Conservation Colorado is seeking an English/Spanish bilingual Protegete Director to lead our Protegete Program. Conservation Colorado’s Protégete program works to elevate Latinx communities to protect Colorado’s climate, air, land, water, and people. The Protegete Director leads the department to engage communities that have been historically shut out of the environmental movement by providing opportunities for organizing, education and leadership development to elevate the voices of the Latinx community. This position provides strategic guidance and support to organizational leadership as the organization’s senior advisor on Latinx issues.

About Conservation Colorado

Conservation Colorado is committed to protecting our climate, air, lands, water, and communities. Conservation Colorado’s work to protect and advocate for the environment reflects our commitment to racial and social justice, particularly by ensuring that policy victories are shared by all Coloradans including Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) and other frontline communities. We achieve these goals by organizing people and electing conservation-minded policymakers. We work closely with policy leaders, activists, businesses, and other organizations, and have built a reputation as one of the leading conservation advocacy organizations in the region. Within the organization, we aim to create a workplace culture of policies and practices that demonstrate how we value equity and inclusion.

What You’ll Do

As the Protegete Director you will help Conservation Colorado deepen and expand our relationships with organizations led by or serving Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color; be a key member of the organization’s leadership team providing strategic insight on areas related to organizing in Latinx communities; and manage, develop, and provide leadership & vision for the Protegete department. This position reports to the Deputy Director and has two direct reports—the Content Manager and the Organizing Manager who manages a team of three organizers. Your main areas of responsibility include:

1. Staff Management & Leadership

● Provide day-today oversight for the Protegete Content Manager and Organizing Manager.

● Ensure the Protegete team has the resources they need to be successful and advocate for the team’s needs with other leadership.

● Provide the leadership and inspiration the team needs to succeed.

1. Coalition Development & Partnership

● Build organizational partnerships with Latinx organizations in deep and meaningful ways.

● Collaborate with the Communities and Justice Advocate to ensure our learnings from engagement in coalitions are reflected in our policy, political, and organizing work,

● Build relationships with Latinx legislative, administrative, and other key decision makers or people representing districts with primarily BIPOC populations.

1. Strategic Guidance

● Represents the organization and Protegete at press events, public meetings, panels, conferences, etc.

● Advises management team on Latinx issues including providing high-level input and guidance on organizational priorities & campaigns, long-term plans, non-environmental issues that are of significant interest to communities Protegete engages and electoral work.

● Collaborate with the fundraising team to raise money and expand our membership.

In addition to your regular responsibilities, all staff are expected to participate in certain fundraising efforts, take part in our election-related activities, and commit to our efforts around equity & inclusivity.

Qualifications

To be successful in this job you will excel in these areas:

● Managementexperience. You will have a demonstrated track record of success in managing a high-performing organization, department, or team, and will bring a deep understanding of what it takes to produce results, instincts for going beyond the “textbook” to get to solutions that will work, and experience working within a leadership team.

● Organizing & advocacy campaign experience. We work at the intersection of people, politics, and policy and you will need to share our belief that elections matter and people power can influence decision makers to make long-term policy change.

● Collaboration & relationship building. We are actively working to expand the environmental movement to include voices that have been traditionally shut out, so you must have successfully worked on teams or in coalitions that exhibit a rich mix of diversity in terms of race and socio-economic backgrounds and have a willingness to do the personal and organizational work around equity and inclusivity. As a member of the leadership team, we value departments working together to increase the impact of our work and you will collaborate daily with your colleagues. You center respect and trust in your work to motivate people and navigate difficult conversations in a meaningful & respectful manner.

● Strategic thinking. You will need the smarts to analyze situations to see beyond the surface of challenges to get to real solutions and be able to develop and execute long term plans & campaigns to realize the vision and potential of the Protegete program.

● Bilingual English-Spanish fluency is a requirement for this position.

Compensation and Benefits:

We provide high-quality, zero-deductible health insurance and a strong benefits package that includes a SIMPLE IRA retirement plan with match, at least 28 days of paid time off & holidays as well as 6 sick days in your first year, and parental leave and a sabbatical program. The full-time salary range for this role is between $75,000-85,000 with exact salary depending on experience and new staff rarely starting at the top of the range. This job offers an opportunity to engage people to find solutions to some of the most important environmental issues in Colorado and work with a great team that is committed to a better, more equitable future. It will be challenging, inspiring, and sometimes frustrating, but you’ll be making a big difference.

We are committed to building a more diverse and inclusive organization and conservation movement to fully represent and engage all Coloradans and to build as powerful a movement as we can. Recruiting staff that better reflects Colorado is a priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, race, ethnicity, geographies, political affiliation, and all other identities represented in Colorado or protected by law.