The Mellon Foundation

Program Associate, Imagining Freedom (Office of the President)

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (“Foundation”) believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and we believe that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas—Higher Learning, Arts and Culture, Public Knowledge, and Humanities in Place—and through signature Presidential Initiatives. The Foundation seeks a Program Associate in the Office of the President to participate primarily in the work of the Imagining Freedom presidential initiative.

About Imagining Freedom:

Launched in 2022 with a $125 million commitment, Imagining Freedom supports artistic, cultural, and humanistic work that centers the voices and knowledge of people directly affected by the US criminal legal system—recognizing their full humanity, ensuring a broad public history and primary source record of mass incarceration, deepening our shared understanding of the system and its impacts, catalyzing us to address the damage it causes, and helping us to challenge and re-envision the structures now in place, so we can all forge new paths toward justice. Through Imagining Freedom, the Foundation has supported dozens of organizations and projects including Freedom Reads and its work to install libraries in prisons across the country; Empowerment Avenue, which partners with incarcerated writers and artists to present their work outside prison walls and be fairly compensated for it; and Million Dollar Hoods at UCLA, which—through oral histories and other methods—is documenting the impact of mass incarceration on families and neighborhoods in the Los Angeles County, which operates the largest jail system in the world.

Position Description:

Reporting to the Program Director and Chief of Staff (PDCOS), working under the guidance of the Senior Program Advisor, and partnering with others on the Presidential Initiatives team, the Program Associate will participate in all aspects of Imagining Freedom grantmaking. From time to time, the Program Associate may also support the Puerto Rico-focused presidential initiative or other grant-related work within the Office of the President.

Among other responsibilities, the Program Associate will screen, research, and evaluate grant inquiries and concept notes, develop relationships with potential grantees and engage with them in meetings and in written correspondence, help to develop proposal documents once they are invited, draft internal grant memoranda and other documents, and function as grantees’ primary point of contact. The Program Associate will also work closely with other Presidential Initiatives staff to ensure the strategic alignment of all work within the initiative, track grant spending, and assess progress against strategic goals as the initiative proceeds.

The successful candidate will bring direct experience from, and a wide network across, organizations doing arts- or humanities-based work engaging the U.S. criminal legal system. Individuals who have personal experience of the carceral state’s impact—whether through themselves, their loved ones, and/or their communities—are particularly encouraged to apply. The Foundation seeks someone curious, thoughtful, highly motivated, energetic, collaborative, and congenial, with well-developed written and oral communication skills, top-notch organizational capacity, and the ability to work independently and exercise careful discretion. This position includes independent work on ongoing grantmaking activities, episodic or long-term research projects, collaborative work with colleagues around the Foundation, and administrative work in support of grantmaking out of the President’s Office, as well as periodic travel.

The position requires continuous orientation to programmatic and budgetary detail, flexibility, cool-headedness, effective time-management, precision, patience, efficiency, good humor, and discretion; and the ability to conceptualize and strategize at the programmatic level. We expect the successful candidate will be a collegial, understanding, and generous person in all grantee relations so that stakeholders can feel like partners in a common enterprise.

Responsibilities:

• Review and assess unsolicited grant inquiries to Imagining Freedom and on occasion to other presidential initiatives
• Conduct research and outreach to develop inquiries of interest and proactively identify potential grantees
• Actively participate in the formulation of new proposals for funding, including advising grantees in preparation and revision of the narrative and financial components of proposals
• Anticipate challenges and problem-solve in collaboration with other Foundation staff and in conversation with the PDCOS, Senior Program Advisor, and others on the Presidential Initiatives team including around questions of grant structure, legal and financial risk, post-award challenges and changes, etc.
• Assist with the preparation of materials for discussion with the President and for grants to be recommended to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees
• Gather information and conduct research regarding the development of new grant initiatives and the review of existing programs
• Serve as a resource for grantees and the primary point person for post-award management
• Monitor performance of the program portfolio and evaluate requests from grantees for modifications to project scope, timeline, and budget
• Participate in selection of program consultants and manage consultant relationships
• Represent the Foundation in external settings, including conferences, public meetings, and other engagements as assigned
• Stay abreast of current events and developments related to the initiative, and draw connections to current and potential grant initiatives
• Partner with Communications on public-facing materials about Imagining Freedom and its grantees
• Occasionally travel for site visits with potential or current grantees
• Assist with planning and coordination of relevant meetings and convenings (including collecting background or briefing materials) as directed
• Collaborate with staff in other program areas and departments as required

• Commitment to the Foundation’s mission, core values, and focus on social justice.
• A strong record of program administration/management in contexts relevant to Imagining Freedom
• Demonstrated knowledge of issues relating to the U.S. criminal legal system, mass incarceration, carceral studies, and ideas around abolition
• An orientation toward and commitment to social justice and cultural equity
• Familiarity with the practicalities of engaging with incarcerated people
• Outstanding interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills
• Ability to anticipate and solve problems proactively; willingness to learn from mistakes
• Strong administrative, organizational, time, and work-flow management skills
• Ability to work with minimal direct supervision and manage multiple projects, while being a committed team player
• Strong ability to work both collaboratively and independently
• Ability to read and understand organizational budgets and financial statements
• Willingness to travel for the program as needed
• Flexibility, adaptability, curiosity, and a sense of humor
• A high degree of competency in the MS Office suite, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, and in project management tools such as Monday
• Commitment to a collegial work environment and to collaboration with colleagues in all the Foundation’s program areas
• Deep and longstanding connection to communities impacted by mass incarceration

Mellon offers a generous total reward package that provides base salary as well as a comprehensive benefits program. Mellon is committed to providing compensation that is competitive and equitable within the philanthropic sector. The estimated salary range for this role is $100,000-$110,000. The amount of pay offered will be determined by several factors, including but not limited to qualifications, unique skills, credentials, or experience that is expected to impact the candidate’s contribution to the role. We will also consider market data as well as the Foundation’s internal pay equity framework.

Please note that Mellon maintains a hybrid work schedule, with three days/week in person at the Foundation’s Manhattan offices.

Candidates should apply by submitting a thoughtful cover letter describing fit for the position and a resume by March 14, 2024.

The Foundation will consider each response carefully, but only contact those individuals it believes are most qualified for the position.