Activism Manager

The Institute for Justice seeks a passionate individual to join our Activism team as Activism Manager at our headquarters in Arlington, VA. IJ’s multi-faceted Activism team challenges and reforms local and state policies and laws in the areas of economic liberty, property rights, and government accountability. 

We change state and local laws, like occupational licensing and local regulations, to make it easier to work and earn an honest living, especially for people of modest means. We fight policies and projects that threaten the rights of property owners to keep what they have worked so hard to own, like eminent domain abuse and civil forfeiture. And we work to hold government officials accountable, by advocating for the end of qualified immunity.

We do this through strategic advocacy in city halls, state legislatures, and communities. We engage decision makers and impacted individuals through outreach, organizing, training, coalition building, public demonstrations, the media, research, policy recommendations, and lobbying. 

The ideal candidate will have a desire to become a jack-of-all-trades across the spectrum of roles on our team, including community outreach, hosting townhalls and roundtables, working with the media, research, writing for a wide variety of audiences and contexts, lobbying, graphic design, and coordinating public information campaigns. 

A successful candidate will have a deep commitment to IJ’s mission; be personable, self-motivated, proactive, and eager to learn new skills in a dynamic, fast-paced environment; care about helping people of modest means and from all walks of life; and be detail-oriented, a critical thinker, and excited about this work.

This role is supported by enthusiastic managers, and the position offers unique opportunities for travel, professional development, growth, and long-term advancement. The candidate will join a close-knit team and be expected to work well with others to accomplish our goals.

The team’s projects include:

• Reducing state occupational licensing laws that disproportionately impact people of modest means; for example, through our new “Beauty, Not Barriers” initiative and barbering project
• Collaborating with city officials to enact regulatory reforms to make it cheaper, faster, and simpler to start a small business, through our “Cities Work” initiative
• “Americans Against Qualified Immunity,” our initiative to end qualified immunity
• Stopping the abuse of eminent domain
• Ending civil forfeiture
• Expanding the ability of home cooks and vendors to sell food and support their families

Specific responsibilities include: 

• Assisting developing and executing grassroots and legislative strategies and public information campaigns 
• Identifying and cultivating relationships with activists, decision makers, and coalition partners
• Canvassing communities and small business corridors
• Planning and hosting events (town halls, roundtables, community block parties) and activism trainings 
• Drafting materials for activists, decision makers, and the public, including one-pagers, press releases, flyers, op-eds, and digital and social media content
• Conducting research on state and local laws and projects, and tracking legislation
• Supporting campaign-specific social media efforts
• Managing Quorum (public affairs software) campaigns
• Tracking the news about your projects
• Traveling as needed 1 – 2 times a month, occasionally on short notice 

Benefits:

• Hybrid work schedule
• Flexible work hours with our core business hours of 10am and 4pm
• Smart casual dress code; casual Fridays
• Health, Dental, and Vision insurance (IJ covers 100% of individual premiums)
• Free Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and Life insurance plans
• HSA employer contributions
• 401(k) with employer matches
• Generous PTO including a paid personal day and 12 paid holidays

To Apply:

Please submit a resume and a cover letter detailing why you’re interested in working with the Institute for Justice and how your experience will ensure success in this position.

No phone calls, please.

IJ is an equal opportunity employer.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At IJ we value a diverse workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

To learn more about our culture and benefits, visit our Working at IJ page.

IJ is an equal opportunity employer.