Kentucky Equal Justice Center (KEJC) is seeking its next Managing Counsel to serve as Director of the Housing Justice Division. This leader will be considered a program and team director with the opportunity to serve on the management team. This role requires a minimum of 5+ years of experience. Key functions include but are not limited to mid-level legal, policy, and administrative duties. This position will have program oversight and be evaluated on the overall performance of the Housing Justice Team, which includes supervision of attorneys, outreach coordinators, collaboration with support staff and contract staff as needed.This is a full-time salaried position (40 hours/week).
The Housing Justice Director will be an integral part of KEJC's work to provide eviction defense to people in Fayette County facing eviction. While KEJC recognizes the value of and seeks a geographically diverse staff, the Housing Justice Director will be expected to travel to Fayette County for court appearances and staff meetings approximately 2-3 times per week.
About KEJC
KEJC believes every Kentuckian has the right to health care, housing, fair pay, food, education, and safety. KEJC is a mid-sized poverty law advocacy nonprofit with a staff of 30 and a budget in excess of $2 million with the aspiration to continue growing to serve the people of the Commonwealth. Our team makes a difference using their voice in Kentucky’s capital, in courtrooms, and in communities all across the Bluegrass and beyond. Maxwell Street Legal Clinic, an essential program of KEJC, provides immigration law services in downtown Lexington and leads regional conversations aimed at compassionate action for those most in need of support. Our organization is fortunate to have a wide network of community partnerships. We work both internally and externally representing our mission on teams and as part of coalitions across the state. Thus, our work not only involves but also deeply values the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
About the Position
The purpose of this division at KEJC is to ensure every Kentuckian experiences housing as a human right, so the Lead Counsel will play a critical role in establishing a vision for that goal and executing SMART strategies that achieve progress.
This attorney will be responsible for supervising a team of attorneys and outreach staff leading KEJC’s response to critical poverty work across the state, including but not limited to housing inequality, legal and technical barriers to fair housing practices as a result of legislation, policy dissemination, eviction, and basic rights issues as they emerge. They will be a key stakeholder responsible for working across organizations, coalitions, and geographies to ensure that all Kentuckians facing eviction have access to rental assistance, legal assistance, support services, education and representation. This position will have direct support from Senior Counsel and the Executive Director.
Please note, due to the nature of our work as legal advocates the focus, scope of duties, and goals of this position may require adjustment at any time to meet client needs and serve our mission, so it requires a high degree of adaptability to work on a variety of cases and projects.
Duties and Priorities (50%)
- Delivering direct services to Kentuckians facing eviction.
- Includes representation in Fayette County Eviction Court, cases generated through the Eviction Help Desk, and housing case opportunities that emerge across the state for KEJC involvement.
- Growing productive and collegial attorney relationships both internally and externally.
- Serve in a supervisory capacity for a multi-function team that includes an Outreach Coordinator, multiple Housing Outreach workers, contract workers as needed, and legal staff.
- Supporting Louisville Tenants Union under the Louisville Bar Association grant.
- Observing and executing best practices with our partners, including legal aid organizations and other community service providers who are also producing deliverables towards a similar mission.
- Building systems (internal to KEJC and with our organizational partners) that allow Kentuckians to access legal assistance and rental assistance more easily and reliably.
- Due to current guidelines from various funding streams, this position will not be permitted to lobby at this time.
Additional Functions and Competencies (25%)
- Develop detailed knowledge of policy options and best practices for preventing evictions and delivering rental assistance to Kentuckians.
- Monitor proposed changes in local, state, and federal law, regulations, and practices related to eviction and rental assistance programs.
- Develop state, regional, and national peer and expert networks for advice, counsel and development and evaluation of proposals and initiatives.
- Prepare a variety of written materials including briefing papers on promising options, best practices, and current issues; and compelling public-facing communications on housing, evictions, and rental assistance.
- Help plan and conduct meetings of the statewide legal services Consumer and Housing Task Force.
- Assist Kentuckians in accessing rental assistance.
- Defend Kentuckians facing eviction in court that legal aid organizations cannot represent.
- Identify and pursue impact litigation opportunities on key issues and handle a small caseload of individual matters.
Communication and Development (25%)
- Work collaboratively with our Communications, Development, Operations, and Executive teams to build a sustainable legal program focused on fund seeking, grants, storytelling, budgeting, and reporting.
- Work with KEJC staff to identify additional funding opportunities to ensure the sustainability of KEJC’s housing justice work as a key priority of our mission.
- In collaboration with the Communication Manager, help develop and implement communication strategies designed to provide useful and timely information through multiple media to support delivery of rental assistance.
- Participate in meetings, conference calls and activities of local, state, and national public interest partners, including but not limited to LFUCG, Kentucky Housing Corporation, National Low Income Housing Coalition, ThriveKY, and coalitions of organizers and directly impacted Kentuckians with a focus on ensuring every Kentuckian who needs rental assistance gets it and every Kentuckian facing eviction experiences zero days of homelessness.
- Participate in annual forecasting, budget preparation and management, performance evaluations, impact reporting to funders, and regular program reports to the board.
Qualifications
- Active member of the Kentucky bar
- A minimum of five years’ experience as an attorney with preference for candidates with 7+ years of experience including housing litigation and experience working across organizations to deliver housing stability services to Kentuckians
- Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, including demonstrated public policy communications
- Strong preference for jury trial experience
- Comfort speaking in front of groups
- Excellent interpersonal skills and conflict management
- Comfort working in a multicultural setting, with sensitivity to language and cultural issues
- Excellent organizational and problem-solving and skills
- Facility with social media and web-based communications tools
- Ability to be a self-starter in developing and carrying out activities, to take initiative and work independently, as well as in a team
- Knowledge of low-income issues
- Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion
- Proficiency with data tools and work tracking platforms.
- Proficiency in a second language preferred but not required
Salary and Benefits
The salary range for this position is $70,000- $80,000 commensurate with experience and with the opportunity for annual increases for years of services and if approved by the board. Generous fringe benefits include health and retirement, dental, life and disability coverage. KEJC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, but we provide health and retirement benefits through participation in state employee plans.
Starting Date: Nov 1, 2024
Diversity Statement
KEJC welcomes your application. Employees shall be selected entirely on a nondiscriminatory basis with respect to age, ancestry, disability, ethnicity, familial status, gender, gender identity, limited English proficiency, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status and all other categories provided nondiscriminatory treatment by law, statute, or ordinance.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $70,000.00 - $80,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Schedule:
- Holidays
- Monday to Friday
License/Certification:
- KY Bar membership (Required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Lexington, KY 40507
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