New York Legal Director

Title: New York Legal Director

Position Location: This position will be based in ACT’s New York office. Relocation expenses may be covered for the right candidate.

Reports to: National Legal Director

FLSA Status: Salaried-Exempt

Employment Type: Full-time

Hours: Monday-Friday, hybrid position, requires a mix of remote work, work on site, and court appearances.

Salary: The base salary for this position is $90,000; additional compensation is negotiable based on experience.

Organization:

African Communities Together (ACT) is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for our families here in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT works to support and empower African immigrants to integrate socially, advance economically, and engage civically. ACT connects African immigrants to services, empowers our members to develop as grassroots leaders, and leads campaigns for social change. ACT’s African immigrant membership comes from a diverse range of nationalities, cultures, and languages, and is religiously diverse, majority women, and predominantly working-class and low income.

Position Description:

African Communities Together (ACT) is seeking a committed and seasoned Legal Director with demonstrated experience working with diverse cultural groups to join our legal team. The Legal Director will oversee our New York Chapter’s immigration legal program and provide direct immigration legal services to ACT members and African immigrant communities. This key leadership position will report to the National Legal Director and will be responsible for supervising the legal department’s personnel, including 1 paralegal, 1 legal fellow, and volunteers as well as expanding ACT’s New York legal program, which includes petitions for immigrant relatives, naturalization, and status adjustment. This position collaborates with the Director of the New York Chapter and ACT’s national leadership to advance the Chapter’s goals and objectives.

Key Responsibilities Include:

Leadership:

• Lead ACT’s provision of legal services and response to client immigration needs.
• Provide direct legal representation to African immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

Staff Management:

• Provide direct supervision and support for legal staff, including conducting staff evaluations, supporting the development and implementation of work plans, overseeing the recruitment and hiring of NY legal staff, and ensuring continued professional development.

Client and Case Management:

• Work closely with NY-based legal staff to conduct in-depth immigration legal screenings and provide application assistance to clients eligible for relief, including adjustments of status, TPS, naturalization, green card renewals, family-based visa petitions, and removal of conditions for eligible lawful permanent residents.
• Provide regular updates and maintain accurate records of client interactions and case progress.

Community Engagement:

• Engage with immigrant communities, conducting know-your-rights workshops and educational sessions on immigration policies and procedures.

Compliance and Reporting:

• Prepare and provide timely program information needed for grant applications, grant deliverable tracking, and grant reporting.

Partnership Development and Relationship Building:

• Cultivate and develop partnerships with key government agencies, funders, attorneys, law schools, and other partner organizations to build collective approaches to fight for low-income and vulnerable African immigrant communities and enhance the effectiveness of the New York Chapter’s immigration legal program.

Professional Development:

• Stay informed on changes in immigration laws and policies, attending relevant training and professional development opportunities.

Qualifications:

We recognize that it is highly unlikely that someone meets 100% of the qualifications for a role. Studies have shown people of the global majority and female-identifying candidates in particular are likely to “count themselves out” of otherwise well-matched opportunities due to this fact. If much of this job description describes you, please apply for this role.

• A passion for ACT’s mission and demonstrated commitment to community-centered immigrant justice.
• Licensed attorney in good standing and eligible to practice immigration law.
• At least 3 years of experience of immigration legal practice, preferably with low-income clients from African countries. Experience with affirmative and defensive applications for humanitarian relief (particularly asylum), family-based applications, and naturalization applications is highly desirable.
• Experience working in partnership and collaboration with diverse groups, including legal service providers, organizers, community leaders, and other legal advocacy organizations; experience engaging with African immigrant communities and centering their experience and voices.
• A deep personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion;
• Excellent written, communication, and analytical skills.
• A leader who is disciplined, focused, and detail-oriented, and who has experience with creating and putting in place systems for organizing and managing legal casework, while also being agile and adaptive.
• Ability to succeed in a “startup” environment, including accountability to goals, ability to work independently, take on multiple roles, and prioritize.
• Ability to work evenings, weekends, and irregular hours when necessary, with comp time off given in these situations.

Additional Qualifications Appreciated but Not Required:

• New York Bar admission.
• Fluency in a widely spoken African language such as Mandingo, Fula, Yoruba, Igbo, Kru or Hausa, and/or in French or Arabic.
• Lived experience that informs an authentic understanding of challenges faced by vulnerable African immigrants.

Employee Benefits:

We offer a full comprehensive benefits package that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP-IRA). Additional benefits include professional development and a sabbatical/longevity bonus.

Paid Time and Holidays Off: African Communities Together (ACT) offers a generous benefits package to full-time employees. Benefits include two weeks of paid vacation and medical leave, a personal day for every two months worked, paid holidays throughout the calendar year (including federal holidays), and a year-end winter break from December 24th to January 1st.

Application Process:

Please submit your resume along with a brief cover letter describing your interest. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications by April 1st, 2024; however, applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

African Communities Together (ACT) believes that all persons are entitled to Equal Employment Opportunity, and we do not discriminate against our staff members or applicants for employment because of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender identity and expression, sex, age, disability, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, genetic information, or veteran or citizenship status provided they are qualified and meet the requirements for the position. ACT provides reasonable accommodation to candidates with disabilities.

ACT is an affirmative action employer and strongly supports the social goals of affirmative action. Therefore, we make special efforts to recruit individuals from groups that are historically under-represented in professional environments or suffer from broader societal discrimination.