Civic Advocacy Manager

Civic Advocacy Manager

Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, widely recognized as one of New York's premier human services providers, is a settlement house founded in 1894 that provides an extensive array of effective and integrated services—social, educational, health, housing, mental health, nutritional and fitness—which significantly improve the lives of 16,000 people each year, ages 3 to 100-plus, on the East Side of Manhattan and across New York City. Our clients include older adults, unhoused and formerly unhoused adults, children and families, adult learners and more.

The Neighborhood House is expanding our policy, advocacy and community engagement efforts with a Civic Advocacy Manager, who will collaborate with our senior leadership and clients to engage elected officials, local leaders and other partners around civic issues critical to our community. Working closely with and reporting to the Director of Institutional and Civic Engagement, the Civic Advocacy Manager will assist with developing and managing an organizational policy and advocacy agenda that will focus on creating positive change in the systems that directly affect our clients and other low-income New Yorkers.

The Civic Advocacy Manager must be committed to the mission of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and have a passion for advocacy to improve the lives of our clients. The Civic Advocacy Manager will work across multiple human services disciplines, from education to social work to housing, and with diverse populations including young families, older adults, English language learners and many more. The goal of this position will be to strengthen and unify our organizational policy and advocacy efforts to better position the Neighborhood House to work toward long-term change on behalf of our community. The Civic Advocacy Manager will work both independently and collaboratively with internal and external key stakeholders, our clients and neighbors, government leaders and local elected officials, and select coalitions as we advocate for laws, regulations and policies that will improve our clients' lives and enhance our community's prosperity.

The Civic Advocacy Manager will begin by focusing primarily on three of the most crucial issues affecting our clients and community:

• Healthy aging and strategies to support service and resource expansion to achieve critical outcomes on behalf of older adults
• Food insecurity and healthy food initiatives to increase nutritious food access for all New Yorkers, encourage local procurement for government-funded meals and make New York's food systems more equitable and sustainable
• Government benefits and housing issues to ensure that New Yorkers have reliable, continuing access to essential benefits, housing subsidies and related programs

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Work in partnership with leadership to develop, manage and implement a growing policy agenda that seeks to positively impact systems directly affecting our clients and other low-income New Yorkers
• Act as an ambassador and representative of the organization and its mission, demonstrating our values through thoughtful engagement with community partners, elected officials and policymakers
• Advocate for the advancement of our policy agenda at the state, local and federal levels and support our organizational lobbying efforts
• Develop and draft policy publications, reports, testimony and regulatory comments to advance our advocacy agenda
• Translate internal program and services data into high-level messages and visualizations that have meaning for a broad audience
• Conduct policy research and summarize findings in reports for internal use
• Develop advocacy and campaign materials aimed at educating and mobilizing various communities and stakeholders
• Identify and work toward important improvements, expansions and funding opportunities for the organization
• Complete, submit and track applications for discretionary funding and government grants
• Maintain internal systems tracking outreach to and partnerships with elected officials and other government partners
• Cultivate relationships with diverse partners, including advocacy coalitions, umbrella groups, community-based organizations and individuals, in order to maximize our impact
• Represent the organization at events such as legislative hearings, lobbying days, conferences, partner organization fundraisers and more, including events held outside of regular work hours
• Work collaboratively with program teams to leverage capacity for social innovation and increase systemic impact in our sector
• Complete all other responsibilities and duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Minimum of three years' experience in public policy advocacy, public policy research, community affairs, legislative and local government experience, or community-based advocacy work required
• Interest and strong working knowledge of human services programs and commitment to social justice
• Excellent oral and written communication, research, analysis, and presentation skills
• Excellent writing and editing skills, with proven ability to describe complex policy issues clearly and accurately for different audiences
• Project management skills to work both independently and as part of a team to execute assignments and policy strategy
• Interpersonal and communication skills necessary to work directly with a wide range of key stakeholders, including clients, government agencies, elected officials, nonprofit partners, advocates, policy experts and other individuals and organizations in our community

Applicants should include a Cover Letter and a relevant writing sample.

What We Offer:

• Comprehensive benefits package
• Extensive paid time off – 25 days' vacation time, 13 holidays and substantial sick time
• Paid parental leave for all staff
• Professional development opportunities: trainings, lectures and more
• Free life insurance: 3x annual salary
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts for Medical, Dependent Care and Parking/Mass Transit
• Supplemental Insurance Coverage (Accident, Hospital and Critical Illness)
• Staff events and parties including Film & Dinner nights, bowling parties, baseball games, food trucks, holiday parties, parties on our Green Roof, ice cream socials and much more
• State-of-the-art fitness center, gym and swimming pool
• Staff fitness classes, swimming lessons and lap swim
• PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness) Eligible Employer
• The best colleagues in New York!

All individuals, as a condition for employment by Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, are required to undergo a pre-employment background check. Certain positions require more extensive background checks to comply with applicable laws.

At Lenox Hill Neighborhood House we value respect, diversity and integrity. We are an equal opportunity employer. Lenox Hill Neighborhood House prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. Lenox Hill Neighborhood House conforms to the spirit as well as to the letter of all applicable laws and regulations. The policy of equal employment opportunity (EEO) and anti-discrimination applies to all aspects of the relationship between Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and its colleagues.