Redressing Segregation Housing Community Engagement Specialist

The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the country’s first and foremost civil and human rights law organization. Founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, who subsequently became the first Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, LDF was launched at a time when the nation’s aspirations for equality and due process of law were stifled by widespread state-sponsored racial inequality. From that era to the present, LDF’s mission has been transformative–to achieve racial justice, equality, and an inclusive society.

LDF’s litigation, public policy advocacy and public education programs in the substantive areas of criminal justice, economic justice, education and political participation seek to ensure the fundamental and basic human rights of all people to quality education, economic opportunity, the right to vote and fully participate in democracy, and the right to a fair and just judicial system.

Given the fundamental role that residential segregation plays in driving economic inequality and depressing social mobility in the Black community, the Thurgood Marshall Institute embarked on the development of the Redressing Housing Segregation Initiative that targets local housing policy on land use, zoning, siting, subsidy for affordable housing, and land forfeiture (such as tax and water liens and heir’s property policies) in specific local jurisdictions. The initiative envisions utilizing LDF’s expertise in research, public education, organizing, policy advocacy, and potentially litigation to develop an interdisciplinary approach to reducing residential segregation and the Black-White wealth gap through local housing policy. Due to the integrated nature of this initiative, and its potential to incubate transformative advocacy efforts for fair housing, it will move from the Thurgood Marshall Institute to SID to take full advantage of LDF’s multi-faceted resources and expertise. The Redressing Segregation Housing Community Engagement Specialist will report to the Redressing Segregation Counsel.

Responsibilities:

• Assist Redressing Counsel in development of a strategic plan to identify priorities in partnership with community leaders and organizations and internal LDF stakeholders, assist in implementing advocacy plans for each priority, develop educational curriculum and outreach materials regarding campaigns. Assist Redressing Counsel in identifying, in collaboration with community and internal LDF stakeholders, 1-3 winnable solutions and develop a strategy to ensure victory;
• Contribute to the development and strengthening of relationships with local community stakeholders. This includes developing relationships with local residents, organizations, and leaders; coordination of regular meetings, trainings, strategy sessions, and actions; supporting and providing technical assistance for coalition building. The initial community for this initiative is Jackson, Mississippi;
• Support engagement and community-centered learning related to housing segregation, including its origins and it ongoing effects, so that community members can co-create a shared narrative about segregation and identify possible remedies through various advocacy strategies;
• After consultation with internal LDF stakeholders, connect community members with available LDF internal resources and possible external resources to ensure that the capacity of local residents and partners is being built and sustained;
• Assist Redressing Segregation Counsel in coordinating with TMI Researchers to measure impact of potential solutions and impact of solutions implemented. Collaborate with and support LDF Litigation, Policy, Organizing, and Communications Departments to advance solutions; and
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree;
• Minimum of 3 years of experience related to planning, community development, and/or housing equity;
• Commitment to the racial justice mission of LDF; and
• Willingness to travel extensively to both urban and rural areas in the United States. 

This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts or requirements or working conditions associated with the job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. This description does not constitute a contract of employment and LDF may exercise its employment-at-will rights at any time.

The salary range for this position is $60,000 to $65,000. LDF offers a rich platform of benefits including medical (Empire), dental (Cigna), vision (NVA), flexible spending accounts (Flex Facts), transit/commuter plan, life insurance, AD&D, voluntary life & AD&D (UNUM), AFLAC, Employee Assistance Plan, and Health Advocate.  As well as the many healthcare benefits, LDF offers a 403b plan with employer match, and a robust vacation, sick, and personal time program to ensure employees have a healthy work-life balance.

Please note that LDF requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Accordingly, successful candidates must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit proof of vaccination prior to the commencement of employment, unless they qualify for a reasonable accommodation for bona fide medical or religious reasons.

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