Senior Director​/Director of Policy and Advocacy

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Senior Director/Director of Policy and Advocacy

The Senior Director/Director of Policy and Advocacy is responsible for working in close collaboration with coalition partners to advance policy change at the regional, state and federal levels, including advocacy with policymakers and strategic engagement with partner organizations and coalitions. This role develops and manages strategies for strengthening relationships with policymakers to increase their understanding of early childhood issues, gain support for policy change to support Michigan’s youngest children and their families, and expand recognition of ECIC as a policy resource in early childhood.

The Senior Director/Director of Policy and Advocacy impacts policy change to address Michigan’s most challenging early childhood issues.

• All young children and their families in Michigan thrive. In order to make this vision a reality, we work to ensure:
• Race, culture and community are celebrated assets in a young child’s life
• Our work is informed by research and driven by the voices of diverse populations to achieve equitable outcomes for all children
• Collaboration is central to our work, and we strive to co-create knowledge and innovation for the field

These list is intended to represent job related duties and should not be viewed as exhaustive.

• Develop and advance ECIC’s annual policy agenda that’s grounded in ECIC’s innovation and systems implementation work and in collaboration with relevant partners.
• Facilitate a coalition of early childhood advocates, child care providers and health practitioners, parent leaders, state government representatives and community leaders, including meeting design, facilitation, and related action steps.
• Develop and manage strategy for strengthening relationships with elected officials and government agencies and increasing their understanding of and support for policy change.
• Develop work plans and coordinate the development of a wide range of materials to advance ECIC’s and the coalition’s policy agenda, such as talking points, legislative summaries, factsheets, testimony, reports, and letters as well as lead content development for ECIC’s relevant e-bulletins. Work with partner organizations’ research, advocacy, and communication staff and contracted consultants to develop and disseminate relevant educational materials across multiple channels and media.
• Collaborate with national, state, regional, and local partners, identify new partners, and develop joint strategies to advance policies that support coalition policy priorities, ECIC policy agenda, and early childhood.
• Plan and implement events and other activities to support policy goals, such as legislative days, town halls, news conferences, site visits, and meetings.
• Manage all components of the Policy & Advocacy team’s fund development needs, including writing proposals and reports, tracking activities, managing the budget, and maintaining relationships with funders.

• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, public administration, political science or related field with seven (7) years of related experience.
• Knowledge of state and federal early childhood funding streams and legislation, the state legislative process, grassroots, and grass tops advocacy and strategies.
• Excellent advocacy, consensus-building, coalition-building, and leadership skills; demonstrated…