial Justice Program grantmaking strategy. The Program Officer must listen to and learn from the racial and criminal justice fields the program supports, including formerly incarcerated people and communities of color directly impacted by criminalization and punishment, and Black communities and other communities of color building movements for social justice.

Specific grantmaking tasks include:

• Staying abreast of new developments and trends in the field, and providing analyses to synthesize implications for the program,
• Undertaking initial screening of potential grantees; analyzing and assessing background information; conducting site visits; soliciting and developing funding proposals; and writing concise and clear grant recommendations,
• Managing grantee relationships, reviewing progress reports, conducting evaluations of grantee programs, and monitoring use of grant funds, and
• Ensuring adherence to internal grantmaking processes via appropriate documentation, grant budgeting, data entry and reporting.

Organizational engagement: The Racial Justice Program Officer will work in close alignment with others on the Racial Justice Program team and across WPF, and will contribute to the success of the program and of WPF. The Program Officer will work both independently and collaboratively toward program and WPF goals. Organizational engagement activities will include:

• Supporting and contributing to Racial Justice Program processes and infrastructure, including weekly meetings and annual retreats,
• Shaping and participating in internal program presentations, including staff lunches and workshops,
• Advancing institution‑wide initiatives, including by serving on internal committees and/or task forces,
• Collaborating in learning and grantmaking with colleagues from across WPF, and
• Communicating the program’s progress and challenges across the Foundation.

External Relations: The Racial Justice Program Officer will represent WPF and the Racial Justice Program in the philanthropic community and the fields we support. External relations activities will include:

• Engaging with peer funders and community‑based organizations working in fields…