Director for Advocacy

The Director for Advocacy contributes to the mission of LIRS and serves by:  Educating and mobilizing established immigrant and refugee communities and Lutheran and non-affiliated individuals, who are interested in our mission of welcome, to act, with us, in solidarity with newly-arrived immigrants and refugees; Influencing U.S. policy makers to facilitate policies that promote greater justice and mercy for those we serve. The Director for Advocacy is responsible for developing a capacity for educating and mobilizing action on LIRS-related policy and legislative work. The Director for Advocacy helps shape LIRS advocacy goals and leads the process of developing an annual cross-departmental, cross-unit advocacy plan.

I. Relationship Building

1. Represent LIRS and maintain regular communications with partners, key denominational staff and representatives of advocacy groups (particularly those that are faith-based) as well as with key legislative officials and staffers
2. Deepen existing key relationships within targeted advocacy coalitions, Lutheran denominations, Lutheran Social Ministry organizational structures and other key/targeted institutions; mentor, coach, encourage, and mobilize LIRS leaders and champions across the country; listen to the concerns of our constituents and partners, and contribute to the support of existing and/or the development of new networks, programs, and ideas for education, advocacy, and action
3. Cultivate new relationships in immigrant/refugee communities along with the larger Lutheran community
4. Maintain regular and collegial communication and collaborate with HQ-based staff across all departments and key units
5. Foster and maintain relationships with key/targeted elected officials and their respective staff members in order to articulate and bring forward policy concerns related to the vulnerable immigrants and refugees LIRS serves and to impact and effect legislation that advances LIRS public policy positions

II. Training and Development               

1. Serve as an active resource for key/targeted leaders, providing information on current LIRS policy and advocacy issues, ensuring that the information is consistently and accurately grounded within our service experience and expertise as well as consistent with the needs articulated by immigrant and refugee communities
2. Make presentations and create educational opportunities to educate and raise awareness about LIRS issues and activities
3. Assist in developing formation and educational opportunities (conferences, workshops, and retreats) for synod, district and other key ministry leaders to build capacity to be engaged in Lutheran/protestant Christian social teaching with an emphasis on welcome/solidarity with newcomers
4. Develop core advocacy teams/immigration task forces in synods and districts by providing technical assistance, training and materials for activities and action on LIRS-related issues

III. Engagement

1. Organize engagement of key leaders and their institutions in LIRS advocacy areas as an expression of solidarity
2. Forward the policy, advocacy, and legislative priorities of LIRS (which are focused on promoting justice and mercy for the newcomers we serve) through engagement of significant numbers of Lutherans, targeted constituents, and key leaders in the legislative process
3. Develop and implement new initiatives especially related to engaging former refugees and immigrant communities in solidarity activities and legislative advocacy
4. Collaborate closely and effectively with outreach/marketing, communications and fundraising units to develop key messages that resonate with target audiences; participate in communications and media outreach activities by actively seeking opportunities to promote LIRS-related policy issues, providing information, identifying stories, writing articles, and utilizing resources available
5. Oversee and manage all web content related to LIRS advocacy, which will focus on capturing people's engagement, measuring progress, and keeping people involved between campaigns, activities, advocacy asks/ action alerts, etc.
6. Collaborate closely and effectively with service units to identify policy goals, strategies and tactics.

IV. Influencing Policy Makers

1. Support the initiation, development, and execution of an annual organizational advocacy plan with a strategy that includes mechanism for ongoing evaluation of effectiveness; track progress against measurable targets and goals; provide monthly reports outlining progress
2. Oversee:  the tracking and monitoring of national and key state legislation, research on national policy issues related to immigrants and refugees, the identification of policy trends, provision of technical assistance to LIRS staff, the leading of advocacy training and updates for LIRS staff and the development of written analysis and reports on policy issues

V. Perform other job-related duties as assigned

1. Commitment to LIRS's core mission and values and an ability to model those values in relationship with colleagues and partners; commitment to refugees and immigrants
2. Graduate degree (Public Policy/Affairs, Political Science, Theology, Social Ethics, Economics, JD/Law or other related field)
3. 5-10 years experience in professional advocacy role; community organizing experience strongly preferred
4. In-depth knowledge of intersection of faith and public policy
5. Familiarity and comfort with issues related to migration, with special emphasis on domestic issues related to LIRS's populations of principal concern: migrants in situations of vulnerability
6. Understanding of Lutheran/protestant Christian teaching and contemporary Christian issues; knowledge of structures of ELCA, LC-MS, and Latvian Lutheran churches; ability to work within those institutional cultures a plus
7. An understanding and track record in working toward long-term social change with demonstrated skills in building social capital
8. Cross-cultural experience (work, study, travel) in developing countries a plus
9. Experience and strong track record of demonstrable success in relating to/with elected officials and their respective staff
10. Experience working as part of a collaborative, close team and facilitating team work
11. Experience in organizing and leading workshops, retreats and in developing multi-media informational, educational and/or training materials
12. Ability and willingness to travel up to 20% of the time - domestic travel
13. Strong interpersonal and public communication skills with fluency in Spanish
14. Exceptional networking and relationship-building skills
15. Experience managing advocacy software in order to engage, capture, track, and maintain advocacy interest/momentum of constituents; proficiency in Microsoft Office applications