Pennsylvania Statewide Business Outreach Coordinator | Business for America | Pennsylvania
Steve Masters
Committed to Reforming Pennsylvania’s Political System?
We’re hiring a
part-time Statewide Business Coordinator in Pennsylvania. This highly
motivated, well-organized,
and politically savvy individual will educate business leaders throughout the
state about nonpartisan election reforms such as automatic voter registration,
no-excuse absentee balloting, ranked-choice voting, open primaries, and
election security. By recruiting and mobilizing this important though largely
silent constituency — business leaders — to support election reforms, we will
help increase voter turnout, improve the state’s economic climate, and protect
democracy.
This part-time position will help create a multi-faceted educational and advocacy campaign that builds a coalition of business leaders from rural, suburban, and urban communities. The role requires working with the State Director based in Philadelphia and reporting to the national Policy Director located in Denver. This individual will be integral to helping the BFA team to design and execute the statewide campaign strategy and plan.
ABOUT BUSINESS FOR AMERICA
Business for America (BFA) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) national network of business leaders working to strengthen our representative democracy. We have team members in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Denver. BFA advances federal- and state-level policy and technology solutions. We believe that a well-functioning government and healthy democracy will help build a more competitive and innovative business climate in America. In the same way that our communities need clean water to thrive, we need politics to function well in order to address important issues. Pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral votes, plays an important role in national politics.
OUR WORK IN PENNSYLVANIA
BFA began working in the Keystone State in late 2018. Since that time, we have launched a Business Advisory Council, retained a part-time State Director, and received a grant from The Heinz Endowments. We are now looking to scale our work by hiring a Statewide Business Outreach Coordinator.Our 2019–2020 nonpartisan policy agenda is geared towards making the business case for political reform. We seek to influence the media narrative and convince legislators that the economic climate of Pennsylvania is being adversely impacted by our outmoded election infrastructure and barriers to voting.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Identify and recruit business leaders, companies, and business organizations throughout the state’s major geographic regions to support BFA’s policy agenda
- Organize events that bring business leaders together to talk about election modernization, political reform, and corporate civic responsibility
- Educate business leaders about the economic benefits of election reform and how reforms will improve the business climate
- Make presentations to business groups, chambers of commerce, civic groups, and the media
- Help develop messaging about why business leaders care about political reform
- Help craft op-eds, letters to the editor, business sign-on letters, and social media content
- Support the State Director in coordinating meetings between business leaders and legislators
- Conduct targeted outreach, including emails, calls, direct mail, and in-person events
- Participate in meetings with other election reform organizations
- Help to devise questions for a statewide poll of businesspeople
- Help to determine program goals and track metrics to measure impact
- Onboard new supporters and cultivate relationships with existing members
- Support communications efforts by writing, editing, assigning, and contributing to promotional pieces, blogs, social media, and policy papers
- Have fun!
QUALIFICATIONS
- 3+ years as a community or political organizer, or running advocacy or political campaigns
- Experience in coordinating complex programs, ideally for a nonprofit or government
- Skilled at bringing people and organizations together into a coalition
- Existing community connections to business community, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, media, and local and state leaders
- Knowledgeable about state politics, public policy, advocacy, and business thinking
- Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities in a growing organization to effectively leverage resources, meet multiple deadlines, and balance numerous projects
- Strong computer applications skills, including office productivity (Google Suite or MS Office), project management, and CRM
- Strong verbal, research, and written communication skills
- Diplomatic and inclusive interpersonal relationship skills
- Entrepreneurial, self-motivated, team player with attention to detail
- A passion for civic engagement and civil discourse
- Knowledge of event planning and management
- Able to travel in the state
- Able to work occasional evening and weekend hours
- Experienced in the use of social media platforms for advocacy
- Four-year degree, ideally in political science, nonprofit leadership, public policy, business, or a related field
- Able to work 16+ hours per week
- Nice to have: Spanish language skills
Work Scope/Compensation/Benefits
This is a part-time (16 to 20 hours per week) freelance contract position (1099) in Pennsylvania. This position offers a competitive hourly rate based on qualifications and experience. Benefits are not included. Preference will be given to people in the Pittsburgh area.