Ashley Ellington
Director, Strategic Policy and Organizing Support
Position Grade: Director 1
Position Location: Flexible Location
About Leadership for Educational Equity
Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan leadership development organization dedicated to developing its members’ potential to ensure every child has the opportunity to receive an outstanding education.
Our kids and communities need more leaders who believe that educational inequity is a solvable problem. We believe that when our members are organized and reach positions of leadership, they’ll serve as a transformative force for students, communities and the broader movement for educational equity.
LEE is a diverse team of passionate and talented individuals committed to making a difference. We are a high-growth, results-oriented organization that operates in an entrepreneurial environment deeply invested in continuous improvement. If you would like to become part of our team and join the fight for educational equity, or if you would simply like to learn more about what we do, please visit educationalequity.org.
Position Summary:
The Director, Strategic Policy and Organizing Support will actively support senior and career-level leaders in the fields of advocacy and organizing, as well as Organizing Alliances, as needed. As part of the Policy and Community Impact (PCI) team, this position will be responsible for helping senior leaders clarify and evaluate the equity-focused impact that they are having in their professional work and community organizing efforts. The Director will also design digital/online, in-person, and blended experiences for members to help them be more effective in their respective advocacy and organizing roles. The Director will play a critical role in integrating policy knowledge, skills and mindsets into the leadership development of our advocacy and organizing senior-level members.
The role requires both independent design and collaboration across the National Impact team and LEE. In particular, the Director will collaborate with LEE’s Technology team in all aspects of work, LEE’s Communications team on branding and communications to members, LEE’s Regional Impact (RI) team on in-person and blended experiences for members, and across the subteams on the National Impact team to learn “make more effective” strategies, especially from peers on the Policy and Advocacy team and with partners on the Organizing Leadership team. The Director will also need to collaborate other LEE staff to rigorously track and analyze data, design program/project evaluation metrics and make strategic shifts accordingly.
The ideal candidate will demonstrate passion for and demonstrated success in developing and leading trainings for adult learners; strong advocacy and community organizing skills and knowledge; expertise in education policy; have comfort engaging with high-impact advocacy and organizing leaders; thrive in a collaborative and entrepreneurial environment; and be a proven self-starter.
The Director, Strategic Policy and Organizing Support will report directly to the Senior Director, Policy and Community Impact.
Position Location: Flexible
Travel Requirements: Up to 30%
Responsibilities:
Program and Project Management (50%)
- Support LEE senior members, particularly those in advocacy and organizing careers and regionally-based Organizing Alliance Leadership Team members, by researching, analyzing, and summarizing issues and questions through the Policy Resource Request process
- Develop, execute, and evaluate projects and programs, based on data and member feedback, that are aligned with identified needs of senior-level advocacy and organizing leaders
- Track progress of members engaged in Policy and Community Impact (PCI) programming by ensuring that the necessary follow-up activities, touch points, and benchmarks are in place and by creating metrics to effectively measure progress towards PCI team goals
- Collaborate with other LEE staff to rigorously track and analyze data, design program/project evaluation metrics and make strategic shifts accordingly
- Collaborate across teams at LEE to design strategy, create resources, track data, and evaluate and improve PCI’s impact
Program Design (35%)
- Design and lead high-quality programming and support to cultivate and assist LEE’s mid- and senior-level advocacy and organizing career leaders in their current and future roles
- Design digital/online, in-person, and blended experiences to help senior leaders be more effective in their respective advocacy and organizing roles and to deepen their equity-focused impact in their respective communities
- In collaboration with LEE’s Organizing Leadership and Regional Impact teams, design programs and supports for regional Organizing Alliances to further their knowledge, skills, mindsets, and behaviors related to policy and advocacy strategy
Strategic Member Advisement (10%)
- In collaboration with other Directors of Strategic Policy and Program Support, co-develop/co-manage a scalable coaching program that matches senior members to other members with key areas of expertise
- Support members engaged in community organizing to develop critical skills, such as power mapping, coalition building, and/or policy analysis
Provide 1:1 coaching on policy strategy for LEE’s senior policy, advocacy and organizing leaders
Special Projects (5%)
- As assigned, including writing and editing policy briefs and research requests
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree required
- 5 years relevant professional work experience, including 3 years experience and confidence in engaging with high-impact policy, advocacy and/or elected leaders
- Familiarity with the field of community organizing careers
- Demonstrated passion for and demonstrated success in developing and leading trainings for adult learners
- Strong advocacy and community organizing skills and knowledge and expertise in education policy
- Demonstrated success engaging diverse audiences through outreach, messaging and marketing
- Demonstrated track record of effective communication across a complex organizational structure
- Ability to identify useful metrics and see trends that inform strategy
- Ability to create inclusive membership experiences
- Demonstrated ability to conduct political landscape analysis and strategy
- Commitment to coaching leaders and playing a role in their long-term leadership development and have comfort engaging with high-impact advocacy and organizing leaders
- Proven ability to work across lines of difference with diverse audiences and partners
- Excellent verbal and written skills
- Strong attention to detail
- Demonstrated ability to plan strategically, prioritize time, and manage implementation of plans in fast-moving, changing environments
- Flexible and committed to continuous learning
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree preferred
- 2-3 years of previous experience in community organizing
- Prior experience with project management and designing and supporting career coaching opportunities.
- Ability to communicate and collaborate within a geographically dispersed team
- Strong, demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion
- Deep passion for educational equity and belief in LEE’s mission and theory of change