Managing Director, Deaf Initiatives

About Activating Change
Activating Change’s mission is to end the widespread end victimization and mass incarceration of people with disabilities and Deaf people. We bring together people and organizations across the country working in disability, survivor advocacy, and criminal legal system reform movements. We foster alignment, build capacity, and support greater coordination across these social justice movements to realize our goals of freedom and healing – not harm and punishment - for people with disabilities and Deaf people. We collaborate with disability and Deaf communities across the country and work in close partnership with government and advocacy leaders to implement change.

Deaf people experience victimization at rates equal to our higher than hearing people, and they are arrested and incarcerated in the U.S. at disproportionately high rates. The rates of victimization and incarceration are higher for Deaf people from communities of color and other marginalized communities. Yet, Deaf people and communities have largely been excluded from survivor-centered and justice policymaking and advocacy. We believe we cannot end victimization and mass incarceration without ending audism and Deaf disparities in our country’s solutions to these problems. To that end, we:
 

• Amplify the voices of Deaf people with lived experience to raise awareness, change narratives, and promote Deaf-centered, culturally-responsive solutions.
• Support the development and growth of Deaf-lead programs and solutions.
• Remove cultural and linguistic barriers in hearing programs, reform initiatives, and systems.
• Foster alignment and support partnerships between Deaf-serving organizations and hearing organizations from the criminal justice reform and survivor advocacy movements.
• Advocate for policies and practices that affirm Deaf culture and communities and promote culturally and linguistically responsive solutions.

 
About the Position
The Managing Director is a new position within Activating Change. The Managing Director reports to Activating Change’s Executive Director and serves on the organization’s leadership team. As a member of the leadership team, the Managing Director will help to set the strategic direction, make key decisions, and ensure Activating Change operates effectively while staying mission-focused. The Managing Director will also lead, oversee, and expand our programming in our Expanding Deaf Services area, which works to strengthen and sustain “for Deaf, by Deaf” victim services across the country and remove barriers in hearing victim services programs that Deaf survivors face. In this role, the Managing Director is responsible for strategic visioning, operational management, and programmatic leadership, ensuring that our Deaf-centered initiatives are impactful, sustainable, and aligned with our mission. The Managing Director will also work closely with Activating Change’s two other Managing Directors to ensure their work to improve services for survivors with disabilities and end criminalization and mass incarceration of people with disabilities and Deaf people, respectively, is responsive – in focus and strategy – to the lived experiences and needs of Deaf people and has maximum impact in Deaf communities.  
ResponsibilitiesYou will: 

• Serve on Activating Change’s senior leadership team and work collectively to establish the direction, priorities, strategies, impact, and culture of the organization. Participate in annual planning, budgeting, staffing plan development, and other activities.
• Lead the strategic direction and growth of Activating Change’s Expanding Deaf Services program area and other Deaf-related initiatives across the organization, ensuring they advance our mission and meet the needs of the communities we serve, and develop, oversee, and monitor projects’ annual plan(s).
• Work closely with the leadership team to align program goals with organizational priorities and to ensure alignment across Activating Change’s program areas including those focused on improving services for survivors with disabilities and ending criminalization and mass incarceration of people with disabilities and Deaf people.
• Manage project budgets, grant writing, and reporting for funding agencies.
• Assist with fundraising efforts, including refining project ideas, identifying and cultivating relationships with prospective funders, developing funder pitches and writing proposals, and reporting on impact.
• Provide leadership in developing team cohesiveness, deepening culture and supporting staff during a time of organizational change and growth.
• Foster equity, collaborative decision-making, and strong communication within and across teams; inspire, support the growth and development, and appreciate staff; and solve problems as they arise.
• Oversee program area staff, including project directors and associates, providing guidance and leadership development.
• Assist in supporting language access and sign language interpreter coordination within Activating Change, assessing needs and continuing to evolve our approach.
• Foster collaboration and learning across the organization.
• Support and actively engage in anti-racist and anti-ableist analyses and practices across all aspects of the organization and among staff and hold organization and staff accountable. 
• Create and support an environment in Activating Change where staff - particularly those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color - can thrive.
• Participate in, and at times facilitate, staff meetings, team-building exercises, and trainings.
• Build authentic relationships with Deaf people and communities, especially people with lived experience related to our mission from Black and brown, as well as other marginalized, communities.
• Create on-going opportunities for Deaf people to inform and participate in our work and broader efforts aligned with our mission.
• Maintain and grow relationships with organizations across fields at the local, state, and national levels, and identify opportunities for new partnerships across Activating Change.
• Represent Activating Change on a local, regional, and national basis.

 About You and the Position Must-HavesIf you are excited about this position, but not sure if you meet the "must haves," please apply. We know that people of color, people with disabilities, Deaf and DeafBlind people, and women sometimes don't apply if they do not meet all the qualifications. We review applications holistically and are committed to equitable hiring.   

Required

• • Fluency in American Sign Language.
  • A minimum of 13 years of experience in non-profit program management or leadership roles, particularly around serving Deaf communities.
  • Demonstrated expertise around victimization of Deaf people and/or criminalization and mass incarceration of Deaf people, or the ability to quickly learn.
  • A passion for Deaf cultures and communities, language justice, and culturally-responsive solutions. 
  • Strong analytical skills, highly organized and ability to wear multiple hats in an ambiguous, fast-moving environment; a driving force who manages toward clarity and solutions.
  • A successful track record in setting priorities, shaping processes, guiding investment in people and systems, and developing an infrastructure that creates a stronger and more efficient organization.
  • Proven track record of developing and managing impactful programs with a commitment to quality programs and excellence in organizational and project management. Ability to achieve strategic objectives.
• A consummate team player with a flexible and creative approach.
• Excellent communication and relationship and coalition building skills especially across lines of difference and power differentials.
  • Unwavering commitment to racial equity, disability equity, and language justice as well as access equity, and inclusion.
  • Strong demonstrated fundraising experience especially with Federal funding.
  • Experience in grant management, budgeting, and financial oversight.
  • Integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed with demonstrated passion for Activating Change’s mission and commitment to excellence.
  • Curious and a quick learner, with a willingness to take in new information, perspectives, and data to inform your work.
  • Ability to have fun, think creatively, inspire and work collaboratively with other amazing people at Activating Change.  
  • Ability to thrive in a virtual work environment: self-directed; proactively reaches out, responsive, comfortable in a virtual setting. 

Preferred

• Lived experience as a Deaf person. 
• Experience providing support and strengthening the capacity of people and organizations in the non-profit sector, including providing expert guidance and designing and delivering trainings. 

 Compensation and BenefitsThe salary range for this position is $120,000 - $125,000. Actual salary will vary depending on factors including but not limited to experience and performance. The salary range listed is just one component of Activating Change's total compensation package for employees. Supporting Activating Change staff—both personally and professionally—is a priority. To do this, we invest in the well-being of our staff through other rewards including merit pay increases, flexible work schedules, generous paid time off, a comprehensive health insurance plan, employer-funded retirement plan, an annual stipend to support healing, education, and development, reimbursements for home internet expenses, stipends for work from home supplies, and tuition reimbursement for education costs and fees relevant to Activating Change's work. 

No phone calls or emails, please. Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted.

Activating Change is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, or caregiver status.
Apply