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Policy & Advocacy Associate

This job is no longer available

Inglewood, CA, USA
Full-time

As a member of the Social Justice Learning Institute (SJLI) Policy and Advocacy team, the Policy & Advocacy Associate will be responsible for the overall execution of state and local policy and advocacy initiatives, specifically focused on civic engagement, housing, and environmental justice. The Policy & Advocacy Associate will be responsible for building the capacity within the Uplift Inglewood Coalition to advocate on these issues by coordinating training and webinars, organizing advocacy campaigns and calls to action, planning virtual and in-person Hill Days, and providing guidance and advocacy toolkits and materials. The Policy & Advocacy Associate will also be responsible for government relations activities and coalition building as appropriate to assigned issues in partnership with the Policy and Advocacy Director.

What’s Attractive to the right Policy & Advocacy Associate Candidate?

This is a high-visibility role where you can have a significant impact. As a multi-issue nonprofit organization with political reach, SJLI is uniquely positioned to have a powerful influence in shaping the future of the social justice landscape. You will play a pivotal role in helping us build out our policy and advocacy capacity to address issues of social, economic, and emotional well-being for our constituents. You will be a part of a passionate organization with a deeply devoted staff that is extremely focused and intent on creating long-term value. Your colleagues are professional and committed to their work, and respectful, and responsive to each other.

At SJLI, you will be a part of building a society where all of us—no matter what we look like, how we pray, where we come from, who our parents are, or how our sexuality is expressed—can live, worship, work, and pursue happiness together as equals.

Areas of Responsibility: 

Duties of The Policy & Advocacy Associate 

  • Develop and execute a project plan and agenda for evaluating and analyzing relevant environmental justice and housing justice policies that affect under-resourced communities.

  • Analyze emerging public policy issues and trends and produce Social Justice Learning Institute (SJLI) policy publications including issue briefs, white papers, conference papers, presentations, and testimony, using primary and secondary research sources; facility in data analysis strongly preferred.

  • In coordination with the Policy and Advocacy Director and Youth Justice Organizer, represent the SJLI in high-visibility forums, including delivering presentations and testimony before legislative staff, policymakers, issue experts and stakeholders, national conferences, and the media.

  • Interface with the local, county, state, and federally elected offices to create awareness, provide insight on, and draft policy and legislation that impacts communities we serve. 

  • Lead and participate in coalitions of experts and advocates on housing and environmental issues.

  • Provide strategic recommendations, as appropriate, to various levels of SJLI leadership.

  • Manage, design and implement issue-based campaigns with assistance from other

  • Be Analytical. You easily synthesize complex or diverse information and design workflows and procedures. You are known for your ability to collect and research data, using your intuition and experience to complement the data.

  • Be Comfortable with change. You thrive in an environment that is in constant motion and understand that what we need today may be different than what we need tomorrow. You are nimble, able to come up to speed quickly, and change focus to take advantage of new priorities.

  • Be a clear communicator (written and verbal). You write clearly and informatively with the ability to vary your writing style to meet needs. You meticulously edit work for spelling and grammar and present numerical data effectively. You read and interpret written information with ease. You speak clearly and persuasively in both supportive and sensitive situations. You listen closely, get clarification where needed, and respond well to questions, participating fully in meetings and groups.

  • Be Curious. You’re intellectually curious. You dive in without being asked and you smoothly manage through ambiguity to shape answers to questions when no template exists.

  • Be Ethical. You always treat people with respect, keep your commitments, and inspire the trust of others. You work ethically and with integrity to uphold organizational values.

  • Be a problem solver. You identify and resolve problems in a timely manner, skillfully gathering and analyzing information, then developing alternative solutions. You work well in group problem-solving situations, using reason even when dealing with emotional topics.

  • Be Strategic. You develop strategies to achieve organizational goals, understanding the organization's strengths and areas of growth, and analyzing the market and competition to identify external threats and opportunities, adapting strategy to changing conditions.

  • Be Motivated. You set and achieve challenging goals, measure yourself against a standard of excellence, take calculated risks, and demonstrate persistence to overcome obstacles.

  • Be Professional. You approach others in a tactful manner, stay even-tempered under pressure, and treat others with respect and consideration regardless of their status or position. You accept responsibility for your actions and you follow through on your commitments.

     

Educational Background: 
Bachelor’s degree in public policy, international affairs, demography, public health or a related field
Preferable: Master of Public Policy, Master of Public Health, Master of Public Administration, or related field.
Skills/Experience: 

Qualifications Of the Policy & Advocacy Associate:

  • In-depth policy experience required, with a demonstrated ability to analyze and develop new policy ideas.

  • Extensive and strong writing ability, including developing and writing articles, studies, reports, or other publicly available documents, is required.

  • Substantive knowledge of health policy issues, including those related to the SJLI housing and environmental policy portfolio, is needed.

  • Experience communicating policy ideas in public settings such as coalition meetings, congressional hearings and briefings, significant conferences, and the media.

  • Outstanding project management skills suited to a dynamic work environment with multiple ongoing responsibilities, tight deadlines, and expectations for high-quality work.

  • Demonstrated commitment to social justice, equity.

  • Flexibility for occasional travel.

  • Demonstrates activity management experience including developing work plans, ensuring quality and timeliness of technical deliverables, and managing budgets

  • Strong interpersonal skills to work respectfully and collegially in teams, including with international partners and project funders, and to adapt to shifting priorities and timelines.

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills with attention to detail.

  • Ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks simultaneously, adhering to deadlines.

  • Advanced knowledge of social media platforms and advocacy campaigns

  • Requires advanced public policy knowledge, skills, and abilities

  • Requires excellent verbal and written communication skills

  • Requires the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment

  • Requires excellent project management skills

  • Requires excellent Microsoft Office Suite skills

Compensation/Benefits: 

To be discussed and determined upon hiring.

Additional Information: 

Once you apply, one of the SJLI team members will be in contact with you to make sure you are able to apply via the SJLI internal hiring platform and prepare you for interviewing.

Organization Info

Social Justice Learning Institute

Overview
Headquarters: 
Inglewood, CA, USA
Size: 
11-50 employees
Founded: 
2008
About Us
Mission: 

The Social Justice Learning Institute is dedicated to improving the overall health, education and well-being of youth and communities of color by empowering them to enact change through research, training and community mobilization. We envision a world where community members can use their own agency to change each other's lives.

Programs: 

Our goals are simple.

We work to:

- build capacity for individuals and communities to advocate for their needs;

- train and build leaders;

- educate and empower youth and community members to identify and rectify injustice;

- deliver effective programs, resources and support that help advance our mission.

To meet these goals, we work with youth, residents, local schools, districts and city officials to increase educational opportunities through innovative programs and sustainable practices. We also develop and manage programs that advance academic, food and environmental justice.

Our programs include:

Educational Equity

Health Equity

Policy & Advocacy

Why Work For Us?: 

SJLI Core Values are the reason to work for us.

- We privilege the ideas, voice and leadership of our youth and community members.

- Everyone must be afforded equal opportunity in order to achieve equitable treatment.

- We do all things in love.

- No one is hopeless.

If you believe in these ideals, this this is a place for you.

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Listing Stats

Post Date: 
Jul 29 2020
Active Until: 
Aug 29 2020
Hiring Organization: 
Social Justice Learning Institute
industry: 
Nonprofit