WKKF, Program Officer – Family Economic Security, New Mexico

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), a leading philanthropic institution helping communities create the conditions children need to thrive, is seeking nominations and applications for the position of Program Officer, Family Economic Security, based in New Mexico. In recent years, the foundation has sharpened its focus on improving conditions for vulnerable children, concentrating on three key factors of success and their intersections: education and learning; food, health, and well-being; and family economic security. The foundation has made a generational commitment to grantmaking that advances the vision of a future in which every child thrives. The New Mexico team partners closely with community, government, and business leaders to co-create a network of organizations working together to advance racial equity in food, health, education and employment throughout the state, to serve the children and families most in need. This program officer will be dedicated to catalyzing policy and systems change by leveraging community-based assets, connecting federal and local policies, systems, and leaders, all toward opening access to good jobs and affordable capital for low-income working families in New Mexico. A commitment to racial equity, community engagement, and leadership development are woven into each endeavor this program officer will facilitate, thus advancing a social context in which all children can thrive, particularly the most vulnerable.

Reporting to the Director of New Mexico Programs, Frank René López, and the Director of Family Economic Security, Jonathan Njus, the new program officer will be a senior leader with extensive management and budget experience, a strategic and systems thinker, and a partnership and network builder, who has achieved notable success in the field. S/he/they will play a management role on the New Mexico team, providing overall leadership and oversight of the portfolio’s programmatic, policy, and systems change initiatives, and specific leadership and oversight of efforts aimed at advancing economic development and economic justice for New Mexico’s working families. The ideal candidate will have deep knowledge of and experience with New Mexico’s diverse communities, the economic context in the region, and how to support innovation and foster collaboration that improves the economic security of New Mexico’s most vulnerable children and families. S/he/they will bring mastery of the broad social, economic, and political forces affecting employment equity, as well as demonstrate a solid grasp of labor, capital, and financial markets, including public and private sector systems and funding.

This program officer will be particularly focused on leveraging the foundation’s role in supporting the economic rebuild and revitalization of New Mexico, ensuring that low-wage workers and underrepresented minority- and women-owned businesses are key actors in it and beneficiaries of it. In addition, s/he/they will be a leader in shaping and guiding the foundation’s response to COVID-19 in the state, both the short-term economic response and long-term economic recovery. S/he/they will have a deep understanding of the systemic and racial barriers that working families face in the current economy, the structural and historic challenges of generating income and building wealth, and promising opportunities to remake the economy so that it includes and benefits all families.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is being assisted in this search by Carolyn Ho and Paola Peacock of the national search firm NPAG. Due to the pace of this search, candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Applications including a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your resume (in PDF or Word format), and where you learned of the position should be sent to: WKKF-PONM@nonprofitprofessionals.com. Please type your name (Last, First) as the only contents in the subject line of your e-mail.