DEIABJ - SME

This is a hybrid position. While most of the work can be completed remotely, Star Cypress Partners team members commit to being on-site with clients for key meetings and to build relationships with colleagues, partners, and clients.  

About Star Cypress Partners: We work with public, non-profit, and private sector organizations to design and activate pathways for change. Through a focus on people and organizational development, we transform organizations, people, and systems. Star Cypress Partners is based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.  

Position Summary:   

The DEIABJ SME – Senior Manager will be a culturally sensitive individual who will cultivate a supportive and inclusive work environment. This position will be responsible for designing company policies, training hiring managers, supporting collaborations with other agencies & organizations, and upholding best practices for a diverse workplace. 

You should possess extensive experience as a leader in diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging, and justice (DEIABJ) in a related industry and the ability to objectively evaluate the current practices and policies and have expertise that results in enhanced understanding on programmatic and systemic equity. The candidate will need to possess a strong intellect and have a proven track record of influencing, excellent verbal, and written communication skills. In this role, you will be flexible to changing environments as the business grows and our client’s needs evolve.   

Engagement Summary:  

In support of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and other equity-related Executive Orders, authorities, and procedures – this contract will provide support services that would enable USDA to build foundations and equitably deliver program outcomes in underserved communities. This contract will enable USDA to have sufficient strategic capabilities to achieve the following goals: 

• To support implementation of components of the American Rescue Plan Act, Section 1006, specifically: outreach, capacity building training, and other technical assistance on issues concerning food, agriculture, agricultural credit, agricultural extension, rural development, or nutrition to socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, or forest landowners, or other members of socially disadvantaged groups. 
  
• To build the foundation, advance equity in underserved communities through USDA programs and investments, establish accountability, and institutionalize equity in budget development and implementation as well as the design and delivery of programs in alignment with Executive Orders, Civil Rights and Tribal requirements, and other established program processes and authorities.  
  
• Assess and Plan:  Provide assessment and planning support to equity-related issues, work plans, implementation plans, events, programs, and policies.  This includes facilitating and working with an array of internal and external to USDA partners and officials to solicit buy-in and inform strategic assessment and planning products pertinent to advancing equity in underserved communities. 
  
• Develop and Communicate:  Provide product development and communication support  that enables USDA to regularly have educational, outreach, media, and/or online materials that can strategically expand stakeholder engagement and effectively and strategically communicate about USDA’s equity efforts. 
  
• Manage and Implement:  Support day to day administrative and management of programmatic equity-related priorities, meetings, and activities, including coordination across agencies, programs, and partners, and developing tools and training to support implementation of equity goals.  This includes strategic support to integrate with the Equity Commission, internal Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA) efforts, Civil Rights, Tribal, and other strategic equity efforts. 
  

Key Candidate Attributes:   

• People leadership is a top priority. You not only set a high bar for yourself, but you have experience coaching people to strengthen their own management practices even when there are other competing demands.  
  
• You have a passion for engaging in team culture strategy and setting the pace for partner organizations in engagement and enablement of our community.  
  
• You exhibit strong influencing skills and can effectively drive project efforts through partner teams you may not have prior experience with - including driving relentlessly for clarity on tasks and desired outcomes.  
  
• You are highly collaborative. You have excellent communication and partnership skills which are essential for interacting and communicating with senior stakeholders.   
  
• You are detail oriented with exceptional problem-solving skills - you are ready to dive in on a wide variety of projects and tasks and execute with high fidelity and little oversight.  
  
• You find signal in noise - you can cut through messy situations to crystallize the message beneath and help create clarity for multiple stakeholder groups.  
  
• You can tell stories using data and make compelling cases for the “why” behind the work. 
  
• You are flexible and have a team-first attitude! Priorities and projects can shift – you are not flustered by change and can lead through change in a well-managed way.  
  
• You’re a “multi-tool” player. You can flex easily between tactical execution and big picture strategy. You love learning new things, enhancing existing processes, and you are always ahead of the game on deadlines and deliverables. 
  

Responsibilities:  

• Serve as a subject matter expert and consultant to lead, influence and support complex equity tasks pertaining to people, culture and experiences. 
  
• Support the client lead and other client stakeholders by providing strategic direction for system-wide equity initiatives. This role will help cultivate and maintain a systemic equity strategy.  
  
• Support equity through business consulting services, including implementing and leading projects, business process design, business case analysis, and advice on strategic equity issues with an emphasis on data analysis and insight generation.  
  
• Initiate and cultivate relationships with leaders, mission area and local partners, and other areas as needed, assisting them in identifying barriers and opportunities to realize equity goals.  
  
• Partner with team members, client, and stakeholders to drive measurable impact. 
  
• Own implementation of key deliverables for achieving strategic goals. 
  
• Advise key partners on the design of structured processes to mitigate bias throughout all aspects of programs and mission areas. 
  
• Establish communications vehicles and cadences to ensure that stakeholders are aware of efforts and progress against initiatives. 
  
• Co-lead facilitate meetings, trainings, workshops and other convenings. 
  

Qualifications: 

Minimum Education: Ph.D, Ed.D, M.S, M.P.A, M.A. in Business Management, Public Policy, Public Affairs, Industrial Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Social Justice or DE&I, Organizational Development/Systems, or other appropriate discipline that provides the functional skills to perform the functions and responsibilities. Program or Project Management Professional (PgMP, PMP) and/or Prosci certification. Individuals with an executive coaching certification are also encouraged to apply. 

Minimum Experience: A minimum of 15 years of leadership and management in DEIABJ work. Experience in applying leadership principles and practices is desirable. Familiar with public sector client environments and supporting senior level political appointees and diverse stakeholders. Additional skills and qualifications include and understanding of and prior experience in two or more of the following disciplines: 

• Equity in systems 
  
• Racial inequity 
  
• Agricultural inequity 
  
• Social and environmental justice 
  
• Food insecurity 
  
• System and organization change 
  
• Human-centered design 
  

In compliance with Executive Order 14042, Star Cypress Partners requires all new hires to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by 11/24/21, unless that person has requested, and Star Cypress Partners has granted a medical or religious exemption during the onboarding process.