Job Announcement: Grant Program Associate 

About the Impact Fund

The Impact Fund believes that communities should be able to join together to use the courts to protect their jobs, families, communities, and environment.  To that end, we provide strategic leadership and support for class and impact litigation seeking economic, environmental, racial, and social justice. The Impact Fund was founded in 1992 to provide grants to support impact litigation intended to benefit large numbers of people, change larger systems, or lead to significant legal reform. Since our founding, we have also built an active docket of impact civil rights cases that we litigate directly and a variety of legal trainings for public interest practitioners. For more information about the Impact Fund, visit our website: https://www.impactfund.org/aboutus. 

ABOUT THE GRANT PROGRAM 

The Impact Fund awards recoverable grants to legal services nonprofits, private attorneys, and small law firms using impact litigation to confront economic, environmental, racial, and social injustice. Since our founding in 1992, the Impact Fund has made more than 800 recoverable grants totaling more than $10 million. We award grants four times per year, most within the range of $10,000 to $50,000. We also offer rapid response grants, including a newly launched program for immigration-related cases. For more information about our grant program, visit www.impactfund.org/about-legal-case-grants. 

ABOUT THE ROLE 

The Grant Program Associate works with the Grant Program Director and the Grants and Operations Assistant to achieve the goals of the Impact Fund Grant Program. The Grant Program Associate’s primary goals are to monitor our current grant portfolio, support grantees, assist with grant application review, and provide project-based support to the Grant Program Director. This is a full-time, non-exempt position and reports to the Grant Program Director. 

RESPONSIBILITIES 

The responsibilities of the Grant Program Associate include the following: 

Grant Portfolio Management 

  • Reporting: 

  • Summarize grantee reports and present to Grant Program Director 

  • Meet with and respond to requests from grantees, as needed 

  • Track reporting compliance for open grants and the status of the portfolio 

  • Contact grantees with lapsed reporting to get updates 

  • Conduct case research as needed 

  • Closure: 

  • Monitor and follow up with grantees whose cases have ended 

  • Assign, monitor, and summarize submitted final reports 

  • Draft closing comments and grant closure emails to assist Grant Program Director with closing process 

  • Repayment: 

  • Notify Grant Program Director of grants ready for repayment  

  • Assist in repayment tracking by documenting invoices and repayments 

Grant-Related Communications 

  • Draft written summaries of new grants made, case updates, and grant outcomes for grant reviewers, the Annual Report, funder reports, and the public via blog posts 

  • Provide verbal updates of case updates and outcomes for staff and grant reviewers 

  • Facilitate editing of blog posts written by grantees 

  • Share grantee-related media with Communications team 

  • Support the grantee and recent development panels of the Class Action Conference 

  • Assist in identifying grantee honorees for the Annual Gala 

Grantmaking Support

  • Pipeline 

  • Meet with applicants to provide guidance on our criteria, process, and timing 

  • Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) 

  • Participate in Grants team analysis of LOIs to determine fit with our criteria  

  • Present LOI analysis and recommendations to Executive Director  

  • Application Support: 

  • Revise case summaries to meet our style guidelines 

  • Draft deferral and decline emails 

Coordinate Board Subcommittee on Grant Policy 

  • Serve as primary project manager for work related to committee meetings 

  • Schedule working meetings and set internal deadlines for committee work 

  • Work with Grant Program Director to set committee meeting agendas 

  • Support committee work with research analyses and memos 

  • Draft and manage approval of meeting minutes 

 Project-Based Support

  • Provide project-based support to Grant Program Director, including legal and data-based research  

  • Conduct quantitative research on grant records, as needed 

  • Assist with intern support and supervision, as needed 

  • Represent the Impact Fund at impact litigation, philanthropy, and issue-related events 

  • Support other teams in staff-wide events such as the Class Action Conference and Gala 

  • Assist with other projects and tasks assigned by the Grant Program Director, as needed 

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS  

  • Strong commitment to the Impact Fund’s primary purpose to support impact litigation on behalf of communities seeking economic, environmental, racial, and social justice 

  • Cultural competency including awareness of personal attitudes, beliefs, and biases, and ability to effectively and respectfully receive and communicate information across social demographics 

  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills, particularly in written and verbal communications, with an ability to empathize with our applicants and grantees  

  • Experience managing long-term projects and tasks with competing deadlines 

  • Extremely organized with ability to manage own time effectively 

  • Ability to work with technology such as Microsoft Office Suite, Zoom, Fluxx, and Asana 

  • Ability to travel occasionally within the Bay Area 

  • 2-4 years of full-time relevant experience or graduate degree in one or more of the following fields: nonprofit service, legal, philanthropy, or public policy 

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE 

  • Familiarity with public interest impact litigation as a mechanism for social change 

  • Research skills related to legal case research and light data analysis 

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS 

  • Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer 

  • Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times 

SALARY AND BENEFITS 

  • Supportive and inclusive work environment where all team members’ contributions are valued 

  • Physical office located in Downtown Berkeley, immediately adjacent to BART  

  • 9:00am to 5:00pm office hours, which include a paid 30-minute lunch break and two paid 15-minute rest breaks 

  • Hybrid work schedule, with Mondays and Thursdays in office and remote work optional on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 

  • Strong benefits package, including: 

  • Student loan repayment assistance up to $500/month 

  • 15 days of paid vacation for your first year of employment, increasing thereafter to the maximum of 20 days of paid vacation in year 5 

  • 2 weeks paid winter break office closure 

  • 14 days of paid holiday leave per year: 11 paid state/federal holidays + 3 floating holidays 

  • 10 days of paid sick leave per year 

  • Two months of paid sabbatical leave every five years 

  • Health, vision, and dental insurance with employee premiums subsidized at 100% and spouse/dependent premiums subsidized at 50% ($12,500 annual cap for dependent health care contributions) 

  • Long-term disability and life insurance with employee premiums subsidized at 100% 

  • Access to a 403b retirement plan with voluntary contributions through payroll deductions 

  • Employer retirement contributions of 3% of salary after 3 years of employment 

  • Full-time salary starting at $68,000, based on experience   

HOW TO APPLY 

Please send PDFs of the following to grants@impactfund.org with Grant Program Associate – [your name] in the subject line:  

  • Cover letter that explains the ways in which your background and/or experience demonstrates your commitment to social justice work 

  • Resume 

  • Writing sample* 

*We encourage you to submit a sample you have already written, such as a memo, article, or paper completed for a work project or class that showcases your writing ability.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled, with a priority deadline of April 13, 2026. Later in the process, we may request contact information for three professional or academic references. 

The Impact Fund is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply. If you require accommodations during any part of the hiring process, please email us at grants@impactfund.org.