Development Manager
Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights

Washington, DC

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights is pleased to announce their search for a Development Manager. The RFK Center, based on Dupont Circle in Washington DC, is a living memorial to its namesake and was founded in 1968 to advance human rights and to bring light to injustices around the world.

The Center honors and supports individual human rights defenders whose innovative acts of courage and conviction combined with the assistance of the RFK Center’s long-term partnerships and cutting-edge interdisciplinary methods can further human rights initiatives around the world. The Center also provides critical global human rights education through advocacy programs to schools and communities and through its internationally acclaimed Speak Truth to Power program and curriculum. The Robert F. Kennedy Book Awards for Books and Journalism recognize authors and journalists who bring light to issues too often ignored.

The new Development Manager will both steward and solicit a robust portfolio of strategic relationships with private and corporate foundations and government entities to help build ongoing and sustainable support for the Center’s activities. Core responsibilities include grant writing, prospect research, lead development, and fostering institutional relationships that result in long-term support and commitments. The RFK Center seeks a Manager who can be a strategic, savvy and effective champion for the Center and its initiatives identifying opportunities, building relationships, and establishing strong partnerships around the world to the benefit of the Center and its programs.

The Center particularly seeks candidates who may be open to part-time to full-time work or flex-time status. Candidates must be able to work effectively both in person and in a telecommuting relationship with the Center. The Manager will report to Executive Director Lynn Delaney, but must be able to work successfully in a highly collaborative environment that will include regular and close contact with the Center for Human Rights Director, Monika Varma, Director of Speak Truth to Power, John Heffernan, as well as with Kennedy family members and representatives from RFK’s board of trustees on an ongoing basis. The Manager will bring existing relationships in the private and/or corporate foundation world and will be at the strategic nexus of the Center’s activities for developing external resources and building strong relationships with partner organizations and funders of human rights work. The successful candidate will possess the agility to respond quickly to opportunities and will utilize outstanding verbal and written communication skills to foster new commitments from both existing and potential supporters. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of successful grants management and strategy, preferably in the field of international human rights. S/he will creatively build on the Center’s honored legacy and tremendous forward momentum, ensuring that the program continues to expand its reach, fulfilling the mission of its namesake, and carrying forth the legacy of those who inspired it.

The search is being conducted by the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group. Please see application instructions at the end of this document.

HISTORY AND MISSION

“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.”
-Robert F. Kennedy

 

Robert F. Kennedy believed so strongly in the possibility of changing the world to end injustice that he made it a cornerstone of his 1968 Presidential campaign. Founded later in 1968 to carry on RFK’s legacy, the Center has worked to promote activities supporting human rights progress both within the United States and throughout the world. The annual Human Rights Award was established in 1984 to reflect the global nature of RFK’s work and to honor individuals who, at great risk, stand up to oppression in the nonviolent pursuit of justice. Today, the Center is a 501c3 charitable organization led by members of the Kennedy family, a distinguished board of trustees, a staff of expert human rights activists and a strong network of volunteers who continue its important work developing and implementing projects which enhance and complement the social change agendas of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award Laureates. Together the team at the Center works to realize RFK’s dream of a peaceful and just world through domestic and international programs that help the disadvantaged and oppressed, build our next generation of leaders, and tackle the toughest problems facing society.

Award Recognitions

Each year, the Center carefully selects human rights advocates, authors, and journalists to be recognized with awards that bring with them the support of the Center and a lifelong affiliation with the growing community of award Laureates. RFK Laureates often discover their communities experience similar sets of challenges and that their work intersects with other former RFK Award winners. These synergies provide unique opportunities for these human rights defenders to collaborate on projects addressing rights violations across countries, including recent efforts on the Right to Education and the Right to Food. Recognizing the authors and journalists brings light to issues too often ignored.

Human Rights Award
The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award was established in 1984 to honor courageous and innovative individuals striving for social justice throughout the world. Each year, the RFK Center awards an individual whose courageous activism is at the heart of the human rights movement and in the spirit of Robert F. Kennedy's vision and legacy. The Human Rights Award Laureates have made significant contributions to their countries through years of dedicated work. Laureates are chosen through an exhaustive annual selection process with nominations submitted from all over the world. RFK Center offers not only a monetary contribution to their cause, but a six year partnership, with the RFK Center, in the fight for justice. Thirty human rights defenders in 22 countries have received the honor.

Journalism Award
The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award honors those who report on issues that reflect Robert F. Kennedy's concerns including human rights, social justice and the power of individual action in the United States and around the world. Entries include insights into the causes, conditions and remedies of injustice and critical analysis of relevant public policies, programs, attitudes and private endeavors. Established in December of 1968 by a group of reporters covering Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign, the award program has far exceeded the expectations of its founders. Led by a committee of six independent journalists, the Awards are judged by more than fifty journalists each year. It has become the largest program of its kind and one of few in which the winners are determined solely by their peers.

Book Award
The Robert F. Kennedy Book Award was founded in 1980, with the proceeds from Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s best-selling biography, Robert Kennedy and His Times. Each year the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights presents an award to the book which "most faithfully and forcefully reflects Robert Kennedy's purposes - his concern for the poor and the powerless, his struggle for honest and even-handed justice, his conviction that a decent society must assure all young people a fair chance, and his faith that a free democracy can act to remedy disparities of power and opportunity." The Robert F. Kennedy Book Award has been recognized as one of the most prestigious honors an author can receive.

John Seigenthaler, founder of the First Amendment Center, award-winning editor, journalist and publisher at The Tennessean daily newspaper and former administrative assistant to RFK at the U.S. Department of Justice, now chairs the award each year selecting a panel of four judges to choose the winner.

Speak Truth to Power (STTP) is a multi-faceted, multi-media human rights education program inspired by Kerry Kennedy’s extraordinary experiences with individuals around the world who risked their lives to fight injustices in their countries. Documented in the book Speak Truth to Power, the incredible stories of courage through the words of leading human rights defenders are brought to new audiences every year through the Speak Truth to Power Program, which includes an inspirational play by esteemed Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman, a stirring photographic exhibition by Pultizer Prize-winner, the late Eddie Adams, a PBS documentary film, an educational curriculum, an award winning website, and series of public service announcements. The Program’s diverse elements have enjoyed worldwide reception and have successfully brought a powerful message into classrooms, communities, and political circles across the globe. Through high-profile international media and artistic events, a widely-recognized website and online forum, and an extraordinary educational curriculum that is disseminated throughout foreign schools and ministries, STTP brings human rights issues to the general public in a highly compelling and unique way.

The Book. In 2000, Crown Books/Random House published a book by Kerry Kennedy, with photographs by Eddie Adams, entitled Speak Truth to Power, a result of two years chronicling the work of fifty-one individuals around the world who have demonstrated extraordinary courage in the promotion of human rights. Documenting a series of powerful one-on-one interviews, the book provokes fundamental questions: why do people who face imprisonment, torture, and death, continue to pursue their work when the chance of success is remote and the personal consequences are grave? From where do they derive their strength and inspiration? How do they measure success? The Speak Truth to Power program utilizes the book to access and inspire important constituents and potential partners who can help raise awareness of human rights issues in new countries every year.

The Photo Exhibition. An exhibition of photos taken over a period of two years by Pulitzer-Prize-winning photojournalist Eddie Adams has been seen all over the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, on worldwide tour since 2000. The exhibition examines such issues as nuclear disarmament, child soldiers, environmental activism, religious self-determination, and sex slavery. Accompanied by lectures, panel discussions and other events to provoke action and dialogue, the exhibition celebrates the lives of courageous individuals around the world.

The Play. Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright Ariel Dorfman was inspired to write a theatrical presentation based on the book. The resulting play, Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark, was presented at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C. in September 2000, hosted by President Clinton, broadcast on PBS, and subsequently has been performed at theaters across the United States and in Geneva, London, Helsinki, Athens, Madrid, Rome, Barcelona, Milan, Florence, New York, Sydney, and Doha. Actors have included Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Glenn Close, Sigourney Weaver, John Malkovitch, Alec Baldwin and the best known actors in Italy, Greece, Spain, the Middle East and beyond.

The Educational Curriculum. An Education and Advocacy packet has been distributed to high schools and colleges in many languages around the world to encourage students to embrace activism on behalf of human rights. This year the toolkits will reach 60,000 students in Italy, in addition to pilot programs to 5,000 students in Romania and China.

The Online Resource and Community. SpeakTruth.org is a vital, proactive, and empowering forum designed to involve, impassion, and inspire individuals concerned with human rights issues. The site presents an immediate, personal connection within a welcoming environment in which members can engage with human rights issues and initiatives and create powerful grassroots movements that achieve real change. Through the use of online tools including polls, petitioning and letter writing campaigns, forums, interactive video and audio, SpeakTruth.org leverages the speed and accessibility of the internet to lead the fight for human rights worldwide.

The PBS Broadcast. A public television special, inspired by Kerry Kennedy’s book and funded by PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the National Endowment for the Arts, includes a stage reading of Ariel Dorfman’s play, Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

In an era of accelerating political change and strife around the world, there has never been a more urgent need for advocacy and education in support of human rights. The Development Manager will work alongside other team members at the RFK Center to ensure the effective planning, management and oversight of grant funding and development activities. S/he will creatively leverage access to government agencies and philanthropic organizations to promote the Center’s activities and build new networks of support. The Center particularly seeks candidates who may be open to part-time to full-time work or flex-time status. Candidates must be able to work effectively both in person and in a telecommuting relationship with the Center.

The new Development Manager can expect to engage the following opportunities and challenges in the first 12-18 months of his/her tenure:

Identify opportunities to build support for existing initiatives, and develop strategies to build new partnerships and programs that are in alignment with both the RFK Center’s mission and current trends in philanthropic giving.
The Manager will effectively leverage his/her own professional network, relationships with members of the RFK Board of Trustees and the Kennedy family, and his/her personal knowledge of the funding landscape for human rights work to lead a solicitation strategy that encompasses a range of funders, including private and family foundations, corporate philanthropies, government agencies and private donors.

Help to raise the public profile of the Center across the worldwide community of human rights organizations, funders, and other potential supporters and partners.
The Manager will, in cooperation with the program and communications staff, lead the development and execution of a strategy, to expand the Center’s recognition for excellence and innovation.

Draft innovative, compelling, well-written and technically sophisticated grant proposals that will support an increase and diversification of funding for the Center’s programs and initiatives.
The Manager will independently lead the preparation of the highest-quality letters of inquiry, applications, and correspondence including periodic status reports, budgetary and program information, and monitoring of the proposal review process.

Oversee the effective management of funder relationships, ensuring the highest level of quality in service, reporting, and communication.
The Manager will be the primary contact at the Center for development activities. S/he will maintain the proposal and report deadline calendar and work alongside the Center’s Directors to ensure the timely and accurate handling of inquiries and requests.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

This is an exceptional opportunity for a seasoned development professional who needs part-time to full-time or a flexible work arrangement to help the RFK Center steward a widely celebrated set of programs and initiatives, ensuring their growth and sustainability to the benefit of countless individuals who, without an awareness of the courage of other champions, might not have the personal courage to stand against human rights abuses. While no one person will embody all of the qualities enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes and experiences:

• A proven ability to successfully steward relationships and to cultivate long-term investments from public and private sources, including individuals, foundations, government and corporate donors;

• Exceptional talent for strategically conceptualizing and framing program ideas to a range of internal and external constituencies, and quickly mastering the concepts and language surrounding a particular issue or challenge;

• Superior oral and written communication skills, and an ability to convey complex and sensitive information clearly and in a culturally appropriate way;

• An engaging, warm, and sophisticated personal style partnered with exceptional active listening skills; ability to work well both in person and in a telecommuting context;

• A rich professional/personal network of funding relationships in the field of international human rights, and a sophisticated understanding of its broad funding activities;

• The ability to work effectively in both an office environment and in a telecommuting relationship;

• Outstanding project management skills and the ability to work strategically to leverage resources to the Center’s benefit; a superior work ethic and service orientation; the ability to document and report on activities in a timely and effective manner; and

• A collaborative working style paired with a sense of humor to help maintain a positive working environment.

APPLICATIONS AND NOMINATIONS

More information about the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and Speak Truth to Power may be found at www.rfkcenter.org and www.speaktruth.org.

Due to the pace of this search, candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, but no later than November 30, 2009. Applications including a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your resume (in Word format), salary history and where you learned of the position should be sent to: RFK-DM@nonprofitprofessionals.com. In order to expedite the internal sorting and reviewing process, please type your name (Last, First) as the only contents in the subject line of your e-mail.  

The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
is an equal opportunity employer.