Founded by the George Washington University Law School and GW Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law Spencer Overton, the Multiracial Democracy Project(“the MDP”) is an initiative of the George Washington University Law School that seeks to produce solutions that facilitate our nation’s transition to a well-functioning democracy that truly represents our increasingly diverse population. Through education, research, and convenings, the MDP seeks to address many of the most urgent problems facing multiracial democracy—disinformation, cultural anxiety, racial polarization, antidemocratic attitudes, vote dilution, voter suppression, and the decline of key voting rights protections.
The MDP enables GW Law faculty and students, as well as voting rights leaders, democracy reform leaders, tech policy leaders, policymakers, and renowned experts, to work and teach across its three pillars by:
- Educating and building the next generation of democracy problem-solvers
- Becoming a hub of research, translation, and innovation on multiracial democracy
- Convening leading experts from academic, civil rights, democracy reform, technology, and policy communities
The MDP will convert actionable research and discoveries into real-world impact through research and teaching. GW’s proximity to federal leaders and strengths at the intersection of education, technology, democracy, and civil rights create the ideal environment to develop innovative solutions to our most pressing challenges. Initially, the MDP will focus on two issues that are critical to the future of representative democracy in our diverse nation: artificial intelligence and alternative election systems.
The core belief of the MDP is that a pluralistic, liberal democracy that protects the political rights of all Americans regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, language, or religion is feasible in the United States. The inaugural Executive Director of the MDP will be an entrepreneurial visionary with deep familiarity with the public policy process, the civil rights community, and the democracy reform and/or tech policy communities. The ideal candidate will have a demonstrated ability to collaborate and coordinate with members of the civil rights community and academic researchers, and an ability to engage with policymakers and the democracy reform and tech policy communities.
The Executive Director will manage two Project Managers and an Administrative Assistant, and will have the discretion to build a team to support the MDP as its needs evolve over time. The Executive Director will administratively report to the GW Law Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and work in close consultation with the MDP’s Founder and Faculty Director, and its advisory boards. The advisory boards will be established and led by the Executive Director in partnership with Professor Overton, and will support the MDP through expertise, philanthropy, passion, and connections.
Responsibilities for the Executive Director include:
Ambassador for the MDP
- Represent the MDP as an inspiring and credible ambassador with diverse audiences, including voting rights leaders, democracy reform leaders, tech policy leaders, policymakers, community partners, philanthropic leaders, media, funders, and other actors whose partnership will be integral in transitioning the MDP’s research and thought leadership into actionable policy change and practice innovations
- Develop the MDP’s values and promote a culture and environment that reflects those values and those of GW
- Develop and foster strategic relationships, including recruiting public and private sector partners
Developing Strategy and Ensuring Implementation of the MDP’s Goals
- Oversee and steward programmatic priorities and grant obligations on democracy issues (including those on election reform, artificial intelligence, and multiracial democracy theory and policy)
- Oversee and lead the MDP’s team in:
- Developing vision, strategy, and annual goals for the MDP
- Organizing symposia, conferences, panels, roundtables, and other gatherings of scholars, practitioners, non-profit leaders, philanthropic leaders, private sector leaders, and government officials
- Making the research of affiliated scholars (including that of the Founder and Faculty Director) accessible, impactful, and useful for civil rights organizations and other stakeholders
- Drafting and submitting amicus briefs, agency comment letters, legislative testimony, nonpartisan analysis and research, and responses to requests for technical assistance from governmental bodies
- Preparing the Executive Director, the Founder and Faculty Director, scholars, and other experts for legislative testimony, media appearances, and other public education on democracy issues.
Advisory Board and Partner Management
- Establish and manage advisory boards for the MDP, including articulating their goals and the roles of the members and developing processes for communications and application of their expertise and guidance
- Cultivate and maintain deep relationships with relevant staff at organizations working on civil rights and racial justice, tech policy, and democracy reform, and with policymakers and federal agency staff working on the same
- Manage collaborations with other GW projects, initiatives, centers, institutes, and programs (e.g., GW Equity Institute; GW Center for Law and Technology; GW Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics (IDDP)) on relevant projects
- Manage collaborations with peer academic centers at other universities (e.g., Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, Stanford Cyber Policy Center, SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University) on relevant projects
- Organize networks of organizations, scholars, and policymakers concerning democracy, racial justice, and technology issues.
Administration of the MDP
- Plan, develop, and direct the day-to-day operations of the MDP, including building the staff team and serving as the primary staff leader
- Engage with Human Resources, Procurement, Finance, and other essential GW departments
- Work with the Founder and Faculty Director to hire two Project Managers, Administrative Assistant, and other staff to develop and articulate operational priorities, programming, and benchmark progress
- Work with the staff to develop cultural principles/values of the MDP, and systems for establishing and tracking objectives and key results
- Manage the process of establishing the MDP as a chartered center at GW Law School
- Develop long-term growth initiatives for the MDP
- In coordination with the GW Office of Communications and Marketing, oversee the development of and execution of a communications plan to disseminate work product, activities, and future plans of the MDP to funders, researchers, policymakers, the public, and other stakeholders
- Oversee the MDP’s financial position and outlook and steward the MDP’s budget and long-term financial health
- Create goals and oversee and implement strategies for fundraising and maintaining donor relationships (along with GW’s development office and the Founder and Faculty Director)
- Work in partnership with GW’s Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research to oversee the development of grant proposals, tracking of grant obligations, allocation of expenditures to grants, grant report submission, and compliance with GW and GW Law policies.
Performs other related responsibilities as assigned. The omission of specific duties does not preclude the supervisor from assigning duties that are logically related to the position.