Full-Time Director of Movement-Building and Field-Level Change
Job Description
Position Title: Director of Movement-Building and Field-Level Change
Reports to Chief Executive Officer
Position Status: Full-Time
Location: Flexible (remote)
Target Start Date: June 1, 2022
Salary Range: Starts at $110,000, pay commensurate with experienc
About All Our Kin
All Our Kin is a nationally recognized nonprofit organization that trains, supports, and sustains family child care providers to ensure that children and families have the foundations they need to succeed in school and in life. At All Our Kin, we support family child care providers at every stage of their development – from parents and caregivers to professional educators and business owners – using a strength-based, high-touch approach. Through our programs, family child care providers succeed as early childhood educators and small business owners; parents have access to high-quality, affordable child care, making it possible for them to enter into and remain within the workforce; and infants and toddlers gain the enriching experiences that prepare them to succeed in school and in life.
All Our Kin is recognized as a national model and has been proven through quasi-experimental studies to raise the quality, availability, and sustainability of family child care. All Our Kin first opened its doors in a housing development in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1999. Today, we serve over 1300 family child care educators in five Connecticut cities and New York City; we are training agencies in 21 states in our model, reaching 40,000 children a year; and through our policy initiatives, we are shaping a new vision for the future of family child care in the United States.
In this historic moment for child care, stakeholders including family child care educators, nonprofit agencies, funders, and policymakers are reaching out to All Our Kin to help inform and support local, state, and national advocacy efforts and policy strategies. All Our Kin’s deep and authentic relationships with family child care educators, as well as technical assistance partners, and our twenty years of experience providing direct service and developing policies to support family child care make us uniquely well-positioned to take on this critically important role. Through our field-building initiative, we will change the narrative about family child care and offer tangible pathways for policymakers and advocates to create the conditions in which family child care can thrive.
All Our Kin is preparing to launch a field-building initiative, which encompasses three main planks:
- Amplify educator’s voice: Elevate educators’ and families’ knowledge, skills, and expertise.
- Movement building: Forge strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders into a national movement focused on family child care.
- Create conditions: Provide advising and input on supportive policies, programs, and practices for family child care to states and communities across the country.
Our key strategic priorities include (1) Ensuring equitable access to high-quality care through eliminating unnecessary barriers to licensing, equitable distribution of resources to build the supply of family child care, and expanding families’ access to high-quality, affordable, culturally-responsive care; (2) Supporting high-quality family child care through strength-based professional development and quality improvement systems that are equitable, responsive to family child care educators’ needs and well-funded; (3) Sustaining high-quality family child care by funding the true cost of family child care quality, and adopting compensation scales that are comparable to those of public school teachers. and (4) Honoring family child care educators’ voices and supporting their leadership by respecting family child care educators’ expertise, collaborating with them to develop and implement new policies and programs, and creating continuous feedback loops between public agencies and family child care educators.
All Our Kin recognizes that diversity and opportunity are fundamental to children’s lives and to our work, and we seek to build a team that reflects the diversity we celebrate in our nation and communities. We welcome and encourage all qualified applicants who share our vision, as we want to engage all those who can contribute to our work and this mission. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply for this position, and we do not discriminate on any basis prohibited by applicable law.
What You Will Do
All Our Kin is seeking a dedicated, knowledgeable, and experienced leader to work closely with All Our Kin’s CEO and leadership team, as well as the policy, communications, and program teams, in designing and implementing the organization’s new field-building strategy.
Laying the Groundwork
- Working closely with the CEO, set goals and create a work plan for the field-building initiative, with strong input from the leadership, policy, and program teams, as well as family child care educators. This plan, which will be informed by All Our Kin’s strategic policy priorities, includes both the longer-term vision and short-term goals for local, state, and national actions. As part of this plan,
- Build on All Our Kin’s existing resources (relationships, knowledge base, position within the field) to increase its nationwide impact by supporting local and statewide partners to advocate for policies that create the conditions for family child care to thrive
- Identify key strategic partners at the state and national level; build on existing connections to deepen these relationships, and/or establish new relationships.
- Conduct a landscape analysis to identify new potential partnerships and opportunities.
Internal Coordination and Communication on field-building Strategy
- Facilitate internal communications, alignment, and clarity of decision rights within All Our Kin, across programs, sites, and focus areas, on field-building priorities and implementation strategies.
- Create systems for ongoing communication, coordination, and, where needed, rapid action on field-building activities across sites and workstreams within All Our Kin.
- Identify opportunities to support field-building work across All Our Kin’s other strategic priorities, including our direct service & technical assistance work.
Amplify Educator Voice
- Work with All Our Kin partners to identify and support opportunities for educator advocacy and leadership. in states where All Our Kin has a presence, either through direct service or technical assistance and at the federal level.
- Support the policy and communications teams in briefing family child care educators for advocacy and public speaking opportunities.
- Establish a strong relationship with family child care educators and create mechanisms for educators to give feedback and help to shape field-building strategies, priorities, and approaches.
- Support the communications team in expanding a curated collection or “story bank” highlighting the experiences of family child care educators and families; establish systems for organizing, structuring, and regularly updating the collection; contribute to an overarching strategy, led by the communications team, for amplifying and sharing these stories.
Movement-Building
- Forge a new national movement of organizations committed to ensuring that family child care is an essential part of national and state child care systems and that educators have a meaningful voice in the design and implementation of these systems. Participants may include, but will not be limited to: All Our Kin’s existing partners in twenty-one states; other groups that are founded and led by family child care educators; organizations that support and advocate on behalf of family child care; and sector-wide groups that are committed to advancing a state and local policy agenda that foregrounds family child care as part of a just, inclusive, and equitable child care system.
- Design systems for structuring the movement and effectively engaging multiple types of partners, as outlined above.
- Work with partners to develop a shared set of core principles and a shared policy agenda.
- Set up systems for regular communication and for calls to action. Schedule, plan and facilitate coalition meetings.
- Provide briefings and advocacy tools.
- Identify key national coalitions where All Our Kin’s voice would add value.
Create Conditions
- Support the policy team as they leverage and build on relationships and skills of All Our Kin staff and family child care educators to create opportunities for communication with state and federal policymakers.
- Coordinate cross-team meetings to share actions and tactics that will garner earned media coverage and drive policy change.
- Identify key states and localities where there is the potential for significant policy change, and partner with the policy, program, and communications teams to make this change a reality.
Who You Are
- Hold deep beliefs in and commitments to
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- Expanding equitable access to high-quality early care and education that meets the needs of both children and families
- Investing and valuing the unique strengths of family child care educators, and prioritizing their well-being
- Combatting systemic racism and injustice
- All Our Kin’s model and values
- Experienced and Able to
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- 8+ years of experience in coalition-building, field-building, grassroots organizing, and campaigning
- Build deep and authentic relationships with diverse stakeholders, including family child care educators, advocates, and policymakers
- Bring people together in support of a shared vision and agenda
- Balance competing priorities and make strategic decisions
- Coordinate and work across multiple teams within All Our Kin
- Communicate effectively with external partners
- Develop structures to manage complex projects involving organizational partners
- Work across several fields (policy, advocacy, narrative change) and levels of government (local, state, national)
- Leverage the skills, passion, and knowledge of multiple members of the All Our Kin team
- Facilitate decision making across multiple agencies
- Work across differences in identity and experience
- Negotiate and resolve conflicts
- Meet deadlines and inspire others to do the same
- Work independently as well as collaboratively
- Engage in overnight travel, once it is safe to do so
What You Can Expect
All Our Kin is an innovative, high-impact organization that empowers a growing number of family child care providers, children, and families to succeed. As we scale All Our Kin’s reach, we strive to maintain the collaborative, values-centered environment that is our hallmark and to continually invest in the backbone of our organization: our talented, mission-driven team.
All Our Kin is an equal opportunity employer and recognizes that diversity and opportunity are fundamental to children’s lives and to our work. We offer competitive salaries and benefits, a flexible schedule, and the opportunity to work with a team of skilled, motivated, and committed professionals.
Some of the benefits we offer to our staff members include, but are not limited to:
- Competitive salary commensurate with experience
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- PTO– Three weeks of annual paid time off as well as federal holidays and a December holiday (typically December 24 – January 1)
- Retirement Plan- All Our Kin offers a 403(b) plan
Check out All Our Kin’s careers page https://allourkin.org/
Vaccination Disclaimer
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AOK complies with all CDC, OEC, and ADA COVID guidelines and recommendations for educators, children, families, and employees. Masks are required at All Our Kin’s worksites. COVID 19 Vaccination or approved exemption and exemption protocol is required for all new hires before starting. Please feel free to contact the People Development and Equity Department at [email protected] if you have any questions.
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AOK complies with all CDC, OEC, and ADA COVID guidelines and recommendations for educators, children, families, and employees. Masks are required at All Our Kin’s worksites. Proof of COVID 19 Vaccination is required for all new hires before starting. Please feel free to contact the People Development and Equity Department at [email protected] if you have any questions.
How to Apply
Please apply and send resume and cover letter to Recruitee linked here