Description

SUMMARY

Rose Community Foundation seeks a Policy and Advocacy Program Director to develop and implement strategies in position-taking, grantmaking, and partnership-building that advance the Foundation's policy and advocacy work across its four impact areas of Community Wellbeing, Education and Economic Opportunity, Health and Jewish Life. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker, skilled executor, and relationship builder with a passion for philanthropy as a tool to advance systems change.

POLICY AND ADVOCACY AREA

Rose Community Foundation weighs in on systems and policies that impact our region, whether as a

thought leader, convener, advocate or funder. The Foundation takes positions on legislation, ballot measures and other policy efforts and dedicates grant funding to organizations that leverage policy and advocacy tools to strengthen communities, expand opportunities, and address critical needs in Greater Denver and beyond. As a nonpartisan organization, Rose Community Foundation engages with a broad range of policy and ideological perspectives in aiming to support values-aligned partners and positions. The Foundation's Jewish roots and longstanding commitment to supporting the local Jewish community inform all of our work, and we combat antisemitism, anti-Jewish misinformation, and hate/harm/exclusion in any form against any community.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Policy and Advocacy Program Director helps to set and operationalize strategic direction for the Foundation's policy and advocacy work at the local, state and federal levels. Working with the Foundation's Community Impact Team, President & CEO, policy and advocacy committee, and board of trustees, the Director advances recommendations for grantmaking and position-taking.
• Direct position-taking and policy/advocacy grantmaking that advances the Foundation's goals in our four impact areas - Community Wellbeing (including fiscal policy work), Education and Economic Opportunity, Health, and Jewish Life - in alignment with established priorities and strategic objectives and in partnership with colleagues overseeing these impact areas.
• Advance recommendations for the Foundation to take positions on relevant legislation, ballot measures and other policy efforts - analyzing policy and political considerations within the context of the Foundation's mission, values and partnerships, managing the Foundation's state lobbyist and administering grant funding for select campaigns.
• Serve as lead staff person for the Policy & Advocacy Committee and related partner funds and initiatives and help to prepare policy-related memos and presentations for the board of trustees.
• Manage grants and relationships within the policy and advocacy portfolio, serving as the principal point of contact for aligned grantees and prospective applicants and developing grant opportunities, including applications, scoring rubrics, and evaluation.
• Identify and pursue opportunities to further the Foundation's strategic goals through methods beyond grantmaking including by convening partners, engaging donors, fundraising, impact investing, connecting organizations, offering or facilitating capacity-building and professional development opportunities for grantees, elevating community voices, and providing thought leadership
• Cultivate and steward relationships with aligned funders, locally and nationally. Learn about and stay up to date on trends in the field, models and best practices.
• Monitor federal tax policies related to community foundations, charitable giving and philanthropy - engaging with relevant peer organizations, the Foundation's federal lobbyist, colleagues in Philanthropic Services and the Foundation CEO to determine and help execute our engagement/advocacy/education strategies.
• Monitor and manage compliance with Foundation 501(h) election reporting and thresholds.
• Provide as-needed support/consultation to Philanthropic Services and/or donor-advised fundholders on questions related to grantmaking to policy/advocacy organizations.

SUPERVISORY

The Policy and Advocacy Program Director reports to the Chief Impact Officer. The Policy and Advocacy Program Director is part of the Community Impact Team and, while they do not manage any direct reports, the team benefits from support from the Community Impact Coordinator and Grants Management team.

Requirements

Required
• A minimum of eight years of experience in nonprofit or mission-driven policy work (lobbying, policy coalitions, position taking, etc.)
• Strong working knowledge of Colorado's policy and advocacy environment, preferably in the Foundation's areas of impact
• Ability to analyze and evaluate grant applications, nonprofit budgets and financial statements, as well as comfort with quantitative and qualitative data analysis for program evaluation
• Excellent organizational, project management, and time management skills with the ability to prioritize and track against multiple deadlines and deliverables with attention to detail and accuracy
• Proven ability to work autonomously to manage a significant portfolio of work, while also collaborating effectively as part of a team
• Strong public speaking and written communication skills with the ability to craft and deliver presentations, write clear memos and summaries, and adjust messaging for different audiences
• Technologically adept with proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) and the ability to quickly learn new systems and technology, including customer relationship management (CRM) databases and grants management systems
• Willingness to travel within the seven-county region for meetings and events, including evenings and weekends, and to occasional out-of-town conferences (the hired candidate must reside in the Greater Denver region).

Preferred
• Bachelor's or associate degree or equivalent life and work experience
• Strong working knowledge of Colorado's philanthropic sector
• Experience managing grantmaking processes at a foundation and/or applying for grants on behalf of a nonprofit
• Experience deploying a range of grantmaking tools and approaches (grants, capacity building, convenings, collaborative funding, Program-Related Investments)
• Proficiency with designing and facilitating community engagement methods (e.g., stakeholder convenings, focus groups, surveys) to inform policy and/or philanthropic strategy