Director of Advocacy

https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/All/85980df1-c115-49cf-b7d4-5516ba076751/Central-Indiana-Community-Foundation-Inc

Job Title: Director of Advocacy         

FLSA Status: Exempt

Job Type: Full-Time

Salary: $105,000

Reports To: President of Women’s Fund of Central Indiana

Hiring Organization: Women’s Fund of Central Indiana

About us: 

Women’s Fund of Central Indiana envisions an Indiana where all who identify as women and girls exercise full power to decide how to live their lives. We answer the call of community by investing in systems change, advocating for women’s rights, and building collective power for women and girls. 

​Women’s Fund executes this mission by funding organizations, galvanizing philanthropic networks, fighting for policy change, and providing data-informed resources for Indiana.

​Women’s Fund is a proud member of the Central Indiana Community Foundation collaborative and supports its mission to make Central Indiana a community where all individuals have equitable opportunity to reach their full potential—no matter place, race or identity.​ 

Scope of Position:

Traditional philanthropy alone cannot solve the systemic problems faced by women and girls in Central Indiana. Women’s Fund of Central Indiana is stepping into the advocacy space for the first time and because advocacy and policy are not local but statewide activities, Women’s Fund will expand to statewide impact. The new director of advocacy will play a significant role in this effort, including conducting a statewide needs assessment and listening tour.

The director of advocacy plays a crucial role in shaping and advocating for WFCI’s policies and positions within government bodies and regulatory agencies. This position requires a seasoned professional with extensive experience in policy analysis, government relations, and legislative affairs. The individual in this role will lead the development and execution of strategies to influence public policy and legislation in alignment with strategic goals and objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

Legislative Strategy

·     Work in partnership with the president to develop a legislative strategy, ensuring work is steeped in research, meets community-identified needs and aligns with organizational values.

·     Draft policy agenda and position statements in response to local and state issues in collaboration with the president and communications staff.

·     Anticipate and leverage strategic opportunities and challenges externally and internally.

·     Cultivate and maintain relationships with key government officials, legislators, and regulatory agencies at the local, state, and federal levels.  

Advocacy and Public Policy Engagement

·     Build strategy, momentum, and impact to set and advance Women’s Fund’s public policy and advocacy agenda. This includes identifying emerging policy trends, potential risks, and opportunities that may impact the organization.  

·     Monitor legislative developments and initiatives that could affect the organization's operations and objectives.  

·     Cultivate and maintain meaningful relationships with allied organizations, coalitions, local and state government officials, national partners, lobbyists and other influencers.

·     Lead Women’s Fund’s work with external partners to gather and disseminate critical research and data on women and girls’ issues, including the State of Women Report and related briefs.

·     Provide leadership for the advocacy and policy engagement of OPTIONS Alumnae, Young Women’s Advisory Council and other members of the Women’s Fund family.

Organizational Leadership

·     Support vice president of philanthropy by contributing to proposal development for foundation and corporate funders and prepare the team for funder meetings.

·     Serve as an ambassador; develop and build transformational relationships with potential strategic partners, innovators, donors and community leaders in communities around the state, as they align with our strategic goals and objectives.

·     Participate as an active member of Women’s Fund by working collaboratively with other team members, and by communicating openly and honestly with staff and volunteers.

·     Contribute to and attend Women’s Fund events, as required and/or as requested to highlight advocacy.

Skills and Competencies:

An ideal candidate for Women’s Fund’s director of advocacy position is a self-motivated, entrepreneurial, results-oriented, equity-driven professional with a deep understanding of gender and racial equity and a passion for advancing social justice. The candidate would bring a combination of these skills, qualities and experiences to the role:

·     Minimum of 7 years of experience in policy analysis, government relations, or legislative affairs, with progressively increasing levels of responsibility.  

·     Demonstrated expertise in analyzing complex policy issues and developing effective advocacy strategies.  

·     Strong understanding of the legislative process and regulatory frameworks at the local, state, and federal levels.  

·     Commitment to upholding high ethical standards and promoting transparency and accountability in government relations activities.  

·     Proven track record of building and maintaining relationships with government officials, stakeholders, and external partners.  

·     Passion and commitment to actively addressing issues impacting women and advancing gender and racial justice. 

·     An understanding of key challenges and opportunities in women and girls’ health, economic mobility, empowerment and personal safety.

·     Experience working with racially and economically diverse groups and communities, including historically marginalized communities.

·     Excellent relationship skills and a high level of emotional intelligence.

·     Strong verbal and written communication skills, both formal and conversational.

·     A strategic thinker and creative problem solver who can see the big picture and the steps needed to get there.

·     Demonstrated ability to own the pieces of a project fully, move them from beginning to full completion, proactively seeking out the necessary information and asking questions when they are stuck or unclear.

·     Ability to balance working on a small collaborative team with self-direction and working independently.

·     Physically able to participate in set-up and teardown of events and meetings with reasonable accommodations.

·     Uses discretion and maintains confidentiality of information, as needed.

Working Environment

·     This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

Physical Demands

·     The physical demands described here are representative of those that an employee must meet to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

·     This is largely a sedentary role. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and/or hear and communicate sufficiently to exchange accurate information. The employee frequently is required to sit; stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms. May be required to lift up to 10 lbs.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Working Conditions: Flexible hybrid office environment (in office three days a week). Home base–English Foundation Building in downtown Indianapolis, plus additional space in Hamilton County Community Foundation’s Fishers office. Statewide travel required.

The CICF collaborative offers competitive salary and benefits including:

·     Employer-provided health, dental, vision

·     7% percent employer discretionary 403b contribution

·     Potential for an annual bonus based on organizational and individual performance

·     10.5 paid holidays, including MLK Day and Juneteenth

·     20 PTO Days

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT:  

Central Indiana Community Foundation, The Indianapolis Foundation, Hamilton County Community Foundation and Women’s Fund of Central Indiana are equal opportunity employers that seek to recruit persons of diverse backgrounds and to support their retention and advancement. Justice is one of our core values, and we are committed to fostering a workplace culture inclusive of people with respect to their race, ethnicity, national origin, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, veteran status, marital status, age, disabilities, political affiliation, religious beliefs or any other characteristic. Our commitment to justice and diversity also means providing a work environment that is welcoming, respectful, and engaging. 

The collaborative’s mission is to mobilize people, ideas and investments to make Central Indiana a community where all individuals have equitable opportunity to reach their full potential—no matter place, race or identity. 

Racism deeply impacts the well-being of our communities, compounding existing disparities and creating intersectional barriers. We strive to name and address these barriers through community engagement and assessment, relevant and effective policy creation, and organizational accountability methods. We support initiatives that address all forms of oppression, however, maintaining an explicit focus on race is essential to advancing equity across our communities. Improving outcomes for people of color will improve outcomes for everyone.