Director of Government Relations
Company: Youth Guidance
Location: Chicago
Posted on: October 19, 2024
Job Description:
About Our Organization
Youth Guidance creates and implements school-based programs that
enable children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education,
and ultimately, to succeed in school and in life. We believe that
no matter what challenges a young person faces, they are more
likely to succeed when they have caring adults in their lives. Our
highly trained staff guides kids to overcome the life and academic
challenges facing the youth. We meet kids where they are -
physically and emotionally - to help them focus on their education,
make positive choices, and remain on the right path toward life
success.
Founded in 1924 and celebrating 100 years of impact this year,
Youth Guidance is a leading provider of outcomes-driven programs
serving more than 18,000 youth around the country. For more
information, visit .
About You:
You have the passion and desire to work in a dynamic non-profit
organization, you have the talent and skills to perform the job,
and now you're looking for just the right opportunity. At Youth
Guidance you'll have the chance to use your passion and skills
working alongside a team of talented individuals who share the same
values.
Position Summary: The Director of Government Relations is
responsible for building and managing relationships with elected
officials and public sector staff including the State of Illinois;
Cook County; Lake County; City of Chicago, and Chicago Public
Schools. The Director represents Youth Guidance as a member of the
senior leadership team at external meetings with government
partners and elected officials. This role is a hybrid remote
position located in Chicago.
Essential Duties/Responsibilities:
- Builds and manages relationships with elected officials and
other public sector leaders/staff to establish highly effective
champions for Youth Guidance within state, county and local
governments.
- Oversees and manages government relations efforts to mobilize
public resources in support of the agency's services.
- Collaborates with contract lobbyist(s) to craft & execute a
government relations strategy that ensures ongoing public sector
investment in Youth Guidance programming.
- Engages in the following, in collaboration with contract
lobbyist, to achieve the goals above:
- Plans and executes site visits to Youth Guidance programming
with targeted lawmakers to develop strong champions for our
work.
- Develops targeted messages, fact sheets and/or issue briefs to
advance Youth Guidance's perspective as a leading practitioner
within the public sector. Shares messages and content developed for
a public sector audience with the Development & Communications
teams to support utilization of these messages across the
organization for other audiences as appropriate.
- Identifies media strategies that will influence public sector
leaders and collaborates with contracted and internal Mar/Com
support to execute these targeted communications
strategies.
- Plans an annual government relations calendar that prioritizes
critical activities with lawmakers & aligns with budget processes
during key periods.
- Tracks developments within relevant policy areas (education,
mental health, positive youth development, etc.), which could
impact Youth Guidance. Identifies associated areas of opportunity
or challenge and develops an approach to advance Youth Guidance's
mission within the policy context.
- Keeps Executive Management Team, Sr. Director of External
Affairs and appropriate Senior Program Leadership Team members
informed & engaged in government relations strategy, tactics and
progress.
- Serves as liaison for the Government Affairs Taskforce within
the Board's Committee structure. Prepares government affairs
reports for quarterly Taskforce meetings and board meetings. Shares
government affairs strategy, tactical plans and opportunities for
taskforce and leadership volunteers (board, advisory councils) to
support with lawmaker outreach.
- Creates and manages a system to track staff engagement in
community-level coalitions and with elected officials so that Youth
Guidance is engaging effectively, identifies & addresses gaps in
community-level engagement.
- Prioritizes major opportunities and engages collaboratively
with program, finance and evaluation departments in collaboration
with Director of Government Funding & Partnerships to seize on
government funding opportunities.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications
Education/Experience/Training
- Master's degree in public policy, public administration, social
work or related field preferred. Minimum of ten (10) years of
relevant experience and a demonstrated track record in government
relations.
- Government relations experience required.
- Strong computer skills (Microsoft Office, Publisher).
Skills/Abilities
- Highly responsive to key public sector partners and facile in
communicating with multiple stakeholders.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to present a positive image, develop relationships and
communicate mission effectively with diverse stakeholders.
- Highly organized, with proven ability to handle multiple tasks,
handle pressure and meet deadlines.
- Strategic approach to advancement of mission, with a keen eye
for ensuring alignment of external activities with Youth Guidance's
mission and growth plan.
- The ability to work well both independently and within a
team.
- Commitment to cultural sensitivity and respect for
differences.
- Commitment to the continuous improvement of service quality and
the organization's mission.
Core Competencies
- Communication: Uses effective written and oral communication
with internal staff, teams, and community served; demonstrates
empathy and listening.
- Client orientation: Recognizes needs of diverse stakeholders
and approaches relationships with a service orientation, to
ultimately maximize the impact.
- Equity mindset: Understands and is committed to goals of
equity, consistently brings an equity mindset to the organization's
work and workplace.
- Growth mindset: Views growth as important for personal and
professional development; seeks out opportunities to expand skills,
even if the change is required, demonstrates curiosity and
eagerness to learn.
- Ownership and quality of work: Effectively manages own work,
and work of the team to ensure delivery of high-quality
work.
- Supervisory skills: Effectively manages and develops
others.
- Mission drive: Demonstrates commitment to the mission of the
organization as a whole and alignment with organization values.
Leadership Core Competencies (Supervisor & above roles)
- Continuous improvement-minded: Takes initiative to identify and
execute strategies and processes to continuously improve one's
leadership to strengthen organization's overall impact.
- Develops and motivates others: Motivates others and supports
their development through strong coaching and mentoring.
Effectively stewards self and others through both small and large
scale change.
- External representation and relationship building: Represents
the organization among external stakeholders, and builds strong,
trusting relationships with stakeholders.
- Leads with vision: Has an inspiring vision for the future of
the organization, beyond the status quo, and communicates it
effectively; leads with courage and willingness to take risks in
service of impact.
- Manages with data: Understands data; analyzes data and
identifies insights and implications.
- Strategic thinking and resource management: Considers the
future of the organization proactively and responsively; weighs
diverse inputs to inform strategies; identifies innovative
opportunities when relevant; makes and communicates decisions that
effectively balance tradeoffs between financial sustainability and
impact.
- Team building: Builds strong relationships with teams and
colleagues; fosters effective teams and collaborative
interactions.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those
that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the
essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be
made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the
essential functions.
Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described here are
representative of those an employee encounters while performing the
essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be
made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the
essential functions.
- This job operates in a professional office environment, school
setting, and working with the public.
- Occasional local and national travel.
DEIB Statement
At Youth Guidance, we understand that diversity, equity, inclusion
and Belonging (DEI&B) are fundamental to realizing our vision
of bright and successful futures for all young people. We celebrate
the diversity of youth and staff and recognize them as empowered
leaders, problem-solvers, and experts of their own experiences. At
the same time, we acknowledge that many systems and institutions
meant to support youth and staff are inequitable and unjust.
As such, we are committed to advancing DEIB through our words and
our actions, both internally and externally, by:
- Strengthening cultural competence as well as policies,
practices, and organizational structures that foster belonging and
leverage the unique backgrounds and talents of staff.
- Offering youth-centered programs that are accessible and
responsive to people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds,
abilities, sexual identity, gender identity and expression,
language, and cultural and religious beliefs and
practices.
- Influencing systems that youth, their families, staff, and
communities are impacted by, such as schools, organizational
networks, governmental bodies, researchers, and the funding
community, to apply approaches that embrace DEIB in addressing the
needs and supporting the aspirations of young people and those
around them.
Youth Guidance is an equal opportunity employer and proudly values
diversity, equity, inclusivity, and belonging. Youth Guidance does
not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual
orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable
law and is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that
values diversity along all of these lines. People of all
backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
EEO/M/F/D/V/SO
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Keywords: Youth Guidance, Oak Park , Director of Government Relations, Executive , Chicago, Illinois
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