About the Hewlett Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been making grants since 1967 to help solve the most pressing social and environmental problems in the U.S. and around the world. The Foundation concentrates its resources on activities in education, the environment, gender equity and governance, performing arts, and philanthropy. It also makes grants to address inequities and support communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Foundation’s assets are more than $13 billion, with annual awards of grants and gifts totaling more than $465 million in 2020. A fourteen-member Board of Directors provides overall direction for the Foundation.
The Foundation’s culture and approach to its work are informed by a set of guiding principles that have been collectively articulated by the staff, board, and the president. The Foundation supports personal and professional development opportunities that reinforce active learning and intellectual rigor and encourage diverse perspectives and experimentation.
More information about the Hewlett Foundation is available at: www.hewlett.org.
About the Culture, Race, and Equity Team
The Culture, Race, and Equity team is at the heart of the Hewlett Foundation’s work to advance racial justice. The team takes a systems approach to achieving the goal of identifying and promoting philanthropic practices within the Hewlett Foundation and in its grantmaking to advance racial justice. The team supports the Foundation’s entire staff in assessing and addressing issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in their work. They also advance racial justice through grantmaking via collaborative grants with other Hewlett programs, direct grants from the team to racial justice organizations, and capacity building grants to strengthen the entire racial justice field. The Culture, Race, and Equity team’s approach is highly collaborative and rooted in learning and relationships – with fellow Hewlett staff, racial justice leaders, and communities of color themselves.
About the Culture, Race, and Equity Officer Opportunity
The Culture, Race, and Equity Officer (CRE Officer) will join a new team led by the Chief of Equity and Culture. This position represents a unique opportunity to join a team and foundation that has explicitly committed to advancing racial justice and supporting the organizations advancing this work throughout the country. The CRE officer is responsible for collaborative grantmaking with other Hewlett program areas to support racial justice organizations that intersect with the Foundation’s program strategies; manage a portfolio of grants with racial justice organizations, as well as build and sustain relationships with grantee partners and others within the racial justice ecosystem. This person will also work with the Chief Equity and Culture Officer on strategies, learning opportunities, and other internal initiatives that advance the team’s work and promote racial justice within the Foundation.
The CRE officer’s specific areas of responsibility include, but are not limited to:
Key Responsibilities
Grantmaking and Execution of Racial Justice Strategy
Implement, monitor, and evaluate an emergent racial justice strategy to advance the organization’s overall strategic goals.
Partner with other Foundation programs to strengthen their strategies and grantmaking through support of racial justice organizations.
Identify and lead a portfolio of grants to racial justice organizations that focus on no fewer than two issue areas in which the Foundation already engages.
Monitor new trends in the racial justice field and synthesize information and implications for the strategy and Foundation’s priorities.
Work in close collaboration with the Chief Equity and Culture officer and other Culture, Race, and Equity team members.
Community Building
Actively create a growing pipeline of potential racial justice grantees and partners.
Develop and maintain trust-based relationships with racial justice-focused nonprofits, movements, collaboratives, funders, policymakers, community organizers, and other networks.
Organize and execute learning events to support and advance communities of practice.
Participate in funder conferences and learning events to showcase the impact and strategies of the racial justice grantmaking.
Collaborative Internal Engagement
Collaborate with other Foundation program staff to identify approaches and new opportunities for cross program grantmaking and connecting with racial justice organizations.
Liaise with operations, legal, communications, and finance team members across the Foundation to ensure compliance and seamless integration of the strategy.
Participate in foundation-wide learning, meetings, and events.
Ideal Candidate
The Hewlett Foundation seeks individuals who demonstrate an unequivocal commitment to racial justice through their professional work and personal lives. The CRE Officer shares the belief that many important and effective organizations in the racial justice field struggle to find funding, and philanthropic organizations can play a part in solving this problem. This person will be committed to applying their racial justice expertise to supporting trust-based funding strategies that support racial justice organizations across the country.
The ideal person will have deep connections and networks with community leaders and organizers, funders, nonprofit leaders, policy influencers, and impacted communities across the country who are advancing racial justice. They will have extensive understanding of the broad spectrum of issues within the racial justice field, including familiarity with key policies and issues that impact BIPOC communities as well as how to these impacted communities utilize power-building strategies to make long-lasting change. This individual will have a strong learning orientation, growth mindset, comfort working in a relatively flat organizational structure, and ability to work independently and cooperatively with fellow staff. This individual should be adaptive and able to effectively engage in workflows and collaborative engagement with peers that are new to the Foundation.
Qualifications
A minimum of 10 years of demonstrated experience in providing strategic leadership to achieve racial equity and justice, with some portion of that experience in the nonprofit sector, community organizing, public policy, and/or movement building.
Ability to work effectively in settings where the strategies are evolving, and the work is new to the organization.
A reputation for collaborating effectively, consulting with colleagues, and co-building strategies to solve complex problems.
Outstanding written and oral communication skills.
Capacity to engage effectively with various stakeholders, including community leaders and organizers, funders, nonprofit leaders, policy influencers, and others. Ability to work well with people from different races, ethnicities, geography, gender, class, and sexual orientation.
Aptitude for building relationships based on trust, strong communications, transparency, and respect.
Compensation and Benefits
The Hewlett Foundation is committed to providing compensation that is competitive within the philanthropic sector. The Foundation offers a generous total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits. The salary range for this role starts at $185,000. Offers are based on the candidate’s years of experience and the practice of maintaining salary equity within the foundation.
This position is based in Menlo Park, California. Staff are currently expected to work from the Hewlett Foundation offices at least 2-3 times per week, when they are not traveling. The Foundation requires all staff, vendors, and visitors accessing the office to be fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (including boosters when eligible).
To Be Considered
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation embraces the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion both internally, in our hiring process and organizational culture, and externally, in our grantmaking and related practices. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, and experiences.
Please submit your resume and cover letter expressing your interest in the position and fit for the role via the “Become a Candidate” button at the bottom of the job ad here. Letters may be addressed to Martens Roc.
Applicants applying by October 10th will be given priority consideration, with the position open until filled.
GoodCitizen has been exclusively retained by the Hewlett Foundation to lead this search. For questions, please contact:
Celene Haque
Engagement Manager
206.462.6189
[email protected]
Martens Roc
Vice President
202.933.7616
[email protected]
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