Senior Policy Analyst: Mental Health

Description

About Voices for Virginia’s Children:
Voices for Virginia’s Children champions public policies and legislation that achieve positive and equitable outcomes for young people. We envision a Virginia in which our systems center young people, ensuring their ability to realize their brightest potential is no longer predictable by race, socioeconomic status, or geography.
We are a talented team motivated by the significance and impact of our work. Voices values its employees, encouraging them to be their authentic selves, and works to maintain a flexible and supportive workplace. We create an environment where our team can thrive as it works to support a thriving Virginia.

DEIB Statement
We work to create a brave place that empowers others to be their authentic selves. We acknowledge and celebrate the differences within each other.
We recognize that the children and families of VA are unique in their backgrounds, beliefs, opportunities, and challenges. We strive to embody and embrace that in our work, believing that our unique identities allow us to create a brighter future for Virginia’s children. Through our efforts, we will engage diverse perspectives and inform equitable and just policy solutions that will transform children’s lives and may dismantle systems of oppression.
We are a group that learns and grows collectively. We value accountability and hold ourselves and others to high standards of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We also create opportunities for others to join us on this journey.

Values & Cultural Promises
• Accountability: We act ethically and are good stewards of the resources entrusted to us. We hold ourselves and others to a high standard of performance and ethics. We clearly outline expectations of outcomes. We commit to being true to our word and following through on our commitments. We accept responsibility for our actions and the effects they have on others and commit to always doing better next time.
• Collaboration: We actively seek opportunities to partner together to reach our goals. We work together through a sustainable pattern of sharing, creating, innovating, and learning. We recognize and utilize each person’s unique skills and viewpoints with the goal of complementing strengths and competencies to maximize our impact. We strive to create a balance of responsibilities, keeping equity at the center of our work.
• Excellence: We strive to be leaders in our areas by holding ourselves to the highest levels of learning and performance. We refuse to take shortcuts at the cost of quality or relationships. We devote ourselves to being trailblazers and disrupting the status quo.
• Honesty: We commit to being upright, candid, and sincere. We will be transparent and admit our mistakes. We will lean into hard conversations for the sake of growth. We choose to be authentic and to show up as our true selves in our conversations and interactions.
• Kindness: We are generous and considerate in our interactions with one another, showing genuine concern for one another. Our eyes are open to the needs of those around us and we are willing to lend a helping hand when needed. We speak and act in empathy, understanding that every person has their own challenges.

Position Summary
The Senior Policy Analyst leads Voices’ policy and advocacy work in the mental health domain for young people aged 0-24. Mental health policy and advocacy work is focused across systems that support young people in their homes, schools, and communities. The Senior Policy Analyst is committed to the mission, work, and values of Voices for Virginia’s Children, as well as to the principles of equity and inclusion.

Job Duties

• Serves as the policy lead in domains related to mental health, working collaboratively with engagement staff to create a multi-disciplinary policy agenda
• Creates and convenes an issue-specific policy network, provides support and technical assistance to partner coalitions and state workgroups to contribute to collective community impact and mobilize change
• Uses data to identify trends in children and youth mental health that inform policy, outreach, and advocacy response
• Participates in coalitions related to mental health and makes recommendations for Voices’ involvement in related issues
• Serves on relevant workgroups convened by state agencies and legislative commissions and provides policy analysis expertise
• Facilitates and mobilizes opportunities to support partner policy agendas and Voices unified policy agenda
• Produces policy briefs and other documents summarizing policy research findings and recommendations
• Fosters effective working relationships with officials in key departments of state government, legislators and legislative staff, and other state government policymakers
• Conducts training and presentations on mental health advocacy
• Conducts policy and research development in coordination with partner organizations to create policy proposals, briefs, products, and recommendations that impact the mental health outcomes of Virginia’s children and youth
• Works collaboratively with the communications team to capture and share stories through various internal and external outlets
• Fosters effective relationships with community members, key legislators, legislative staff, elected officials, appointed officials, local and state government policymakers, reporters, private and public organizations
• Represents Voices as an organization that prioritizes policy change through the identification of legislative champions and strengthened relationships
• Works collaboratively with the grants team to provide information and input on relevant grant proposals and reports
• Contributes to the development and implementation of the organization’s strategic plan in collaboration with the CEO
• Applies a trauma-informed & equity-informed lens to all responsibilities
• Actively participates in staff meetings and organizational-wide events
• Actively supports the goals of Voices overall by executing additional duties and responsibilities, as assigned

Skills Required

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education and knowledge preferred
• 5+ years of experience in policy and legislative advocacy or relevant fields required
• Advanced knowledge and experience in the child and youth mental health domain
• Ability to effectively analyze and interpret data
• Excellent writing and speaking skills
• Demonstrated ability to clearly communicate complex policy information to a variety of audiences
• Experience in understanding and addressing racial/ethnic disparities
• Experience with media/communications
• Ability to work independently, but also to collaborate effectively with colleagues in a team environment
• Strong conflict resolution skills

Additional Info

Submit the following in an email to megan@vakids.org with “Sr. Policy Analyst Application” in the subject line.
• Cover letter
• Résumé
• Three references (We will not contact references until later in the hiring process.)