General Counsel -- Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)

CIW’s Mission

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is a non-profit human rights organization, based in Immokalee, Florida. Internationally recognized for its achievements in the field of corporate accountability—with a particular focus on the fight against human trafficking, forced labor and gender-based violence at work—the CIW is built on a foundation of farmworker community organizing reinforced by a national consumer network. The CIW’s work encompasses three broad and overlapping spheres: (1) the Fair Food Program; (2) the Anti-Slavery Program; and (3) the Campaign for Fair Food.

After more a decade of implementation, CIW’s Fair Food Program is widely recognized—including as the recipient of a Presidential Medal—as the gold standard in prevention of long-entrenched abuses for the most vulnerable workers in corporate supply chains. The Fair Food Program pioneered the innovative Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) model, which has been adapted to protect workers in multiple new industries and geographies, and the CIW works closely with allied organizations to support the design and implementation of new WSR programs.

Job Description

The location of the successful candidate is negotiable, but would ideally be based in Florida, New York City, or Washington, D.C. The General Counsel will be employed by the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ), an allied nonprofit law firm, which has its office in New York City. The General Counsel will supervise an Associate General Counsel who is currently based in Washington, D.C.

The General Counsel will oversee all legal matters relevant to the CIW’s programs, campaigns, policy advocacy, and daily operations. The legal work needed to support the CIW is exciting, wide-ranging, and complex, requiring versatility, creativity and comfort with exploring new terrain—mirroring the CIW’s dynamic, ground-breaking thinking, organizing and programs. The ideal candidate will be client-centered, with demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the CIW’s experience and expertise.

The success of the Fair Food Program (FFP) is based in part on legally binding Fair Food Agreements with large multi-national food retailers (“Participating Buyers”), which incentivize growers in those Participating Buyers’ supply chains to join the FFP and comply with the CIW’s Fair Food Code of Conduct (“Participating Growers”). The General Counsel will play a lead role related to contract drafting, negotiation and enforcement, and help to manage sensitive relationships between the CIW and Participating Buyers and Growers. The General Counsel will also provide legal counsel in support of CIW’s nationwide campaigns, ranging from marches and demonstrations, to campaign communications and strategy development as the CIW expands its operations in the U.S. and internationally, including both expansion of the Fair Food Program itself and collaboration with other groups to seeking to adapt its innovative Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) model to new industries and geographies. As an employee of NCLEJ, the General Counsel may also provide legal counsel to domestic members of the WSR Network on the design and implementation of their WSR programs (e.g., the Milk with Dignity Program created by Migrant Justice to protect workers in Vermont’s dairy industry).

The General Counsel will provide legal advice on the full range of general practice issues, such as human resources and intellectual property, necessary to ensure the smooth operation and success of the CIW. In the event the CIW is involved in litigation, the General Counsel will manage that litigation, typically with the support of pro bono outside counsel. The General Counsel will assist with CIW’s efforts to advocate for improved government policies, especially as relates to human rights in supply chains.