Piper Fund Program Officer, Right to Protest at Proteus Fund

About the role

The Piper Fund Program Officer, Right to Protest leads Piper Fund and Piper Action Fund's work to protect freedom of assembly and dissent. In partnership with Piper Fund's Director, the Program Officer plays a key role in developing and implementing the overall strategy for the program's grantmaking, field-building and convening, and donor education and engagement efforts. The Program Officer builds and maintains significant expertise about the field, including monitoring trends in state and federal attempts to restrict the right to protest and dissent, strategic responses of state and national groups, and fostering relationships with key players, grantees, funders, and other leaders at both national and local levels.

Responsibilities

• Grantmaking
  • Strengthen and refine the program's grantmaking theory of change, articulating a guiding approach, key values, priority issues within the field of right to protest and dissent, and geographies to ensure grantmaking aligns with Piper Fund and Piper Action Fund goals and priorities.
  • Manage rapid response and proactive grantmaking as threats to freedom of assembly arise, including tracking threats, prioritizing states, identifying and assessing potential grantees, reviewing and evaluating proposals, and reviewing reports for both c3 and c4 grants.
  • Apply a relational grantmaking approach through regular communications and proposal review processes, including requests for proposals, researching and evaluating proposals, conducting site visits, and written assessments and recommendations. Track and stay abreast of grantee progress and challenges.
• Field-building, capacity-building, and convening
  • Work in partnership with the Protect Dissent Network (PDN) Manager, who leads the national Protect Dissent Network (PDN), a network of over 100 diverse organizations convened by the Right to Protest program, including hosting and facilitating biweekly calls and coordinating national efforts in support of state groups.
  • Collaborate with the PDN Manager in planning and hosting in-person and online convenings to strengthen the network, develop strategy, deepen coordination and trust, provide shared learning opportunities, and identify core priorities.
  • In partnership with the PDN Manager, identify and respond to needs in the field, such as securing partnerships and providers for communications/narrative support; safety and security support; and ongoing learning needs and opportunities. Identify and develop plans to address critical gaps.
  • Identify and participate meaningfully in special projects that are opportunities to advance and strengthen the overall field.
• Donor engagement and fundraising
  • In partnership with the Director, develop and sustain relationships with donors, stakeholders, and funding partners. Develop strategic communications and learning opportunities for the funding community.
  • Represent the organization in donor briefings and other funding spaces; communicate issue-analysis, program goals, progress, and funding needs to current and prospective funders and grantees.
  • In partnership with the Program Director and the Director of Strategic Partnerships, fundraise for the program by actively researching and identifying donor prospects, meeting with potential funders, and collaborating with Strategic Partnerships staff to ensure that proposals and reports have relevant and accurate programmatic information.
  • Seek opportunities to develop and participate in special projects and strategic partnerships to advance awareness of and support for the issue and to deepen coordination in philanthropic spaces, including partnering with philanthropy serving organizations.
  • Collaborate with the Program Director, Director of Strategic Partnerships, and Director of Communications to develop communications materials to engage the funding community around defending freedom of assembly.
• Programmatic, team, and organizational leadership
  • Collaborate with the Program Director, Chief Financial Officer, and other finance staff to create and monitor the annual budget for Piper's Right to Protest program.
  • Participate meaningfully in organization-wide efforts, such as Proteus Fund's Grantee Safety & Security Fund, the Donor Collaboratives Program Team, and scenario planning.
  • Play a key role in Piper team-wide activities, such as strategic planning and Piper Fund donor convenings.
  • For the Right to Protest program specifically, identify capacity gaps and needs, and secure contractors for additional support as needed.

Required Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's degree and a minimum of five years full-time professional work experience with:
• - Leading organizing campaigns and/or lobbying at the state and/or local level on social justice issues
• - Advocating for racial and economic justice, and/or structural democracy issues (e.g. First Amendment rights, civic space) strongly preferred
• - Prior experience in philanthropy is also preferred
• - Experience facilitating broad-based coalitions and building inclusive, trust-based, and values-aligned relationships across the field
• - Advanced racial equity analysis and demonstrated commitment to building power among underrepresented communities
• - Exceptional critical thinking skills and systems awareness, with the capacity to identify opportunities, challenges, and strategic responses; demonstrates an ability to design programmatic approaches that align with long-term movement goals
• - Clear and compelling communication skills, with the ability to engage diverse stakeholders across roles and settings; effectively adapts messaging to reflect audience, context, and cultural nuance
• - Strong commitment to the mission and values of Proteus Fund as a progressive, social justice organization, including a deep investment in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB)