Chief Advocacy Officer

About the team:

In a moment when the federal government is trying to advance an authoritarian agenda under the guise of "crime control" and the criminal justice and immigrant rights fields need to build political influence and power to make progress and protect wins, Vera and Vera Action plays a central role as one of the nation's oldest and largest justice reform organizations. We work across the political aisle and with the belief that a majority of the American public believes in both safety and justice-and there is no false choice between one or the other.

Our success, whether on legislative campaigns or to change hearts and minds, depends on collaboration and coordination with other partners, including national and local allies, progressives and conservatives, grasstops and grassroots organizations, and within the justice reform field and beyond. In the movement ecology of social change, where different groups play distinct roles (i.e., mass protest, organizing, inside lane, etc.),

Vera and Vera Action's role is to harness the data, evidence, and solutions about what works in criminal justice and immigration reform in the policy and political debate-particularly with government and grasstops stakeholders.

The Chief Advocacy Officer (CAO), a position that reports to Insha Rahman, the incoming President and Director of Vera and Vera Action, is on Vera's Leadership Team. Vera's Advocacy & Partnerships team and Vera Action are responsible for leading the vision, strategy, and staff development of both policy advocacy and political advocacy across the organizations. These teams also serve as an anchor for many of Vera and Vera Action's coordination and coalition efforts, including on rapid response, messaging, and issue advocacy campaigns.

On the c3 side, Advocacy & Partnerships serves as a hub for Vera staff to develop campaign strategy and workplans, including power mapping, stakeholder analyses, and real-time campaign planning and execution. Externally, Advocacy & Partnerships serves as a resource for the larger justice reform field and regularly coordinates the field to provide information, make meaning of current events and their impact on criminal justice and immigration, and to take action.

On the c4 side, Vera Action operates to neutralize the politics of crime and create a political climate hospitable to justice reform. We use public opinion research and messaging to equip politicians across the political spectrum to lead with a new approach to safety, accountability, and justice and counter crime attacks on the campaign trail and while in office. Vera Action also helps to build relationships with other movements, including labor, faith, reproductive justice, climate change, gun safety, etc.,

to ensure that issues of safety and justice are core to a multiracial, inclusive democracy.

About the role:

The CAO has a strong foundation of knowledge about criminal justice and immigration, is an experienced manager of both substantive programs and staff, has a track record of supervision in complex and dynamic environments, possesses both c3 and c4 experience, and has relationships with both movement partners and the broader fields, as well as with funders. The CAO will guide an experienced team of policy experts, campaigners, and political strategists and ultimately be responsible for effective and impactful policy advocacy by Vera and political advocacy by Vera Action.

The CAO is passionate about social and racial justice, motivated to drive change, and unafraid to challenge the status quo. The CAO is enthusiastic, collaborative, curious, and kind, and values working with and helping others build experience, expertise, and skills. The person must believe in the value of doing "inside" lane work with government as well as "outside" lane approaches of working in partnership with advocates, organizers, and grassroots and grasstops allies.

1. Advocacy Leadership

* Identify priority issues and campaigns for Vera and Vera Action where engaging in policy advocacy and political advocacy will lead to advancing progress or defending against backlash on our mission

* With the President and Director, set and build out the strategy for Vera Action, driving decision-making related to lobbying, advocacy, and political initiatives in service of changing both narratives and policies around the criminal justice and immigration systems

* Supervise staff in Advocacy & Partnerships and Vera Action, as well as collaborate with Vera's Initiatives, to develop and execute on those issues and campaigns

* Coordinate with the Vera Leadership Team to ensure that the issues and campaigns are supportive of the overall organizational goals

* Provide thought leadership and guidance to ensure rigor in initiatives and campaigns

2. Field Leadership

* Lead, or help to build, coalitions and tables for the justice reform field

* Serve as a representative for Vera and Vera Action across multiple sectors, including building relationships with partners in…