Political Director

Introduction

In 2017, Earthjustice created Earthjustice Action, its affiliated 501(c)(4) advocacy partner. While Earthjustice wields the power of the law, Earthjustice Action unleashes the power of the people through advocacy, education, and electoral work. Earthjustice Action serves a much-needed role in ensuring that our courts are front and center in environmental politics and in defending and strengthening the environmental laws that Earthjustice litigators depend on to win their cases. Earthjustice Action organizes phone banks, runs digital advocacy campaigns, mobilizes voters, and helps fly constituents of Members of Congress to Washington, D.C., so lawmakers can meet directly with the people most affected by their decisions.

About Earthjustice

Earthjustice is the nation’s largest, oldest, and most active public-interest environmental law organization. Our team of 550 staff wields the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect public health, address environmental injustice, defend magnificent places and irreplaceable ecosystems, transition our economy to 100% clean energy, and combat climate change. We partner with thousands of groups, tribes, individuals, and communities to address the environmental crises of our time. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.

For fifty years, Earthjustice has served as the legal backbone of the environmental movement. Our $135M annual budget supports over 550 staff in 16 offices, including litigators, federal lobbyists, state lobbyists, scientists, and communications professionals. Together, we have achieved a distinguished record of advocacy successes in our core issue areas: protecting lands, waters, and the web of life; defending community health and addressing environmental injustice; transitioning our economy to 100% clean energy; and defending the power of our environmental laws and the integrity of our judicial system.

Earthjustice’s advocacy success stems in large part from our broad network of relationships with clients and partner groups. We have represented over 1,000 different communities, tribal organizations, and NGOs in lobbying and litigation efforts and have helped elevate the voices of communities and groups that have not historically been included in the mainstream environmental movement. Our staff also serve in leadership positions on many coalitions, including the Climate Action Campaign, NAAQS Coalition, Equitable and Justice National Climate Forum, Partnership Project, Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign, and Combined Defense Campaign.

Earthjustice has embarked on a transformational effort to diversify its staff, address internal inclusion and equity, and increase attention to racial justice in our programmatic work and in our movement. We are committed to improving who we are, what we do, and how we do it, both internally (by creating an inclusive and equitable workplace) and externally (by fighting for justice through our advocacy work). While numbers don’t tell the whole story, they do illustrate it: 44% of our staff—and 67% of our senior leadership team—are people of color, 35% of our clients work on environmental justice matters, and nearly a quarter of our clients are community-based organizations.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership (30%)

• Work with the Earthjustice Action’s President, Board of Directors, and Earthjustice staff to build the organization’s political influence and electoral work and refresh plans and tactics in response to changing political circumstances.
• In coordination with leadership and Earthjustice Action Board of Directors, explore needs and create recommendations around launching additional entities to grow Earthjustice Action’s electoral work — a traditional connected Political Action Committee (PAC) and/or a SuperPAC. As needed, lead a cross-departmental team to implement approved recommendations.
• Partner with Communications staff to amplify Earthjustice Action’s electoral work for its supporters and others.
• Partner with Earthjustice Action Deputy Director and Development staff to fundraise for Earthjustice Action’s work.
• Provide strategic support to Earthjustice Action’s President, the Chair of Earthjustice Action’s Board of Directors, and Earthjustice’s Vice President of Policy and Legislation.
• Develop a strong relationship with Earthjustice Action Board members and support Board recruitment efforts.

Learn more here