National Director, Mental Health Equity & Engagement

What started as a small group of families gathered around a kitchen table in 1979 has blossomed into the nation's leading voice on mental health. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

Today, we are an alliance of hundreds of local affiliates, state organizations and a national office that work in communities across the United States to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need. NAMI advocates for all who are affected by mental illness, both the individuals and the people in their lives. We work to address disparities and injustices and to promote dignity and inclusion for all people with mental illness and their families.

In addition to being advocates, we educate, we listen, and we lead as evidenced by our public awareness campaigns, the range of programs we provide, and our strong public policy.

We currently have an opening for National Director, Mental Health Equity & Engagement.

The National Director provides strategic leadership for NAMI's efforts to advance mental health equity and expand the reach and impact of NAMI's community engagement and culturally responsive initiatives.

This role is responsible for setting a clear national vision for the department, identifying opportunities for growth, and building the partnerships, strategies, and infrastructure needed to broaden the reach of NAMI's Cross-Cultural Innovation & Engagement (CCIE) and Health Equity initiatives. The National Director will assess where NAMI can have the greatest impact, establish priorities for expansion, and ensure the department's work is aligned with NAMI's broader programmatic and organizational goals.

The National Director will serve as an external-facing leader for NAMI's mental health equity and community engagement work, representing the organization in national conversations, identifying emerging opportunities, and positioning NAMI as a trusted partner in efforts to reduce mental health disparities and improve access to culturally relevant education and support. Ultimately, this role is responsible not only for overseeing the work of the department, but for determining where the work should go next, building the relationships, strategy, and organizational alignment necessary to significantly expand NAMI's reach and impact within diverse communities.

This full-time position is based in our Arlington, VA office on a hybrid basis. Requires approximately 20% travel.

Salary Range
: $135k - $145k

• Develop and execute a national growth strategy for NAMI's mental health equity and community-based mental health supports and initiatives and ensure alignment with NAMI's strategic priorities.
• Provide organizational leadership in identifying and responding to national disparities, emerging trends, service gaps, and community needs that NAMI programs, resources, advocacy, and partnerships may be positioned to address.
• Evaluate potential partnerships based on strategic alignment, community impact, scalability, sustainability, and organizational capacity.
• Monitor national research, policy developments, demographic trends, and promising practices related to mental health equity and community-based mental health support.
• Represent NAMI in external meetings, coalitions, conferences, and national forums related to mental health equity and community engagement.
• Work with NAMI Development teams and other internal partners to identify funding opportunities that support the expansion and sustainability of department programs and initiatives.
• Provide senior leadership and subject matter expertise on mental health equity, advising organizational leaders and cross-functional teams on emerging needs, opportunities, priorities, and strategies.

• Establish annual priorities, goals, operating plans, annual budgets and resource requirements for NAMI's Mental Health Equity and Engagement department and ensure alignment with NAMI's strategic priorities.
• Develop and manage program budgets and ensure responsible stewardship of organizational, grant, contract, and donor-funded resources associated with the department's portfolio.
• Lead, supervise, coach, and develop Mental Health Equity and Engagement staff, establishing clear expectations and…