National Director, Public Affairs

Description Organization Overview

Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) envisions a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being, and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive. CDF’s mission is to build community, so young people grow up with dignity, hope, and joy. CDF core values are Justice, Compassion, Equity, Trust, and Love.

We serve and advocate for the largest, most diverse generation in America: the 74 million children and youth under the age of 18 and 30 million young adults under the age of 25, with particular attention to those living in poverty and communities of color. CDF partners with policymakers, aligned organizations, and funders in this service. The Children’s Defense Fund is the only national, multi-issue advocacy organization working at the intersection of child well-being and racial justice by wielding the moral authority of programmatic proximity and community organizing to inform public policy.

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The primary responsibility of this national leadership position is stewarding enterprise-wide efforts in policy advocacy, thought leadership, strategic communications and narrative building regarding CDF’s mission, vision, and strategy. As CDF seeks to set a standard for child-wellbeing nationwide and build the movement to achieve it, the National Director role is a critical strategic though leader toward these ends. The National Director supports the Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer in development of multi-layered, multi-year strategy and workplans to support child-centered, racial equity-informed strategic communications and public policy agendas.

This leader manages the Public Affairs division, including the policy and communications teams. The secondary responsibility of the National Director is supporting the work of the CDF Action Council 501(c)4 platform. ideal candidate will have a successful track record of results in public policy and strategic communications and possess astute, contemporary political and narrative analyses grounded by commitment to children and families.

• Set strategic direction for CDF’s long-term national public affairs narrative, brand promise and policy strategy alongside Vice President & Chief Program Strategy Officer, with input from Directors of Policy and Communications

• Lead cross-functional team toward high stakes state policy, federal policy, and national communications goals for the good of CDF’s mission

• Collaborate with President & CEO and Vice President/Chief Program Strategy Officer to align governance for the CDF Action Council with organizational objectives.

• Align programming and strategic impact with peer CDF programming through Leadership Development and Organizing and Child Policy Training Institute (CPTI) teams

• Collaborate with National Director of CDF CPTI and Alex Haley Farm to identify policy research and/or narrative strategies to align with CDF CPTI National Training Programs and Haley Farm convenings.

• Develop annual workplans to translate organizational goals for public policy into a functional departmental workplan, with clear metrics and milestones, while tracking and reporting scorecard results to senior management.

• Integrate strategic communications with community organizing, direct service, and public engagement efforts.

• Deepen trust, capacity and presence with key partners and constituencies through active coalition membership and leadership.

• Manage protocols and policies for policy advocacy, strategic communications, and lobbying.

• Set performance outcomes and engagement metrics to monitor progress and adjust strategies.

• Remain current and serve as in-house expert on leading and promising public policy and communications strategies, augmenting expertise of existing teams.

• Work with Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer to develop and manage annual departmental budget to support functional departmental workplan, ensuring achievement of revenue and spending goalsp>

• Set goals, create work plans, and facilitate performance improvement for Public Affairs Team

• Develop and…