Senior Labor Leadership Initiatives Associate, Labor Leadership Initiatives - HYBRID

This position is located in New York, NY, within the ILR School at 570 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022, or can be based remotely. The role requires significant travel for retreats and customized union programs.

The School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University has an immediate opening for Senior Labor Leadership Initiatives Associate – Senior Extension Associate in the Labor Leadership Initiatives (LLI) in the NYC Extension/Outreach Division.

Our Team – Over 20 years ago, Cornell ILR founded the New York State Union Leadership Institute (ULI), a powerful retreat-based program offered in conjunction with the NY State AFL‑CIO. The yearly cohort program supports unions, training staff and leaders to be more powerful and effective in their work. Many of New York State’s union leaders attribute the ability to leverage increased power to their participation in ULI.

In 2013, a sister program, the National Labor Leadership Initiative (NLLI), was created to support national leaders of unions and worker organizations, followed by a Global Labor Leadership Initiative in partnership with the Solidarity Center. Our programs also work directly with stakeholder organizations to bring the curricula into individual unions and worker organizations. We offer versions of the NLLI/ULI curriculum to staff and leaders at multiple unions across the US.

This is a high-level position leading and working in partnership with New York State and national elected union leaders, staff, and leaders of worker organizations and community‑organizing networks aligned with the labor movement. You will manage retreat‑based leadership programs that bring together leaders from across the national labor movement and top‑level leaders within specific unions. Responsibilities include leading retreats, developing appropriate agendas in consultation with leaders in the field, teaching current curriculum, expanding curriculum offerings by researching and developing new modules, maintaining relationships with the highest level of union leadership, and providing tailored organizational and leadership development support to stakeholder organizations.

You will also maintain a set of organizational development clients who rely on our leadership programs to increase their power and effectiveness.

• Oversee all aspects of two retreat series per year (a minimum of six week‑long sessions), including recruitment, curriculum, managing the facilitation team, and supporting participants between retreats.
• Develop and deliver tailored organizational development offerings as needed by stakeholders of our leadership programs, including but not limited to strategic planning and staff/leader retreat facilitation.
• Build out specialized and new organizational change curriculum for our retreats and/or offer new programs leading organizational change within unions to existing stakeholders.
• Develop tailored curricula on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to supplement existing offerings; work with our existing base of contracted consultants and staff to establish our niche in offering specific and targeted DEI programs to the labor movement.
• Teach in other retreats and participate in existing organizational development contracts as needed.
• Develop and maintain program infrastructure, including fundraising, communications, and specialized program needs.
• Maintain a set of online offerings that draw from in‑person curriculum.

• Master’s degree in a related field (industrial and labor relations, employment or labor law, human resources/management/business, organizational behavior/change, economics, workforce development, vocational rehabilitation, occupational medicine/workplace safety and health, education, diversity/inclusion).
• 7 – 10 years of experience in the labor movement as staff or elected leader in a union or worker organization; experience in multiple worker organizations preferred.
• Demonstrated practical experience applying organizational development to the labor movement – including strategic planning, internal organizational/leadership development and/or working with external…