Director, Racial Justice & Equity (RJE) (Washington DC location preferred)

About Humanity United

Humanity United (HU) is a philanthropic organization focused on advancing the dignity and voice of those most affected by violent conflict, exploitation, and injustice. Established in 2008 to cultivate conditions for enduring peace and freedom, HU today focuses on systemic change across three bodies of work: Peacebuilding, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking, and Racial Justice and Equity, with a strong focus on leveraging Public Engagement across these issues. Humanity United is part of The Omidyar Group, a diverse collection of companies, organizations, and initiatives united by a desire to improve the lives of people and societies.

Position Summary

Humanity United is seeking a Director to lead its Racial Justice & Equity (RJE) program and strategically align RJE’s approach to HU’s commitment and recognition that transforming systems of exploitation and violence must take place at home in the US as well as abroad.

In 2024, the RJE program underwent a participatory strategy process, led by the RJE team and BIPOC movement leaders, to develop a funding strategy and approach that is more aligned with the needs of those we serve. From that participatory process, the RJE program brought forward the “near star” of empowering BIPOC leaders and communities to have greater agency over funding decisions and ensuring their voices are heard at decision-making tables, leading to a more democratic distribution of resources.

The RJE Director will lead the program‘s next phase, namely operationalizing and shaping the direction of the strategy, which might include participatory grantmaking and working closely with movement leaders. The Director will oversee RJE grantee engagement and grantmaking, support research and learning for the RJE program, and supervise the RJE program manager. The Director will facilitate decision-making about RJE core grants alongside the RJE Advisory Group, a cross-organizational body that provides strategic insight, feedback, and connection between the RJE body of work and teams across Humanity United, and act as the key node at HU liaising with Grants Management, Operations, and Programs teams as needed.

As Humanity United undertakes an organizational strategy process in 2026, the Director, RJE will play a key role in aligning and weaving the work of the RJE program more deeply into the Programs function at HU, and across HU more broadly. Given the emergent nature of the organizational strategy, the candidate should be highly experienced with leading change management processes in conditions of uncertainty. The candidate should also be comfortable engaging in conversations with operational partners across the organization.

The Director, RJE should be able to hold a wide range of community relationships with respect, integrity, and a deep understanding of how to build power and deep relationships during a politically uncertain time.

Reporting to the Managing Director, Programs, this is a full-time, exempt position. A Washington DC metro area location is strongly preferred, as the duties of this role will require regular in-person meetings, partner engagements, and presence in the Washington DC area. Our hybrid work approach provides ongoing flexibility for remote work, however the successful candidate should be able and willing to travel domestically and internationally up to 15%.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Lead the operationalization of RJE’s board-approved strategy, incorporating a participatory grantmaking approach.
• Lead RJE engagement in the broader organizational strategy process.
• Represent RJE in Programs Leadership meetings.
• Represent HU in a wide range of grantee and community level relationships.
• Provide leadership in management of RJE budgets to ensure appropriate use of funds, providing HU Finance with relevant information as needed (i.e., forecasts), and monitor spending to effectively utilize resources.
• Align RJE’s programmatic work and strategy with the Rights and Dignity (RAD) community of practice across The Omidyar Group (TOG) to facilitate learning and power building.
• Work with RJE team and Advisory Group to identify any relevant new partners and/or renewals, and engage with these partners throughout the grantmaking cycle.
• Shepherd and facilitate grantmaking decisions and processes.
• Work with the Partnerships team to identify and deepen relationships with peer donors.
• Supervise and provide leadership, coaching, development, and mentoring to Manager, RJE.
• Engage and seek input from the full RJE team and Advisory Group on relevant matters including but not limited to landscape assessments across the racial justice ecosystem within HU bodies of work: Forced Labor and Human Trafficking, Public Engagement, Peacebuilding, and Strategy Learning & Impact, etc.
• Provide thought partnership across RJE and the wider organization. Strategically collaborate with teams outside of RJE to leverage areas of overlap and ensure the work is connected cross-functionally under its pillars of Building Power and Thriving Communities.
• Work in partnership with the Manager, RJE, RJE Advisory Group members, and the Strategy Learning & Impact team to refine and implement the RJE learning agenda, including engaging with grantees, pulling learnings from the field, and sharing back to the field and HU.
• Hire and manage consultants and external vendors as needed.
• Lead engagement with external organizations, grassroots and movement building ecosystems, TOG communities of practice, academic experts, and policymakers on key issues of strategy and learning, and influencing the broader field of racial and social justice.
• Engage as needed with the HU Board, and hold high level, independent relationships with major grantees, partners, and in the broader policy, academic, media, and philanthropic communities.
• Ensure high-quality programs and initiatives under the RJE pillars of Building Power and Thriving Communities are built, identified, and supported to achieve HU’s intended impact.
• Contribute to HU’s thought leadership, in collaboration with the Communications team, on key external issues and trends relevant to the work and strategy.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Must-have requirements

• Commitment to HU’s mission and values (including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice)
• Deep expertise (prioritizing lived experience) in racial justice & equity, with experience with and deep networks within the racial justice ecosystem
• Track record of experience in increasingly more responsible & complex roles, ideally including leadership roles and work in a nonprofit or philanthropy setting
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, relationship-building and influencing skills as well as experience working as part of a distributed team
• Demonstrated grantmaking experience, or the ability to quickly build grantmaking skills, including knowledge of how 501(c)(3) grant funding works and the various types of funding mechanisms for a 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4)
• Ability to bring creative approaches to achieve a desired outcome e.g. to leverage grant making, advocacy, convening and other tools or tactics. Includes the ability to use outside relationships to create convening and learning spaces for HU and grantees
• Excellent and proven experience as an effective people manager, coach, and mentor
• Team management experience, including budgeting and operations
• Humility, emotional intelligence and ability to work collaboratively with all constituent groups, including staff, partners, grantees, and broader communities
• Ability to contribute strong subject matter expertise and cultural knowledge to team strategy discussions
• The right to work in the United States
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 15%

It’s a bonus if you bring

• Direct lived experience of the issues we work on
• Direct experience in movement building, grassroots organizing, labor organizing or equivalent
• Familiarity with trust-based practices in philanthropic or grantmaking processes, including participatory grantmaking, and/or other participatory approaches or community philanthropy models.

We encourage qualified candidates with informal or indirect experience to describe how their background has served as preparation for this role.

Salary: The salary range for this position will vary by geographic location to account for local job market & cost of living. Starting salaries within the range are based on job-related skills, experience and background. At HU, salary progression is based on performance and proficiency in a role over time.

Example starting salary ranges are provided below, with other locations available on request. We will share more about the starting and full salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

· San Francisco - $172,941 - $192,157 · New York - $164,294 - $182,549 · Washington DC/Boston/Seattle/LA - $155,647 - $172,941 · Chicago, Denver/Boulder, Philadelphia - $147,000 - $163,333 · Cincinnati, Raleigh, Dallas, Milwaukee, Miami - $138,353 - $153,726

Humanity United believes that diversity, equity and inclusion make us more successful in our work, and we are able to grow and learn better together when our team is diverse and representative of the communities we serve. We are actively engaged in a formal DEIJ journey as an organization, and expect that prospective employees are enthusiastic about advancing these goals.

We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and staff. In recruiting for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of education, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran status, color, class, religion, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status and any other characteristics protected by law. We strongly encourage applications from people with diverse identities or who are members of marginalized communities.

HU is proud to offer all staff an inclusive and comprehensive benefits package to accommodate a diversity of needs and life circumstances and to accommodate staff at all life stages with flexible and supportive benefits. Our benefits include medical, dental and vision insurance, life and disability insurance, flexible spending account, 401(k) plan, paid vacation and sick time with generous holiday closures, paid parental leave, charitable gift matching, employee assistance program and mental health support via our partnerships with Modern Health, Calm and Headspace, commuter benefit, wellbeing benefit, phone and home internet benefit, hybrid work flexibility and half-day Fridays.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to fully access our benefits of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation, or describe your needs in your application.

Humanity United’s Values: We encourage all candidates to learn more about our organizational values at https://humanityunited.org/about/