About Resources Legacy Fund
What is Resources Legacy Fund?
Resources Legacy Fund (RLF) describes itself as "Architects of Environmental Progress". The Sacramento-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit fiscally sponsors projects, designs and runs programmes and advocacy campaigns, and manages "major strategic grantmaking initiatives" for donors, aimed at what it calls three interconnected crises: climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequities. Over a 25-year track record, working with funders, coalitions and governments, RLF says it has helped deliver more than $30 billion in public funding for climate, water and nature; remove 100 obsolete dams from Western rivers through its Open Rivers Fund; pass California's largest-ever climate bond; write California's goal of protecting 30% of its lands and waters by 2030 into law, with more than $1 billion for implementation; and pass the nation's first "green fee" on tourism, in Hawai‘i, which raises $100 million a year. Projects it fiscally sponsors include Climate Mayors, the Center for Western Priorities, the National Ocean Protection Coalition, Beyond Petrochemicals and the Tribal Stewardship and Sovereignty Network, and it works alongside two affiliates, the 501(c)(4) Fund for a Better Future and the 501(c)(3) Shared Ascent Fund. Its 2024 tax return reports $47.7 million in grants.
Where will I work?
Remotely, in most roles. "RLF is headquartered in California and has talented staff and board members located across the country," its team page says, and its head office is on Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento. Both roles open in September 2026 — a Policy Associate and a Senior Communications Associate for the Alliance for Wildfire Resilience, a project RLF fiscally sponsors — are "fully remote within the U.S.", with two to six trips a year for team meetings, conferences and partner events. Some California programme roles prefer a home base near Sacramento: a 2026 California Watersheds Program Officer posting asked for regular travel there.
What is the Resources Legacy Fund team like?
RLF employed 155 people during 2024, according to its Form 990 — "campaigners and issue experts, connectors, and grantmakers", in its own words, plus staff who work for fiscally sponsored projects "that span the globe". President Phil Ginsburg joined in January 2026 after more than 16 years as San Francisco's parks director; Executive Vice President Matt Armsby has been at RLF since 2012. Postings publish their salary ranges — $75,000–$85,000 and $90,000–$100,000 starting salaries for the two current roles, and $127,000–$157,000 for the programme officer — and encourage anyone who meets 75% of the listed qualifications to apply, counting unpaid and volunteer experience. One project lead quoted on RLF's home page says: "My team and I love being housed at RLF because of the excellent benefits and the sense of camaraderie".
Work-Life Balance
RLF works a nine-day fortnight. "We have an alternate Fridays off work schedule (employees work 40 hours one week, 32 hours the next week)," say both current postings, and RLF's own California Watersheds Program Officer posting uses the same words, so the schedule covers RLF's core staff as well as its sponsored projects. That averages 36 hours a week, with every other Friday off. On top of it come "generous paid time off" and approximately 17 paid holidays a year. Most roles also involve a few trips a year to meet the team, partners and policymakers.
Perks and Benefits
- A nine-day fortnight: 40 hours one week, 32 the next, with alternate Fridays off
- Generous paid time off and approximately 17 paid holidays a year
- Medical, dental and vision insurance
- 401(k) plan with a 5% match
- Mental health benefits and the Calm app
- A technology allowance
- Student loan repayment assistance
- Starting salary ranges published on job postings