Research and Policy Local Advocacy Lead
Job Description
NCC Description and Job Overview
The Nashville Charter Collaborative is comprised of 12 charter organizations with a track record of high achievement and student growth, representing 32 member schools, and more than 12,800 students across the city. The goal of the Nashville Charter Collaborative is to ensure that Nashville is known as a model city for public education, where zip code no longer defines a child’s academic success. The Collaborative offers charter school leaders a structure to work together on areas of shared need. As the Local Advocacy Lead for the NCC, your mission is to provide strategy, coordination, and support for local advocacy efforts to support charter growth, quality, and sustainability.
Mindsets
1) You understand the world of politics and advocacy. You have the ability to identify and articulate the macro- and micro-level political dynamics that shape a given situation. You have an understanding of the art and science of building and exercising political power and influence toward specific policy outcomes. You can synthesize qualitative and quantitative data quickly to formulate insights and draw conclusions about the political dynamics of any given context. You can articulate concrete recommendations on how to organize and deploy resources to achieve policy and political goals. You understand the significance of relationships and events independent of prevailing attitudes or your own biases.
2) You are a relationship-builder. You know how to build relationships with a wide range of people – politicians, philanthropists, and organizational leaders alike, including those whose political views are different from your own. You find ways to connect and build trust naturally and are committed to serving others. You treat others with respect and are also able to engage authentically to negotiate and compromise (when appropriate) in order to make progress.
3) You are an effective organizer, planner, and prioritizer. You love managing and coordinating projects, especially the challenge of managing projects with high levels of complexity and dynamism. You’re adept at laying out a plan and then driving toward successful implementation, ensuring that key deadlines are met along the way and navigating unexpected challenges or changes in the environment. You are disciplined and this manifests in how you engage others.
4) You are a strategic thinker: Foster open dialogue, build trust, and engage key stakeholders, especially when views diverge. Reframe problems to get to the bottom of things. Able to anticipate challenges and plan ahead. Synthesizes information from many sources before developing a viewpoint. Balance speed, rigor, quality, and agility in decision making. Adept at shifting course quickly if you realize you’re off track from reaching your goal. You quickly understand the basic facts and nuances of a new situation and feel confident and knowledgeable enough to act on your understanding. You are agile enough to be self-reflective in motion and to incorporate your learnings into your next action. You don’t have to wait to be told what to do. You bring new ideas to the organization.
5) You are innovative and have an entrepreneurial spirit. You find early stage efforts invigorating and respond to challenges in a positive and proactive way. You are resourceful, have a creative approach to problem solving, and believe in the continuous improvement of processes. You are excited to come in near the ground level and build something whose impact (if successful) will last well beyond your lifetime.
6) You are an excellent communicator. You use clear and concise language. You are comfortable writing memos and building presentations from scratch. Others have said that your writing is concrete and actionable. You use examples to back up your claims. You understand the context in which you are communicating, and can respond to emails, calls, and requests professionally and effectively, tailoring your message depending on the audience. You are skilled in communicating critical messages succinctly with a wide range of critical stakeholders.
7) You are committed to equity: You are deeply committed to centering this work in advancing racial equity. You are able to build trust and buy-in across racial lines and work in deep partnership with communities. You proactively identify, explore, and address issues related to race, equity, and inclusion in the work. You model this approach by continually recognizing the limits of your own perspective, and are willing to navigate discomfort and tension, even when difficult.
Responsibilities
The Local Advocacy Lead will:
- Work in partnership with the local advocacy advisor, the NCC, and the TCSC in order to design and execute campaigns for Nashville Charter Collaborative operators and member schools to achieve policy wins, that include but are not limited to grassroots organizing, grasstops engagement, PR and communications, voter registration, etc.
- Develop and maintain shared action plans for all advocacy efforts, actively managing and monitoring project status to ensure projects are on track against agreed upon goals and milestones
- Identify, coordinate, and partner with designated advocacy leads at NCC schools regularly to execute local advocacy strategy
- Work with key stakeholders to align and garner buy-in, partnering with prioritized external partners as needed
- Regularly and proactively update the Steering Committee, NCC, TCSC, and other stakeholders on progress, potential issues, and material pivots in strategy
- Build and maintain relationships with key local and state stakeholders, establishing strategic partnerships as necessary
Required Qualifications
- Experience working in some aspect of policy and advocacy, such as communications, coalition-building, campaigns, or lobbying
- Demonstrated ability to build relationships with and proactively communicate critical messages to multiple key stakeholders
- Previous successful project management and project coordination experience in a fast-paced and high performing organization required, including managing multiple, detailed projects simultaneously and meeting deadlines
- Strong communication skills, especially verbal communication, as well as comfort writing short memos and making presentations
- Team player who demonstrates a positive attitude, energy, sense of humor, entrepreneurial spirit, and dedication to collaboration
- Demonstrated track record of operating at a high level and following through on commitments
- High level of interpersonal maturity, poise and professionalism
- Experience working in education or consulting a plus
Working Environment
The Nashville Charter Collaborative strives for a working environment that honors the unique assets and needs of every member of the NCC. While the coordination entailed in this role is most often remote work, NCC members do meet in the Nashville area on a semi-regular basis and in-person meetings with key stakeholders are an integral part of the role. At the moment, the NCC meets virtually but may transition back to in-person meetings in the Nashville area when COVID-19 restrictions are no longer in place. We are highly flexible on set business hours in order to meet the needs of the group, but the role does require daily (Monday to Friday) availability at predictable times. While not a frequent occurrence, there will be occasional evening, weekend, and holiday obligations for this role.
Compensation & Commitment to Diversity
This role will pay an estimated annual salary of $80,000 – $100,000, commensurate with experience.
We do not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff and contractors, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, clients, volunteers, subcontractors, and vendors.
