About the Illinois Coalition for Legal Reform
The Illinois Coalition for Legal Reform (ICLR) is a newly created non-partisan organization dedicated to combatting abusive litigation and excessive jury verdicts by creating a fair, efficient, and stable legal system for all Illinois citizens. The ICLR is a statewide association of employers, trade organizations and other professionals dedicated to improving Illinois’ civil justice climate so that it is fair to all litigants and conducive to job and economic growth. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), the volume of lawsuits and the size of the damage awards are a contributing factor in making the legal system in the United States the costliest in the world. A December 2023 study commissioned by the ILR found that the impacts are especially felt by small businesses. Businesses making $10 million or less annually account for just 20 percent of total commercial revenues, but 48 percent of the total civil litigation costs in the United States.
These challenges are especially acute in Illinois, which ranks among the costliest and most onerous states in the nation when it comes to the volume, size, and scope of excessive litigation and damage awards. In recent years, large and small businesses have lacked a voice at the table to articulate their needs and concerns – and to effectively work across the aisle to ensure the civil justice system in Illinois is fair to all. The Illinois Coalition for Legal Reform aims to fill this important gap in the public conversation through three primary initiatives: Legislative Advocacy, Public Relations, and Public Education. Through these and other efforts, the ICLR aspires to bring a thoughtful, new voice to the state’s legal landscape and to build new, constructive relationships with elected officials.
The Opportunity
The Illinois Coalition for Legal Reform (ICLR) seeks an Executive Director who will serve as a spokesperson for the organization and play a formative role in legislative advocacy. Reporting to the Board of Directors, this leader will define the ICLR’s priorities and direction. With the Board’s support, the Executive Director will be responsible for securing members and funding, managing within annual budget parameters, and allocating resources appropriately.
Key Responsibilities
Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Executive Leadership and Planning
- In partnership with the Board, establish and lead a strategic vision and mission for the organization.
- Create a strategic and operational plan to achieve the ICLR’s strategic plan objectives and its growth objectives.
Government Advocacy
- Track legislation, regulation, and other issues related to legal reform and set priorities for advocacy efforts.
- Be directly involved in Illinois legislative and regulatory issues affecting Illinois businesses including coalition building, direct advocacy, and bill and amendment drafting.
- Draft position papers.
Communications
- Establish and communicate clear and consistent messages that support stated organizational priorities. Work closely with an outside Communications and PR firm to strategically leverage a variety of communication channels and platforms including digital platforms and social media.
- Engage actively with the Illinois business community including trade association leaders to promote the ICLR’s vision by attending relevant business events, conferences and gatherings.
- Cultivate excellent relationships with the Illinois media and participate in media interviews with relevant outlets on social media, newspapers, journals, radio and television.
Revenue Growth
- Oversee membership recruitment, growth, and retention as well as fundraising.
- Participate in identifying, cultivating & obtaining corporate sponsorships.
Management and Oversight
- Carry out the ICLR policies and procedures, ensuring full compliance by all.
Candidate Profile
Professional Skills & Competencies
- Management experience in one of the following areas: government, public policy, lobbying, politics, legislative/executive branch offices, private sector government affairs roles, or trade and business membership associations.
- The ability to coordinate and manage legislation advocacy efforts involving senior business and trade association leaders.
- A thorough understanding of the Illinois and Chicago political landscape is preferred, especially experience working in the Illinois legislature.
- Familiarity with PACs and campaign finance laws.
- Experience fundraising and/or building organizational membership.
- Demonstrated success in developing strategic plans and executing those plans to grow an organization’s impact.
- Experience managing budgets and revenue forecasts.
- Track record of managing complex projects, anticipating and identifying obstacles or challenges, and proposing and implementing solutions through sound decision-making.
Personal Characteristics
A Strategic & Effective Leader
- A results-oriented, strategic leader who, in partnership with the board, will establish the vision for the ICLR as its first Executive Director.
- A strategic thinker with strong skills in synthesizing information and translating strategic goals into action steps for the short and long term.
- The ability to assess a diverse and evolving policy landscape, identifying new opportunities for impact.
- A politically astute thinker who understands how to design effective strategies and engagements that maximize ICLR’s impact.
Outstanding Ambassador & Relationship Builder
- A strong ability to lead through influence with the stature, demeanor, and comfort level to serve as a public-facing ambassador. This inspiring, thoughtful, and engaged leader will have experience cultivating, retaining and developing diverse relationships with corporate leaders, federal, state, and local elected officials and policy makers.
- A demonstrated track record of building credible, trusted relationships in search of solutions and impact.
- Able to utilize communications and PR strategies to elevate ICLR’s recognition where appropriate.
- Emotionally intelligent with the interpersonal skills to develop and sustain impactful relationships with constituents. Ability to interact effectively and sensitively with a wide variety of people of diverse professional and cultural backgrounds.
Expert Communicator
- Possesses superb written and oral communication skills.
- A highly effective public speaker, representing the ICLR compellingly in a variety of venues, including public events and in the media.
- An extremely effective communicator, consistently demonstrating the ability to distill and synthesize complex information clearly and concisely in both written and verbal formats for diverse audiences.
Entrepreneurial Approach and a Learning Mindset
- Excited about the opportunity to build a new organization.
- Possesses enthusiasm for emerging issues, new research and business, political and policy developments that affect ICLR’s members. Desires to proactively seek out new information and relationships that can advance ICLR’s strategies and impact.
- Embraces new opportunities to grow the impact of ICLR.
Passion For the Mission
- A steadfast dedication to the mission, values and goals of the ICLR.
- Belief in the importance of legal reform to provide a healthy business environment for Illinois to ensure a prosperous future for all Illinoisans.
- A leader who operates with sincerity, empathy, honesty, credibility and the highest levels of personal and professional ethics.
While no one candidate will possess every quality outlined for this position, the above offers a reflection of the ideal candidate profile. The successful candidate will bring many, but not all, of the professional qualifications and personal attributes outlined in the Candidate Profile.
Education
- A bachelor's degree is required.
- JD, MBA or MPP degree is a plus.
Compensation and Benefits
The expected salary for this position is $150,000 and the ICLR offers health benefits and PTO.
Location
The Executive Director will be required to have a strong presence in Springfield while the state legislature is in session from January through June as well as during the Fall veto session. When the state legislature is not in session, this is a position that requires extensive travel throughout the state of Illinois to meet with members and promote the organization to the business community.
Contact
Koya Partners, a part of the Diversified Search Group, is the executive search firm that specializes in mission-driven search and has been exclusively retained for this engagement. Steve Edwards of Koya Partners and Robin Goolsbee of Diversified Search have been exclusively retained for this search. To express interest in this role, please submit your materials here or email ICLR-ed@koyapartners.com. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.
Koya Partners is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email NonprofitSearchOps@divsearch.com. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
About Koya Partners, a Diversified Search Group Company
Koya Partners, a part of Diversified Search Group, is a leading executive search and strategic advising firm dedicated to connecting exceptionally talented people with mission-driven clients. Our founding philosophy—The Right Person in the Right Place Can Change the World—guides our work as we partner with nonprofits & NGOs, institutions of higher education, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.
For more information about Koya Partners, visit www.koyapartners.com.