Location
Washington, D.C.
About First Five Years Fund & First Five Action Fund
At First Five Years Fund* (FFYF), our mission is to ensure that all children, especially those from low-income families, have equitable access to a continuum of affordable, comprehensive, high-quality early care and education (ECE) to support their healthy development and help them reach their full potential. To achieve our mission, we work to sustain and expand bipartisan support for early learning, while identifying and advancing new and innovative ways to increase access to high-quality early childhood education for children from low-income families. With so many children from birth through the age of five living in poverty, there is a tremendous need for greater investments and policies that expand access to high-quality opportunities that lay the foundation for a healthy and productive future.
FFYF was founded to be singularly dedicated to early childhood issues – and, more specifically, federal ECE advocacy. FFYF is unique and effective because of our:
- Integration across the work
- We employ three core divisions of labor – communications and public relations, policy and partnerships, and government relations and outreach – that are intentionally integrated, each playing a central role.
- Proactive, bipartisan consensus-building
- We engage in strategic consensus-building and seek to guide productive conversations to protect the issue from polarization. We identify areas of agreement, as well as where to engage and push. We lead conversations with what is persuasive to entry in the moment, considering all relevant context. We meet people where they are and help them get to where we want them to be.
- Simultaneous short- and long-term approach
- We create opportunities for strategic victories – great and small – that build toward our long-term goal, while employing careful discipline to ensure short-term political or policy victories do not compromise long-term support and funding for early learning and care from birth through age five.
- Proactive advocacy while responsive to Washington’s current/changing agenda
- We strategically account for, and take advantage of, the external environment including the realities of the legislative schedule and the political environment.
In 2020, FFYF launched a 501(c)(4) social advocacy arm – First Five Action Fund (FFAF) – to provide additional support for ongoing federal-advocacy efforts by increasing our Hill-facing capacity, expanding our reach, and expediting our education of Congressional offices. To learn more, please visit www.ffyf.org.
*FFYF is an independent project of Start Early.
Position Summary
The Coalition & Campaign Manager will split time between FFYF and FFAF. Reporting to the Government Affairs Director of both organizations, the position is a versatile one and involves a variety of tasks, often simultaneously. The Coalition & Campaign Manager is responsible for executing the day-to-day activities of the Federal Child C.A.R.E. (Comprehensive, Accessible, Reliable, Early learning) Coalition, and related working groups, including coordinating with the Coalition’s partners, working closely with other FFYF and FFAF staff to develop content for the Coalition, and ensuring that the Coalition is effectively achieving its goals.
The Coalition & Campaign Manager also will work closely with the Government Affairs and Policy teams to advance FFYF and FFAF’s legislative priorities, positions, and goals.
Duties & Responsibilities
Federal Child C.A.R.E. Coalition
- Manage day-to-day activities of the Federal Child C.A.R.E. Coalition, and related working groups, including working across communications, federal policy, and government relations to maximize member organizations’ individual capacity and reach
- Foster collaboration among a broad group of organizations and related coalition
- Build, sustain, and strengthen relationships with external stakeholders and Coalition partners
- Ensure Coalition members are kept aware of current developments on the federal level, including successes of recent grassroot and grasstop efforts
- Create a feedback loop of information and intelligence from Congressional offices and delegations to drive strategic coordination and outreach
- Strengthen the advocacy capacity of the Coalition through professional development, convenings, and issue education
- Prepare agendas for, help lead, and take and circulate notes on all Coalition meetings and related working groups
- Draft and track resources, talking points, and outreach as necessary
- Serve as the main point of contact for all internal team members regarding collective Coalition details and goals
Federal Advocacy
- Work collaboratively with FFYF and FFAF colleagues across to develop and implement effective strategies for effective, dynamic, and creative advocacy campaigns to champion policies and positions on priority issues and achieve strategic goals
- Create robust advocacy campaign plans, including strategies and tactics, that will guide federal advocacy campaign programming
- Develop regular message communication to grassroots network that informs and motivates individuals to advocate and activate on priority issues
- Support the development, coordination, and execution of legislative campaigns through internal and external relationship building, communications, and trainings, including webinars, conferences, conference calls, and other presentations
- Provide project management of advocacy campaigns, assist in the development of legislative goals and strategies, and coordinate internal support including communications and research deliverables
- Prioritize competing priorities and needs with sound reasoning and creative solutions
- Prepare external communications and advocacy documents (i.e., action alerts, talking points, issue briefs, letters, talking points, and advocacy toolkits)
- Project-manage internal and external initiatives including events, paid media, research, and digital communications efforts
- Build and maintain effective relationships
Qualifications
- 5-7 years of professional experience in federal advocacy, lobbying, organizing, or campaign-related fields, ideally including experience with congressional offices or political campaigns serving in positions of responsibility such as campaign manager, press secretary, or legislative assistant
- Experience building partnerships with external stakeholders or managing coalitions a plus
- Effective convener and communicator, with both excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Strong interpersonal and problem-solving skills
- Ability to multi-task and effectively prioritize competing deadlines in a fast-paced environment
- Works well independently and as part of a team
- Attention to detail a must, including the ability to quickly and accurately proofread project documents
- Experience building and managing bipartisan coalitions and strategic relationships with diverse groups and interests
- Knowledge of the political and legislative process at the federal level
- Highly organized and attentive to accuracy, detail, and nuance
- A skilled time manager with the ability to manage both long- and short-term deadlines
- Strong passion for FFYF and FFAF’s mission, with a desire and ability to learn about issues relevant to children and families, and intellectual curiosity about the effects of federal policy on children and families
- Required to sit at a desk and focus on a computer screen for the majority of the day
- Frequently required to talk and listen to other individuals
- Must be able to use repetitive wrist, hand, and finger movements to operate computers and mechanical equipment regularly
- Must be able to lift objects up to 20 lbs. in weight
- Regular attendance is a necessary and essential function
Work Environment
General office conditions, with exposure to moderate noise levels.
Salary Range
Starting salary is $85,000, with the possibility of more commensurate with experience.
We recognize that few candidates might meet every single piece of knowledge, experience, or education listed here. Research shows that women and people of color, among many other historically excluded groups, are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. FFYF/Start Early is dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your qualifications don’t perfectly align with everything in the job description, we still encourage you to apply!