Senior Associate

Organization Overview

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) envisions a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive. The Children's Defense Fund builds community so young people grow up with dignity, hope, and joy. We serve and advocate for the largest, most diverse generation in America: the 74 million children and youth under the age of 18 and 30 million young adults under the age of 25, with particular attention to those living in poverty and communities of color. CDF partners with policymakers, aligned organizations and funders in this service. The Children's Defense Fund is the only national, multi-issue advocacy organization working at the intersection of child well-being and racial justice by wielding the moral authority of programmatic proximity and community organizing to inform public policy. For more information visit www.childrensdefense.org.

Position Summary

The Senior Associate is a key member of the CDF SRO team, primarily responsible for supporting work to develop and implement strategies to engage, partner, inform and mobilize key constituencies and build strong support for CDF organizing and policy work. This position will help further CDF's articulated policy strategy by working to integrate and align activities in the southern region with those of CDF Movement Building leadership and other organizing and policy staff at the national level and across the organization to prioritize the voices of lived experience in policy making. And civic engagement. Through relationship building, community organizing, engagement and mobilization, the Senior Associate will support CDF SRO movement building and civic engagement work creating systemic changes that will improve outcomes for children and families. For the past 28 years, the CDF SRO has built relationships across the U. S. South on issues related to the health and well-being of children and families. This position will allow those networks to once again become more deliberately involved in CDF's Movement Building work.

Responsibilities

Develop and deepen strategic partnerships with key coalitions and grassroots and direct service organizations to support Movement Building and civic engagement.

• Support participation in city and county, community-led collaboratives through active participation in campaign development, youth engagement, coalition meetings, and actions

• Support the development of culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach materials and tool kits for campaigns and movement-building activities

• Cultivate relationships with people who have personal experiences with CDF targeted issue and advocacy areas to help where possible, training to get these experiences in front of decision makers, and moving them up the 'ladder of engagement' to become issue area specialists, leaders, and advocates in their communities

• Identify and implement creative strategies to get advocates' experiences in front of decision makers, such as through social media, media campaigns, and events.

• Incorporate the People/Base into advocacy activities such as candidate forums, legislative meetings, and rallies.

• Maintain knowledge of States Issues

• Educate and engage the community around efforts to improve outcomes for children and youth with a focus on low-income youth of color, particularly around education, health and other issues as identified by CDF's key constituents.

• Hold and facilitate a safe space for youth to engage in critical dialogue towards examining issues of oppression that exist within their communities.

• Train young people in organizing, including outreach, identifying and researching issues, developing and implementing campaigns around both short- and long-term CDF issues, and carrying out direct actions.

• Identify and develop new campaigns to address youth-identified issues as they pertain to their communities

• Work closely with state and local coalition partners, as we develop framing vehicles to increase the profile of issues impacting children and youth throughout the state.

Qualifications

Education And/or Experience

• Required College Degree

• Minimum of 5 to 10 years of relevant experience in community organizing, political or issue-based campaigns, outreach and coalition building, and leading state or local coalitions

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated history of collaborating with diverse groups and impacted communities.

• Demonstrated ability to develop the leadership of others while exercising leadership as well.

• Commitment to and knowledge of the various issue areas the state will cover, including health, education, opportunity, intergenerational leadership development, and civic education, engagement, and mobilization

• Passion for racial justice work that empowers children and families

• Passion for racial and social justice work that empowers youth and communities impacted by economic and health inequities.

• A personal approach that values the individual and respects differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ability, and socio-economic circumstance, and able to work with diverse individuals within the organization and broader community.

• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with many different stakeholders and constituencies.

• Story collection, organizing, and mobilizing experience a plus.

• Spanish proficiency is a plus.

Competencies

• Ability to meet people where they are at and cultivate supportive relationships with them.

• Strong writing and editing skills, as well as the ability to adopt the appropriate style, tone, and voice when working in local communities, state organizations, and with policymakers

• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in person and in writing with a variety of audiences.

• Ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with many different stakeholders and constituencies.

• Proficiency with word processing programs including MS Outlook, Word, PowerPoint as well as familiarity with Excel, and remote working programs (MS Teams and Zoom).

• Aptitude for building positive working relationships both internally and externally.

• Ability to prioritize among multiple projects.

• Work well within teams.

Personal Characteristics

• A get it done, results-driven, proactive attitude, capable of working independently and under pressure, ability to take initiative, set priorities, efficiently and effectively organize work, and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

• Demonstrated history of collaborating and working directly with people, groups and impacted communities from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

• Orientation to and background of servant leadership.

• Ability to serve as an advocate and exemplar for the vision, values, and mission of the Children's Defense Fund.

• Demonstrated strong relational skills.

Type of work environment associated with the job

• Indoor, office setting, extensive state and regional travel.

• We are committed to a healthy work-life balance. We are also committed to standing up for progress at times that may occur outside of regular business hours, so this person may sometimes have to work weekends and evenings.