The California Chapter is TNC’s largest state program and one of the largest, most dynamic conservation organizations in the country. With approximately 275 employees, from financial analysts and fundraisers to ecologists and economists, we are currently invested in 14 strategies to address the biggest challenges facing California and the world, including numerous community-based projects designed to increase the pace, scale, and effectiveness of conservation. Over the past six decades, we have protected 1.4 million acres, 5,000 miles of streams, and 3.8 million acres of ocean habitat in California and off the coast.

The California Chapter believes that we are most effective when we are embedded in our state’s communities, politics, media, and environmental issues. For this reason, and to reduce our carbon footprint when meeting in person, all staff live in California, including those in a home office.

Finally, we are passionate about the middle ground in American politics and life. The hallmark of The Nature Conservancy is its “big tent” approach, engaging people across the political and ideological spectrum to find solutions that last. We ask all employees to embrace this critical strategic position of our organization.

The Nature Conservancy is advancing an ambitious conservation agenda to promote healthy lands, waters and oceans and bold climate action, and effective public policy is central to all of its strategies. In California, TNC has been a conservation policy leader for decades, with a track record of forging unexpected partnerships and driving policy innovation that keeps California at the global forefront of conservation solutions. The Policy & External Affairs Director (“Director”) leads and manages the California Chapter’s Policy & External Affairs team to shape government policy at the local, state and federal levels. They coordinate and collaborate with TNC colleagues in California’s Conservation Programs and Science departments, as well as with TNC’s national (U.S.A.) government relations teams, to develop and advance a policy agenda in support of TNC’s strategies and priorities. The Director routinely represents The Nature Conservancy in settings with public and private stakeholders, and is in regular contact with local, state, and federal officials and institutions regarding issues affecting the mission of The Nature Conservancy. They collaborate with colleagues in TNC’s Programs and Marketing departments to build effective coalitions in support of needed policy innovations, and design and implement campaigns to influence their passage, ensuring that all parts of the organization engage in a choreographed way with critical external parties. They monitor negotiated agreements, legislative, and administrative initiatives, and policies, which are related to the mission or programs of The Nature Conservancy. And, they work to increase public investment in programs that support biodiversity conservation, including for projects and priorities of TNC and its partners.

This position is based at The Nature Conservancy’s California headquarters in downtown Sacramento, walking distance from the state Capitol.

 

The California Chapter of The Nature Conservancy is seeking an experienced policy and external affairs leader with management experience and strong communication skills to guide the Policy & External Affairs team.

If you care about nature and its fate in a rapidly changing world; if you believe in practical solutions and uncommon partnerships; if you expect results through teamwork; and if you don’t settle for the way things have always been done, The Nature Conservancy offers the best opportunity to make an impact. The Nature Conservancy consistently plays a leading role in shaping policy, making our Director of Policy & External Affairs one of the most critical and influential policy leaders in the environmental field.