Director, Advocacy Strategy

Who We Are

We are Tennis! The USTA (United States Tennis Association) is the national governing body for the sport of tennis and the leader in promoting and developing the sport’s growth on every level in the United States, from local communities to the crown jewel of the professional game, the US Open.

We are a passionate team of staff and volunteers focused on growing the sport of tennis and making it accessible to all. We are committed to removing barriers and creating opportunities for ALL to participate. Don’t know tennis? Don't worry, you can still find yourself in the game!

The Director of Advocacy Strategy will partner with the Managing Director of Advocacy & Resource Strategy to develop advocacy priorities. Serving as an internal consultant and thought partner, this role blends consulting expertise with advocacy capacity building to promote tennis participation and elevate tennis as a platform for community development, inclusion, health, and youth engagement. Given the department’s broadened scope and significant demand from sections, this position will take ownership of a broad range of projects and relationships to move new and existing work forward.

As a member of the Section Development Team, the Director will have a primary orientation to supporting section needs and goals. As a member of the Advocacy & Resource Strategy Team, the Director will work with the Senior Director of Advocacy and Specialist of CTA Development to build respective strategic priorities and align advocacy efforts with grants and fundraising efforts - including a holistic approach to supporting partners with a combination of advocacy, CTA, grants, and fundraising best practices.

• Work directly with department lead to iterate on and prioritize strategic pillars - integrating grassroots advocacy, CTA development, grants and fundraising.
• Collaborate with Advocacy team members, lead projects to proactively identify challenges/opportunities and develop resulting solutions.
• Serve as internal voice of Advocacy Team, representing the department across all business units - listening to needs and collaborating where possible.
• Execute existing priorities across the department as project manager and direct relationship with key stakeholders.
• Support the public image and voice of the department through deck development/design and speaking engagements.
• Provide project-based supervision and mentorship to fellows, Bain externs, and 5 external consultants to support specific initiatives.

• Manage the department’s grants pillar - growing the recoverable grant pilot, iterating on national grant transparency to sections and providers, serving as non-technical lead for grants into new enterprise CRM.
• Manage the department’s fundraising initiative - growing the grant-sourcing and grant-writing partnerships with third-party firms, tracking national/major funding opportunities, collaborating with the USTA Foundation for mutual benefit and transparency.
• Collaborate with Section Development Team and section staff to guide the 17 USTA Sections on grants and fundraising best practices while developing tools, playbooks, and training materials on grants and fundraising.

• Support the annual advocacy planning process by gathering market intelligence on emerging policy and funding opportunities relevant to the USTA mission.
• Establish evaluation frameworks, KPIs, and dashboards to measure the effectiveness of the advocacy department and the social impact of philanthropic dollars.
• Package data-driven insights into engaging communications and board memos to facilitate senior-level decision-making and highlight the…