Director of Policy and Partnerships – Civic Infrastructure Adoption

Director of Policy and Partnerships – Civic Infrastructure Adoption

About StriveTogether
StriveTogether is a national movement with a clear purpose: helping every child succeed in school and in life from cradle to career, regardless of race, ethnicity, zip code or circumstance. We refuse to settle for a world where a child’s potential is dictated by the conditions into which they are born. We work to break down barriers, change systems and improve outcomes for as many families as possible.

The StriveTogether team is passionate, talented and dedicated to achieving our mission. We seek and value all kinds of diversity and work hard to eliminate inequities in ourselves, our organization and our communities. Our goals are bold, so we support each other to try new things, have tough conversations and push for change. As we work, we share learning and progress, use data to make decisions and celebrate our wins.

About the position

Reporting to the Vice President of Policy and Partnerships, the Director of Policy and Partnerships – Civic Infrastructure Adoption will hold a constant focus on public sector adoption of cradle-to-career civic infrastructure.

The director serves as the lead strategist developing supports for the Cradle to Career Network to accomplish local government policy objectives. The Director will assist network members in building and sustaining local policy infrastructure to leverage public sector resources, with the goal of transforming local systems to improve outcomes for all children, cradle to career. The Director will coach partnerships through all three phases of policy development, advocacy and implementation. They will contribute to the codification of lessons learned and the convening of cohorts of partnerships for cross-community learning.

The Director will serve as a liaison to national partners, who support network members’ advancement through the Theory of Action and reaching their policy priorities. The Director will work collaboratively with staff across functional areas at StriveTogether to ensure seamless and complimentary efforts are aligned for optimal efficiency in serving the Network.

This is an exciting and unique opportunity to work with the country’s only national network of cradle-to-career partnerships and directly contribute to the result of helping every child succeed. With present historic amounts of public funding made available to all communities in the United States, this role has a uniquely advantageous opportunity to help partnerships leverage federal funding in ways that lead to short-term assurance that equity is addressed and long-term planning to embed an equity focus systemically and institutionally.

About you

You are invested in bringing communities together to advance racial equity in education and to ensure every child — regardless of race, ethnicity, income or zip code — thrives. You are energized by working alongside people for common goals and navigating numerous paths to reaching them. You thrive in ambiguity and have a strong politically strategic mindset.

You understand traditional policy-making processes for local government. You have knowledge of national entities that can accelerate the progress of communities seeking to optimize their local public sector. You possess strong oral and written communication skills. You are naturally collaborative, creative and very flexible.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Demonstration of Civic Infrastructure Contributions to Public Objectives

• Codesign, facilitate and coach network supports for capability building
• Align partners in the field to support policy implementation
• Support thought leadership to reinforce messaging
• Record examples of bright spots and target dissemination to public stakeholders and network members
• Assist in evaluating the ROI of civic infrastructure

Mobilization and Advocacy

• Lead grassroots lobbying and potentially direct lobbying
• Offer coalition-building coaching and convening
• Provide policy agenda development technical assistance
• Create and disseminate policy tools and trainings
• Leverage national partners in support of local policy infrastructure maturity

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or five years of lived, related experience
• Five or more years of experience in public policy, with a preference for municipal government experience or experience as an elected public official
• Experience in the social service sector
• Highly experienced in direct lobbying and coalition building
• History of achieving results
• Strong orientation to racial equity
• Beyond a personal commitment to diversity, equity and racial and the ethnic inclusion, we are looking for candidates with successful experience integrating anti-racism practices into strategy, programs, system-change efforts and advocacy.
• Ability to be self-directed and independent, with a track record of taking initiative
• Travel required up to 60% of the time

Position Details

The Director of Policy and Partnerships – Civic Infrastructure Adoption is an exempt position with a salary range of $81,000-$122,000. StriveTogether offers competitive salary and benefits, commensurate with experience and skills.  This position can work out of the Cincinnati or Chicago offices or work remotely.

Applications and cover letters are due by Friday, May 27, 2022. 

StriveTogether is an equal opportunity employer.

Apply here.