Policy Director

Position: Policy Director
Reports to: Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)
Pay Range: $140,000 – $165,000

Your Career Opportunity

As the Policy Director for MEDA,  you will supervise a three-person team leading the development of a comprehensive policy platform for the Latino community encompassing jobs, housing, education, and small business. Your team will organize residents and advocate for this policy platform in coalition with partners at the local, state, and federal levels, with the goals of reversing legacies of discrimination and achieving an equitable recovery. 

About MEDA

Rooted in the Mission and focused on San Francisco, MEDA’s mission is to strengthen low- and moderate-income Latino families by promoting economic equity and social justice through asset building and community development.

MEDA is advancing strategies to create asset building opportunities for San Francisco’s Latino families and in the Mission District through: (1) our core, integrated Asset Building Programs related to housing, financial capability, workforce development, business development and tax preparation; (2) serving as a backbone agency to advance educational achievement and family economic success through the Mission Promise Neighborhood community collaborative; (3) creating and preserving affordable housing and commercial real estate in the Mission District through Community Real Estate; (4) providing access to capital and innovative financial products through the Adelante Fund;  (5) Policy & Advocacy efforts that support our mission, and (6) launching the Equitable Recovery Institute at MEDA as a resource to meet the local, regional, state, and federal needs for an equitable recovery.

Duties & Responsibilities

Supervise a Senior Land Use Policy Analyst and a Community Organizer, and as a Policy team, lead the development of a comprehensive policy platform encompassing jobs, housing, education, and small business to ensure an equitable recovery for the Latino community in San Francisco, informed by MEDA directors, clients, and tenants, as well as community partners. This platform will support cultural placekeeping efforts and community-academic and wealth-building goals.

Supervise the Policy team in coordinating MEDA’s annual budget and policy request to the City of San Francisco, working with MEDA directors and in partnership with community coalitions such as the San Francisco Latino Parity and Equity Coalition and the Latino Task Force. This will include working with a collaborative of fifteen Mission Promise Neighborhood partners and Mission Promise Neighborhood parents to make yearly recommendations for City agencies to shift budget decisions from siloed funding streams to more holistic, neighborhood-based, collective-impact initiatives. 

Work with the Policy team and MEDA program directors to ensure that 100 Mission Promise Neighborhood residents, parents, and promotoras/es are engaged in housing advocacy at community hubs to increase the number of families in permanently affordable housing at MEDA’s new developments and future sites. This target of 100 participants is to be achieved over a two year period. These residents, parents, and promotores will also advocate for financial capability, business corridor, and workforce policies and resources in alignment with MEDA departments. The Community Organizer, under the Policy Director’s leadership will implement a Leadership Academy for residents to achieve these goals.

Work with the Policy team to develop and staff a MEDA Policy Committee, in collaboration with MEDA departments,made up of leaders from within MEDA client, parent and family base to accomplish the following:

  • Analyze key issues; research potential solutions; prioritize and draft policy; and manage winning campaigns;
  • Monitor and connect leaders’ interests to support community advocacy of local, state and federal policies that will impact low to moderate income Latina/o families in the Mission;
  • Use Mission Promise Neighborhood’s Community Report Card to bring community members together to review data collected through the report card app to inform existing and develop new policy priorities as needed. 
  • Prioritize ways in which families impacted will identify and nurture critical and key relationships with federal, state and local public policy officials, coalitions, organizations and community leaders;
  • Work with leaders to prepare policy statements, talking points and factsheets for use by MEDA staff, clients, allies and public officials to increase influence and advance policies as prioritized by community process.

In partnership with MEDA leadership, develop a framework for MEDA to operationalize its 501c4 organization, including setting up a working committee and Board, outlining guidelines for engaging in campaigns, and preparing operational procedures.

Work with the MEDA fundraising team to ensure resources are secured for the above work. Work with the MEDA Evaluation team to ensure data systems are implemented to capture program outcomes and drive program decisions. Work with MEDA Finance to develop the Policy program budget. Work with the Compliance team to ensure systems for reporting on grants, tracking lobby activities, etc, are implemented across the org. Develop annual Policy team action plan, monitor progress, and prepare board reports.

The Policy Director will report to the Chief Strategy Officer and be part of MEDA’s new Equitable Recovery Institute, which is comprised of the following teams: Policy, Promise City, and National Partnerships. The Equitable Recovery Institute shares best practices with other community-based organizations and works in coalition with groups working to reverse legacies of discrimination and achieve equitable recovery through cradle-to-career, place-based investments. Through this work, MEDA is intentional about being an ally and working in coalition with allies across historically low-income and immigrant communities, and communities of color. 

QUALIFICATIONS:

B.A. and 5 years experience in organizing, political activism, training, leadership development or community development. Minimum 5 years of experience in organizing and campaign development and implementation.

  • Strong background in collective impact, systems alignment, cradle-to-career, equitable development, or social determinants of health frameworks;
  • Strong background and experience in community organizing, advocacy and leadership development;
  • Ability to navigate complex policies or relationships with attention to detail.
  • Strong writing and communication skills, including the ability to distill complex topics into accessible and compelling formats;
  • Experience working with a diverse group of agencies, coordinating services and communication;
  • Committed to and experience with collaborative, cross-sector partnerships;
  • Bilingual Spanish/English required.

TO APPLY:

Please click on the following link and complete the application: https://medasf.bamboohr.com/careers/144