ABOUT THE ENSURING OPPORTUNITY CAMPAIGN TO END POVERTY IN CONTRA COSTA

Ensuring Opportunity is a “big-tent” initiative that brings together diverse sectors, stakeholders, and interests to engage in policy advocacy and systems change to address the root causes of poverty and injustice. Our mission will be fulfilled when all Contra Costa residents have the resources they need to support themselves and their loved ones, and have a powerful voice in shaping local political, cultural and economic systems.

We believe that poverty is not inevitable and can be eradicated by our collective actions. We hold that equity and justice must be at the center of our public systems, especially those serving residents who are struggling to make ends meet.

Founded five years ago, Ensuring Opportunity’s strength resides in our proven ability to bring diverse groups together to identify shared interests and create strategies for meaningful change. We work in strong partnership with residents, advocates, service providers, and system leaders to create just and effective policies in the areas of economic security, housing, food security, health, immigrant protections, budget justice, and community safety.

Ensuring Opportunity’s work is guided by a Leadership Team that includes representatives from diverse sectors and organizations, including county departments, businesses, service providers, labor organizations, faith communities, and community-based organizations.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Policy, Advocacy & Community Engagement Manager will work with a small team at RCF Connects, reporting to the Senior Director for Ensuring Opportunity. The work culture is both autonomous and deeply collaborative, with a strong commitment to building and modeling inclusiveness and belonging. The right candidate will be deeply committed to equity and fairness, and equally comfortable working independently and in partnership with others, and interested in systemic solutions to institutional racism and other unjust social and economic structures.

ABOUT RCF CONNECTS

RCF Connects (formerly Richmond Community Foundation) strives for healthy, thriving communities that are safe and diverse, where families flourish and children are given new hope for a bright and abundant future.  RCF Connects partners with the community to inspire leadership and to share the vision for work in five areas:  community growth, health, restoring neighborhoods, education, and public safety. Our work is driven by a strong aspiration to work with our communities to strengthen economic, racial, cultural, social, and gender equity. This aspiration is expressed both in the outcomes we strive for and in the ways in which we do our work. Equity is both our organizational value and our goal. This is reflected in RCF's commitment to achieving equity goals in hiring, and to supporting a workforce with a range of experiences, backgrounds and abilities to serve our diverse communities. RCF strongly encourages applicants of color to apply. To learn more, please visit http://www.rcfconnects.org/

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES – Policy, Advocacy & Community Engagement Manager

• Strategy development:
  • Provide thought leadership/partnership to Ensuring Opportunity’s Senior Director, Leadership Team, key allies and stakeholders in formulating Ensuring Opportunity’s goals, priorities and strategic approach.
  • Link policy issues and cross-inform/engage the various issues, sectors, geographic regions, and coalitions in which Ensuring Opportunity participates.
• Project management – examples include:
  • Coordinate key Ensuring Opportunity housing strategies, including our annual Contra Costa Housing Summit, and development of a countywide housing needs assessment.
  • Organize town halls, forums and other community engagement events, often in partnership with coalitions or specific partners.
• Coalitions and community advocacy:
  • Lead or participate in local, county and regional coalitions that advocate for systems/policy changes in one or more of Ensuring Opportunity’s key policy areas, including economic security, housing, health, community safety, food security, immigrant protections, and budget justice.
  • Support the engagement and leadership of residents – as service consumers and/or community advocates – who are engaged with Ensuring Opportunity’s policy focus areas.
  • Nurture and maintain effective working relationships with allies, system leaders, policymakers, residents, and other stakeholders.
  • Report needs, outcomes, and trends to Ensuring Opportunity staff and Leadership Team.
• Communications and community engagement:
  • Work with Ensuring Opportunity’s Senior Director and with RCF Connects’ Director of Marketing & Communications to:
    • Develop strategies to support Ensuring Opportunity’s planned focus on challenging and changing common narratives around poverty and injustice in Contra Costa, with an over-arching goal of shifting community members’ and policy makers’ focus from individual behaviors to systemic failures and root causes.
    • Support communications strategies related to special projects, such as the Housing Summit and the 2020 Census.
    • Support and implement messaging strategies to educate and engage people who are “not yet in the tent” – but are still persuadable – regarding our stance that poverty can be addressed through system/policy shifts. Housing affordability will be a key focus area in the coming year.
  • Work with Ensuring Opportunity’s Senior Director to prepare regular updates to the Leadership Team, RCF staff, and external partners and stakeholders.
• Supervision:
  • Recruit, train and support the learning experience of program interns (high school/university).

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• At least three years of experience (paid position and/or as a community advocate) in one or more of Ensuring Opportunity’s policy areas, including housing affordability, health access, food security, education, community safety, budget justice, and/or immigrant protections.
• Commitment to achieving economic and racial equity for all residents of Contra Costa.
• Experience working in/with diverse communities.
• Demonstrated commitment to changing systems and policies in order to address root causes of poverty.
• Strong understanding of the intersectionality of the policy and systems issues that Ensuring Opportunity is working to address. Capacity to work within and across multiple issues and systems.
• Understanding of institutional and structural racism and bias, and the impacts on historically underserved and underrepresented communities.
• Cultural humility to work effectively with a team of ethnically and racially diverse colleagues and board members.
• Experience in building strong working relationships with diverse constituencies, such as public system leaders, low-income communities, service providers, elected officials, businesses, labor representatives, community-based and base-building organizations, faith communities, academic institutions, and regional and statewide policy organizations.
• Experience working effectively in coalitions.
• Systems thinker who can spot trends, connections, and opportunities.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills.
• Deep curiosity, open to learning, a quick study.
• Strong skills in meeting planning and facilitation.
• Self-starter, highly organized, ability to multi-task.
• Strong emotional intelligence and good judgment.
• Demonstrated ability to both lead and follow.
• Access to reliable transportation. (Significant local travel is required.)
• Ability to work some evenings and weekends.
• Competence with using computers and software, including the Microsoft Office suite.

Preferred:

• Lived experience with one or more of the policy areas/issues that Ensuring Opportunity addresses.
• Fluent in written and spoken Spanish.
• Policy generalist with capacity to deep-dive into specific subject areas when needed.
• Ability to research public policy trends, needs and solutions.
• Understanding of and experience in policy formation and advocacy at city, county and/or regional levels.
• Familiarity with issues, policies and politics related to housing affordability.
• Familiarity with Contra Costa County, and current contacts/networks in the county.
• Experience with strategic use of social media for advocacy, organizing and/or narrative change.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

• This is an exempt, full-time position.
• Salary range starts at $60,000; initial salary depends on experience.
• Competitive benefits package includes health insurance, paid time off, matching retirement contribution.
• Professional/leadership development opportunities.
• Flexible work schedule.
• A workplace culture committed to supporting good quality of life for employees.

TO APPLY

Position will remain open until filled. Please send cover letter and resume via email to:
Stacey Street, RCF ([email protected])

RCF Connects is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, physical or mental disability, gender identity or sexual orientation.