Campaign Representative – Our Wild America (California)

Overview

Context: At the Sierra Club, we believe in the power of togetherness. Together, we remain committed to the fight for a healthy climate built on a foundation of environmental, racial, economic, and gender justice – a future where all people benefit from a healthy, thriving planet and a direct connection to nature. As the climate crisis and deeply entrenched systemic racism all fuel inequity, we will continue to fight for a bold, transformational agenda that recognizes the interconnectedness between our planet, our humanity, and our democracy. By recognizing that our destinies are tied, we continue to name that all things are fundamentally connected, and the overlap between ecology, race, gender, and representative government will move to either advance our collective humanity or to oppress it.

Sierra Club is comprised of staff across the country and a network of local chapters that support our grassroots engagement. We are also proud to be a unionized employer, with two labor unions representing more than half of our employees.

The Lands, Water, Wildlife Campaign envisions a world where all people have access to nature, clean air and clean water, where humans respect their interconnectedness to the living environment and treat each other, the earth and all species with humility, care and respect. In this world, an active, powerful grassroots movement thrives, holding decision-makers accountable to consistently protecting communities, biodiversity and the environment. This movement values and respects Indigenous rights, including Indigenous perspectives regarding the fundamental rights of nature, knowledge and sovereignty and believes that social justice is environmental justice. Working hand in hand with Indigenous and front-line communities, we have helped secure lasting protections for public lands, waters and wildlife and promote the rights of nature. We have helped address the climate and biodiversity crises by keeping fossil fuels in the ground and by better managing forests, deserts and soils to naturally absorb more carbon. We have helped protect at least 30 percent of lands and waters by the year 2030, salvaging enough habitat to forestall the extinction crisis and helping to combat the climate crisis. Through our work, we will help reconnect people to the power of nature for healing and empowerment, and ensure that these benefits are accessible to all– particularly those who have historically been excluded from the conservation movement. Our communities benefit from time outside and better connections to nature and to our neighbors, fostering healthier individuals and a healthier and more just society overall.

 

Scope: The Campaign Representative will help lead a coordinated statewide 30×30 campaign in California, across national and state staff and our 13 local chapters. They will coordinate the Sierra Club’s work that advances implementation of the California Natural Resources Agency’s 30×30 initiative, support all 13 CA chapters’ efforts to develop and lead local 30×30 campaigns by designing and orchestrating distributed organizing efforts, and help lead coalition building efforts. This position will assist the Sierra Club CA Director and California-based Lands, Water, Wildlife staff in developing big-picture, strategic campaign efforts to advance conservation, climate resilience, and equitable access to nature goals that are informed by expert understanding of federal, state and local public lands law, biodiversity conservation and an ongoing analysis of social movements and politics. This position develops and fosters just and equitable partnerships with Indigenous-led, environmental, social justice, labor, and other organizations who are at the front lines of the fights to protect public lands, stop the climate crisis and expand equitable access to nature, and ensures equity, justice, and inclusion are integral throughout the campaign work.

 

Job activities include but are not limited to:

1. Applies Equity, Inclusion and Justice and anti-oppression values to all initiative activities, including ensuring all staff and lead volunteers in the campaign are supporting Sierra Club’s Multi-Year Equity Plan, including operationalizing the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing throughout campaign activities. Ensures team members are working to actively pivot away from white supremacist culture and behavior and towards racial equity at the individual and interpersonal levels. Ensures that external campaign outcomes demonstrate a commitment to justice and equity.
2. Acts as the lead staff member, working with the California Campaign Manager, responsible for coordination, planning and implementation of the California 30×30 Campaign. Develops a strategic campaign plan, goals, and objectives in collaboration with Lands, Water, Wildlife California staff, Sierra Club CA staff and Chapter leaders from across the state. Facilitates close coordination with Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program, Chapters, Communications Department, Organizing Department, Digital Strategies, Political Team, and other Sierra Club programs including but not limited to Environmental Justice, Labor, Partnerships, and volunteer leadership.
3. Develops and advances national and regional campaign strategies and narratives to:
   1. achieve the goal of protecting 30% of our lands and waters by 2030,
   2. build campaign connections between lands, water, and wildlife conservation and the fight against climate change,
   3. block harmful threats to public lands, such as logging, mining, fossil fuel extraction and other inappropriate development.
   4. In coordination with the Lands, Water, Wildlife California Campaign Manager and Sierra Club CA Director, co-leads the development, coordination and implementation of the Sierra Club’s conservation agenda in California.
4. Organizes, supports, and builds the capacity of Sierra Club chapters to develop and lead local and regional campaigns that contribute directly to state and federal goals to protect 30% of lands in waters in California by 2030 through education, organizing and powerbuilding, and coalition work.
5. Develops and advances Sierra Club policy positions related to land, water and wildlife conservation and expanding equitable access to nature in California. Ensures that such policies are accurately advanced by volunteers and organizing, lobbying and legal staff in various decision making contexts. Ensures the Sierra Club is regarded as a significant leader by the media, key decision makers and donors.
6. Represents the Sierra Club and advances planning within broader coalitions. This will require consistently being part of coalition planning meetings and ongoing calls.
7. Identifies new grasstops and organizational partners to bring into efforts to protect 30% of lands and waters in California by 2030, with an emphasis on organizations representing Black, Indigenous and people of color.
8. Closely coordinates with the Advancement Department to achieve associated campaign fundraising targets, including donor cultivation, proposal writing and internal updates.
9. Represents the Sierra Club Lands, Water, Wildlife Campaign within the public eye where strategic, including within traditional and social media, through presentations, etc.
10. Writes, edits, and reviews educational and advocacy materials.
11. Handles miscellaneous projects and duties as assigned.

The successful candidate must demonstrate the following skills, experience and competencies:

• Equity Analysis and Practice. You are aware of your group identities and how they have shaped your life and experiences at work. You have an analysis of how racism and other forms of oppression in society impact relationships, systems and culture. You bring experience and skills for working effectively with colleagues across group identities and position/role.
• Collaboration. Ability to collaboratively design and implement highly strategic, high-impact campaigns that integrate field and online organizing, communications, and legal strategies and tactics.
• Project Management. Track record of planning and implementing advocacy campaigns, strategic initiatives, or similar efforts with clearly defined goals, systems and processes to ensure effective planning, and communication and reporting.
• Trust and Understanding. This position is charged with building and maintaining community trust and relationships, and this requires strong leadership skills, accountability, and dependability. You are open and willing to learn from mistakes, reflect, and seek understanding. You are flexible, can exercise sound judgment, relate to people, and find common ground.
• Initiative. Demonstrated initiative; proactively creates and pursues opportunities to advance campaign goals.
• Communication. Excellent written and oral communication skills, public speaking and media presentation ability with a focus on communicating effectively across different groups of stakeholders.

The strongest candidates will also demonstrate the following skills, experience and competencies:

• Knowledge of conservation and social justice movements
• Organizing expertise
• Experience working with coalitions
• Work ethic and dependability
• Policy advocacy expertise
• Persuasive communicator
• Fundraising experience

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this position is $68,500.

This position is represented by a collective bargaining unit and is subject to the terms and conditions of the contract between Sierra Club and Progressive Workers Union or Sierra Employee Alliance, depending on location.

The Sierra Club offers a competitive salary package commensurate with skills and experience plus excellent benefits that include medical, dental, and vision coverage, and a retirement savings 401(k) plan.

This is a category 4, exempt, represented position.

Sierra Club is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. Sierra Club employees are not eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.

Sierra Club values the expertise and talents of foreign nationals. Sierra Club sponsors both nonimmigrant and immigrant visas when certain criteria are met, based on immigration laws and organizational needs. Such sponsorship is at the discretion of the Department Head and Sierra Club Human Resources in consultation with the employee’s manager. The Sierra Club cannot guarantee the approval of a visa petition. The Sierra Club is an equal opportunity employer committed to workforce diversity.

 

To Apply, please visit our website. 

This position does not have an undergraduate education requirement. If you choose to include your education history, please remove your schools from your resume. You may leave your degree (e.g., “B.A. Philosophy”), but please remove any undergraduate and graduate school names.

This anonymous process is aimed at opening this opportunity to more candidates, reviewing applicants on performance assessments and mitigating bias in the decision-making process.

Lastly, we are intentionally not asking for a cover letter, so please do not send one in with your application.