Midwest Regional Director

Local Progress and Local Progress Impact Lab are seeking a Midwest Regional Director based in Minnesota.

About Local Progress and Local Progress Impact Lab

Local Progress and the Local Progress Impact Lab work collectively to advance a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of government. Local Progress (LP) is a movement of more than 1,500 local elected officials advancing a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of local government. The Local Progress Impact Lab (the Impact Lab) brings together local leaders, partners, and experts to build the knowledge, skills, and leadership needed to advance racial and economic justice at the local level.

About the position:

Local Progress and the Local Progress Impact Lab are looking for a Midwest Regional Director with a track record of organizing, base and coalition building, training and facilitation, strategic campaigning, and staff management and supervision. 

Working as part of a Membership and Organizing team, the Midwest Regional Director will be responsible for building and maintaining the infrastructure of the Minnesota Chapter, particularly organizing beyond the Twin Cities. Additionally, the Midwest Regional Director will also be responsible for envisioning and building out our midwest regional strategy, which involves membership recruitment and engagement, and identifying and cultivating relationships and buy-in from key allies, organizational partners and funders. The Midwest Regional Director will supervise and support the development of organizing team members. 

The ideal candidate for this job is someone with a track record of relational organizing, developing leaders, and bringing people across diverse backgrounds and opinions together in coalition to shift the material conditions of our communities. We’re looking for a strategic thinker who also pays attention to details and knows how to build systems to reduce redundancies, and increase efficiency by creating tools to produce high quality work. A candidate who has strong supervision experience managing self-starter/self-directed staff. A candidate who holds a keen interest in transformational policy and organizing at the municipal level. 

The Midwest Regional Director will report to the Managing Director, Membership & Organizing. 

Location: This is a remote position with no in-office requirement. However, the candidate must live in Minnesota. 

Travel Requirement: This position is required to travel to in-person events up to six days a month. 

Primary Responsibilities

Lead and grow Local Progress’ work in Minnesota:

• Membership Recruitment & Organizing: Grow and strengthen membership in Minnesota, including developing and implementing a strategy to continue to both recruit new members & increase engagement of existing members in key geographic areas in the state. 
• Leadership Development: Ensure the Minnesota Chapter remains in compliance by maintaining and growing the Local Progress Minnesota Organizing Committee (OC).  The OC must reflect the racial, gender and geographic diversity of the state. 
• Campaigns & Partnerships: Plan and execute local, regional and statewide meetings and trainings for Local Progress Minnesota members. Identify and develop deep relationships with progressive community and labor partners in Minnesota to increase alignment of priorities and collaboration by establishing Local Progress as a trusted and strong coalition partner that helps strategize, launch and coordinate trans-local and statewide campaigns.

Explore the development of a Midwest regional strategy:

• Membership Recruitment & Organizing: Spreadhead the exploration, development and implementation of a midwest regional strategy (priority states: IL, MO, MI, OH, WI) building an organizing and governance infrastructure to grow and strengthen membership, support and mobilize local electeds in the region on shared issue priorities. 
• Leadership Development: Plan and execute state and regional meetings and trainings for Local Progress members. 
• Partnerships & Collaborative Governance: Build and cultivate intentional long-term relationships and buy-in from key allies, regional, state and local partner organizations and funders to support the growth of the Midwest region.

Support Local Progress and Local Progress Impact Lab’s national work:

• Cross-team collaboration: Collaborate across Local Progress teams to support organizational activities and infrastructure including caucuses, state chapter activities, Progressive Governance Academy, reports, convenings, web products, etc. 
• Supervision: Supervise up to 3 members of the organizing team and help develop a culture of excellent supervision and staff development within LP + LPIL. 
• Fundraising: Lead a fundraising portfolio with set goals of funds to raise, maintaining existing relationships and identifying new funding opportunities. 
• Policy & Program support: Supporting national projects (policy, organizing or campaign related).

Required Qualifications

• Must reside in Minnesota.
• 7-10+ years of organizing, strategic campaigning, and/or advocacy experience.
• 3+ years of demonstrated success in supervising staff working across a breadth of issues and functions.
• Experience in relational organizing and an ability to relate to and move to action a diverse group of people from a variety of local contexts and backgrounds, including in a virtual setting.
• A demonstrated history of success in fundraising
• A background and skill set in designing membership-based and/or issue-based organizing plans.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects, create and execute organizing work plans, anticipate obstacles and identify ways to navigate challenges, identify and involve stakeholders appropriately, and drive projects independently.
• A commitment to inside/outside strategy and movement governance that features deep partnership between “outside” organizing and “inside” elected officials. 
• A demonstrated commitment to social, racial, and economic justice and a deep interest in local policy, politics, and government.
• Ambition, drive, energy, and the ability to work flexible, long hours when necessary and travel (approximately 1-2 per month as well as 2 staff retreats per year).

The Ideal Candidate will have:

• Experience in leading and managing multi-stakeholder coalitions.
• Previous experience working with elected officials.

Salary and Benefits:

Salary will be determined according to a salary scale which takes into account years of experience, job duties, and other factors, but is expected to be between $100,000 and $110,000.  

We operate on a four day workweek with a default schedule of Monday through Thursday. We have a generous benefits package, including health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, four weeks of vacation per year, 20 sick days per year, paid holidays, and contributions to individuals’ 403(b) plans. The Local Progress office is closed between December 24 and January 1 annually. 

This is a management position and will not be part of the Local Progress bargaining unit. 

Timeline:

We encourage applicants to apply by October 17, 2024, for an anticipated start date of January 15, 2025. Applicants will be screened on a rolling basis so we encourage candidates to apply as soon as possible. If you have any time constraints, please indicate as much in your application. 

How to apply: 

Please submit your cover letter and resume through the JazzHR portal. 

Local Progress Values

• Respect: We value people and treat each other with dignity. We strive to understand each other as full human beings, and give each other grace and room to grow. 
• Honesty: We communicate directly with each other, are honest about our strengths and our shortcomings, and are transparent about who has what level of information and authority and why. 
• Groundedness: We are authentic, and have high humility and low ego. We ground our work in the day-to-day reality and needs of our members. 
• Mutual accountability: We do what we say we're going to do, follow through on our commitments to each other and to our members, and we hold each other to a high bar. We self-reflect and develop each other’s skills as leaders. 
• Nuance: We understand that our work is complex and hold space for multiple viewpoints, contradictions, and tensions. We can hold many things as true while making decisions that advance our mission. 
• Impact: We empower our team to make decisions to drive their work. We are focused on results, persistent in overcoming obstacles, and adapt to changing external conditions. We take pride in our work. 
• Collaboration: We come together across different levels of power to advance shared interests. We center what’s best for the organization and are team players. 
• Joy: We value playfulness, humor, and joy as ways to create community, connection, and goodwill that sustains us through the challenges inherent in our work. 

Local Progress is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and actively recruits people of color, womxn, individuals with disabilities, and members of the LGBTIQAA+ community.