If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice transforms the law and policy landscape through advocacy, support, and organizing so all people have the power to determine if, when, and how to define, create, and sustain families with dignity, and to actualize sexual and reproductive wellbeing on their own terms.
We are a leading-edge lawyering organization on the ground, representing people in crisis, reshaping law, and making just policy as we build a stronger base of legal professionals ready to fight for reproductive justice.
The If/When/How Board of Directors is proud to announce that it has named Mariko Miki, J.D., as the organization’s first Co-Executive Director.
Mariko has been the Interim Executive Director of If/When/How since June of 2023, and was previously Managing Director and General Counsel. Mariko is a legal and movement powerhouse whose proven leadership at If/When/How assured our ability not only to meet this moment, but to expand and deepen the legal services, support, and movement building we provide to people and partners across the U.S.
She brings more than thirteen years of experience at the organization and, among her many achievements, designed and launched If/When/How’s groundbreaking fellowship program and established our first-of-its-kind legal defense fund. Her deep commitment to and leadership in the development of If/When/How’s work to advance reproductive and racial justice makes her the clear choice to co-lead this organization into its next era.
ABOUT IF/WHEN/HOW
If/When/How is a leading legal services and mobilizing non-profit organization, whose mission is to transform the legal system and institutions that perpetuate oppression into structures that realize justice.
We demand a future where all people can self-determine their reproductive lives free from discrimination, coercion, or violence. We will achieve that vision by using every lever within the legal system - from free legal advice, to public education, to advocacy to eliminate oppressive laws and enact protective policy, to criminal defense and civil rights representation, to our holistic, people-centered legal defense fund - and by changing the face of that system through empowering, training, and mobilizing thousands of law students and lawyers to use their legal skills to advance racial and reproductive justice.
What We Do
The work of If/When/How is grounded in the recognition that people experience multiple forms of oppression, particularly if they are Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color (BIPOC). We know that the people most likely to be targeted by the state for reproductive violence and oppression are the same people targeted by the criminal, immigration, and family regulation systems - including BIPOC people, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ people, people experiencing economic insecurity, and people who live at the intersections of these and other identities.
Those most likely to hold positions of power within those state systems include people with law degrees: lawyers, lawmakers, and judges. If/When/How is working to change the face and practice of lawyering so that those most affected by these systems become power-holders within these systems, to change them from the inside out.
To achieve that goal, we provide:
• Support to If/When/How law student chapters at over 100 law schools throughout the US, and offer an annual Leadership Institute for law students to develop their leadership, advocacy, and community building skills.
• Legal fellowships through our Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program, where we fund recent graduates to work at reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations. Our program has launched the careers of more than 100 lawyers dedicated to racial and reproductive justice.
• Training and volunteer opportunities for practicing lawyers to put their skills to use in advocating for reproductive justice through our Reproductive Justice Lawyers Network.
• Media, public education, and training that advances the public as well as lawyers’ understanding of self-managed abortion, criminalization of reproductive health, reproductive oppression, young people’s rights to reproductive health care, and more.
And until these systems actually reflect the people they affect the most – until the system is one that realizes justice – we need lawyers to fight alongside people whose lives are upended by criminalization and state violence.
We are those lawyers. At If/When/How, we provide:
• Repro Legal Helpline – a free, confidential legal helpline providing information and legal advice to people in every state about their legal rights and self-managed abortion, legal rights for young people seeking abortion care without parental involvement, and legal redress for pregnant and birthing people who experience medical mistreatment.
• Free, experienced criminal defense and defense consultation for people prosecuted for self-managed abortion or for experiencing a miscarriage, stillbirth, or perinatal death.
• Affirmative litigation to advance the rights of people targeted for reproductive oppression.
• A network of volunteer attorneys whom we organize, train, and support to represent young people in states that require either a parent or judge’s permission to get an abortion.
• Repro Legal Defense Fund (RLDF), a holistic and client-centered legal defense fund that provides the financial and practical resources needed to mount strong defenses for people investigated, arrested, or prosecuted for their pregnancy outcomes.
• As of 2023, the RLDF also partners with the Transgender Law Center to offer the Trans Health Legal Fund, which provides resources for trans people facing investigation, arrest, or prosecution for seeking healthcare.
• Human rights and civil rights advocacy to advance birth justice and achieve legal recognition and redress for medical mistreatment during pregnancy and childbirth.
• Reproductive justice policy advocacy with proven results – we have supported state advocates to eliminate self-managed abortion crimes in all but one state, and assisted those advocates by drafting, lobbying for, and helping to enact protective law in many others.
• Evidence-driven research that supports litigation, policy advocacy, and public education in reproductive health, rights, and justice.
• Technical assistance on the law and self-managed abortion to movement partners, health care providers, intimate partner violence survivor advocacy organizations, abortion funds, and more.
Where We Are Going
To foster that vision and continue our track record, If/When/How is embracing a co-leadership model to guide its next era of work. With a dedicated staff who are experts in their fields, a committed and nimble Board of Directors, and an annual budget of $19 million, If/When/How is poised to continue its groundbreaking work and bring to life our new strategic plan to get to our 10-year goal: a future where people in every state will have more power to determine their reproductive lives in safety and with dignity, shielded from criminalization and state control over their experiences and decisions about their bodies and families.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR TO JOIN OUR LEADERFUL ORGANIZATION
If/When/How is eager to bring together a Co-Executive Director team and to support their success, growth, and partnership as they lead the organization through its next era of work.
The Co-Executive Directors will share leadership and accountability for: holding the vision of If/When/How and operationalizing programmatic strategy towards that vision; cultivating partnerships and contributing to movement coalition work; fundraising and building financial sustainability; providing high-level, people-centered organizational and team leadership; ensuring values-based and robust financial management; and building stronger governance through board development.
Vision & Strategy
The Co-Executive Directors will hold the big picture vision of If/When/How and align programmatic strategy and resources towards the organization’s goals. In partnership with staff and Board, they will continue to advance If/When/How’s leadership in the movement through a values-based, people- and equity-centered approach. The Co-Executive Directors will share in serving as storytellers and public voices for the work of If/When/How. They will cultivate a shared analysis of racial justice across the organization, including among staff, board, and programmatic strategy.
Partnerships & Collaboration
The Co-Executive Directors will engage with and cultivate relationships with partners across movements and fields, including those working to advance reproductive justice, further racial justice, end criminal and family regulation systems, and more, to build and leverage collective power toward shared goals. The Co-Executive Directors will partner together to identify new opportunities for collaboration, particularly as If/When/How deepens its work to fight state violence and criminalization.
Fundraising & Development
The Co-Executive Directors will continue to build relationships with If/When/How’s current funding partners and will identify new partnerships with funders in aligned sectors with an eye toward greater collaboration across movements. They will partner closely with the development team to ensure fundraising goals are met.
Team Leadership
Working at the intersections of the law and reproductive and racial oppression is lifelong work that, to be sustainable, requires a culture of care, compassion, and anti-racism. If/When/How’s Co-Executive Directors will support the ongoing refinement and development of a people-centered team culture rooted in values of innovation, excellence, courage, compassion, responsiveness, and collaboration. Along with the Directors Council, the Co-Executive Directors will champion the building of systems for accountability, growth, and support during challenging times. For example, in early 2023, If/When/How transitioned to a four-day work week. The Co-Executive Directors will continue to advance policies and a team culture that supports each person working at If/When/How to have the resources and time to live their lives outside of work and to create an internal culture of mutual care, while centering the needs and experiences of our clients and constituents.
Organizational & Financial Management
The Co-Executive Directors will provide high-level oversight to ensure the financial health of If/When/How, including executing the organization’s financial strategy and managing its budget. The Co-Executive Directors will support the continued development of internal systems, policies, processes, and structures that ensure continuous improvement and efficiency to support the work.
Governance & Board Development
The Co-Executive Directors will work together with the Board of Directors to add capacity to the Board to support If/When/How during this dynamic time.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CANDIDATES
As If/When/How transitions to a co-leadership framework, we will look for complementary experiences, skill sets, and perspectives. The following are requirements for this position:
• Commitment to the mission and work of If/When/How with a strategic view of the interconnectedness between reproductive justice, criminalization, state violence, and racial justice.
• A deep understanding of and/or lived experience at the intersections between state violence, criminalization, reproductive oppression, and racism.
• A law degree and at least 15 years combined or consecutive experience as follows:
o Experience working in indigent public defense (in the criminal, family, or immigration court systems) or comparable experience in a field that provides direct legal services to people experiencing poverty, homelessness, or other state and/or interpersonal violence. At least five years of experience providing direct legal services is preferred.
o Experience supervising large teams and/or senior-level individuals.
o Experience with organizational management, including development, operations, and/or finance.
• Commitment to and experience of advancing racial equity and justice work.
• Strong communication skills in English, both written and verbal.
In addition to these requirements, the ideal Co-Executive Director candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal qualities, attributes, and experiences:
Vision & Strategy
• Strategic mindset for creating high-level alignment among teams and programs/projects toward If/When/How’s theory of change and vision.
• A dynamic storyteller who can galvanize existing and new partners, donors, collaborators, and the public, with the demonstrated ability to serve as public spokesperson across media platforms that lift up the work of If/When/How.
• Collaborative style that embraces shared leadership and a commitment to a people-centered approach to the work, both within the organization and with clients and partners.
Partnership & Collaboration
• Experience navigating and building partnerships to identify opportunities for collaboration and collective purpose.
• Natural connector and strong relationship builder with a strong network of professional contacts in relevant fields.
• Ability to engage authentically and cultivate trust with staff, board, partners, and constituents.
Fundraising & Development
• Success in developing and cultivating relationships with donors and funders, and the ability to leverage creative approaches to fundraising and developing high-impact partnerships.
• Ability to engage funders new to If/When/How by drawing the connections between criminalization, racial justice, and reproductive justice.
Team Leadership
• A collaborative and reflective leadership style that empowers staff leaders to manage their departments and motivate teams toward a shared vision, strategic collaboration, and measurable goals.
• High emotional intelligence, self-awareness, humility, and service-mindset with a values-driven and people-centered approach.
Organizational & Financial Management
• Experience overseeing planning and management of a multimillion-dollar budget and funding streams.
• Experience in effectively building and utilizing systems, standard operating procedures, and technology to align organizational direction and resources, particularly with sensitivity toward staff and organizational security.
Governance & Board Development
• Experience in board development and engagement.
• Ability to support a nimble and growing board during times of transition and change.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
If/When/How believes in establishing compensation parity between the Co-Executive Directors. To that end, the Co-Executive Directors will each receive an annual starting salary of $250,000, without negotiation.
If/When/How is a fully remote organization. If/When/How provides a generous benefits package, including fully paid employee insurance coverage for health, vision, and dental, and a percentage of dependent care premiums; flexible spending accounts (FSA and HSA) for health, dependent care, and transportation; 401K retirement plan (may enroll at 3 months, fully vested); life insurance, short and long-term disability coverage (provided upfront), sick leave (12 days a year, upfront), vacation (25 days a year, upfront), and 12 holidays; 4-day work week; plus a one-week office closure in December. Employees also receive stipends to set up a home office and/or rent a shared co-working space, along with generous professional development stipends and paid memberships to bar and other professional associations.
More information about If/When/How may be found at: www.ifwhenhow.org.
If/When/How has engaged Cara Pearsall and Alejandra Villa of NPAG to support the search process. A staff and board-partnered search committee will steward the search process with support from NPAG. Candidates may submit their cover letter, outlining their interest and qualifications, along with their resume via NPAG’s website (https://npag.com/ifwhenhow-co-ed).
If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice is an “at-will” and equal opportunity employer, committed to attracting, developing, and retaining exceptional people. We welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences, identities, and educational backgrounds. Applicants and employees shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender (including pregnancy and gender expression) identity, color, marital status, veteran status, medical condition, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local law or ordinance.
A Note on the Search Process
Here is what candidates can expect as they engage in this process:
The executive search process will be steered by a committee of If/When/How staff and Board members (the Search Committee) and conducted by NPAG. NPAG and the Search Committee will review candidate submissions and conduct interviews.
Candidates can generally expect the following:
• Strict confidentiality regarding participation in the search process
• Search Committee and NPAG will review candidate submissions and NPAG will conduct screening calls with candidates (November – December 2023)
• Search Committee will select candidates for first round interviews (December 2023 – January 2024)
• Search Committee will conduct first round Interviews (January – February 2024)
• Finalist Interviews with Staff and Board (March – April 2024)
• Offer Extended (Spring 2024)
• Start Date (late Spring 2024)