Reach Out and Read National Senior Director of Public Policy

The Opportunity

As the Senior Director of Public Policy, you will have the unique opportunity to, in partnership with the Chief External Affairs Officer, lead Reach Out and Read’s federal and Affiliate advocacy efforts, working to navigate complex political landscapes across geographies, shape public policy, and create funding opportunities that will advance our mission to integrate early literacy and relational health into pediatric care. A key piece of this work will be to set strategies to implement Reach Out and Read’s vision, mission, and Public Policy Agenda at the federal and state levels. This position is central to our long-term vision of scaling our model through public investments and pathways, fostering relationships with policymakers, and equipping Affiliates with the tools to address local political environments.

This Senior Director will be a dynamic, strategic advocate for Reach Out and Read, skilled at maneuvering legislative and regulatory systems, identifying opportunities, building relationships and partnerships, and cultivating champions who will advocate for Reach Out and Read. A member of the External Affairs team, the senior director will split their time between federal advocacy and supporting Reach Out and Read Affiliates in advancing their policy objectives within the National framework. The ideal candidate will be based in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area (DMV) and will play a key role in expanding the impact of Reach Out and Read nationwide.

Your Key Responsibilities Will Include:

Federal Policy and Advocacy

• Lead policy efforts to promote relational health, early brain development, early literacy, and school readiness through pediatric primary care.
• With Chief External Affairs Officer, direct the work of DC-based government relations firm to develop and implement a federal policy strategy, including:
• Leverage National and Affiliate leadership to build relationships with members of Congress, congressional staff, and federal agency leaders and cultivate champions who will advocate for Reach Out and Read.
• Engage with key federal agencies to build strategies and initiatives that integrate Reach Out and Read into relevant programs and funding streams.
• Provide guidance on navigating ongoing changes in the federal landscape and leveraging emerging opportunities to secure funding for Reach Out and Read.
• Manage a web-based legislative action platform that enables our network to contact federal and state policymakers via email, social media, and calls regarding key bills or advocacy efforts, including:
  • With External Affairs team, create platform content, ensuring messaging aligns with Reach Out and Read’s priorities and resonates with stakeholders.
  • Track legislation and determine campaign timing to mobilize supporters and maximize policy impact. Target messages based on vote position, bill sponsorship, committee, and more.
• Create compelling cases for support via comprehensive briefing materials, fact sheets, data summaries, presentations, and talking points tailored to specific legislative meetings.

Affiliate Policy and Advocacy Support

• Guide and support Reach Out and Read Affiliates in:
  • Strengthening relationships with state policymakers, public health agencies, and education officials.
  • Identifying and pursuing state and local funding opportunities, including via Medicaid and commercial insurance coding/billing options, CHIP, and managed care contracts.
• Provide strategic counsel to Affiliates on navigating policy and advocacy challenges, including coalition building, legislative engagement, and leveraging state and local partnerships.
• Work with National Development team and Affiliates to build strategic partnerships with Medicaid directors and Managed Care Organizations to position Reach Out and Read as an evidence-based intervention, identify and pursue funding opportunities, and advance value-based contracts that align with MCO’s quality, population health, and member experience goals.
• Develop and grow policy resources, toolkits, and templates for Affiliates to use in advocacy.
• Plan and deliver training sessions, webinars, and technical assistance to build Affiliates’ capacity in public policy and advocacy.
• Collaborate with Affiliates to use web-based advocacy platform to support their policy initiatives, providing guidance on or support of software usage and campaign development in their respective geographies.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of the Reach Out and Read policy archive, a centralized resource capturing successful state-level advocacy strategies and public investment models. Analyze where learning, replication, and scaling may be possible.
• Collaborate with Reach Out and Read National and Affiliates to influence state MCO contracts, identify and pursue sustainable funding pathways, and cultivate MCO partnerships by sharing best practices, proven strategies, and successful case studies.

Other Functions

• Create opportunities to advance equity as a key force in supporting the healthy development of all children, including access to pediatric primary care and early childhood best practices.
• Create and manage systems to track information about key issues and policymakers.
• Form strategic partnerships with other national nonprofits in the early childhood ecosystem.
• Align messages and strategies among national partners to amplify our collective voice and influence decision-makers to prioritize early relationships, literacy, and education.
• Translate research and insights from clinical work into opportunities for advocacy.
• Mobilize Reach Out and Read staff, Affiliates, medical leadership, partners, and supporters to advocate to elected officials and policymakers in support of our policy priorities.

Qualifications and Experience

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. We’ll honor your lived and professional experience as key aspects of your candidacy for the role and prioritize applicants with experience dismantling the structural inequities that disproportionately impact children and families with traditionally marginalized identities. We are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below and are committed to doing this work from an equity lens:

• Commitment to increasing equity in opportunity and outcomes for children and to recognizing factors known to significantly impact differential outcomes for children, including race, ethnicity, language, and socio-economic status.
• At least 7-10 years of experience in federal and/or state public policy, government relations, or advocacy, preferably in early childhood, public health, or health policy. Experience working across the aisle and specifically in early childhood health highly desired.
• Experience with Medicaid financing structures, managed care contracting, or value-based care models; CHIP; MCOs; public health financing; and early childhood policy.
• Proven ability to develop and implement policy strategies at the federal and state levels. Expertise in assessing policy developments and translating them into actionable strategies.
• Demonstrated success lobbying on behalf of a nonprofit organization, including advancing legislation or securing public funding.
• Exceptional relationship-building skills with policymakers, government agencies, advocacy partners, and internal stakeholders.
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving, organizational, and project management skills required, including a track record of balancing and prioritizing multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to craft compelling policy materials.
• Ability to lead training and capacity-building efforts for stakeholders with varying levels of policy expertise.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, remote environment on tight deadlines.
• Team player used to working collaboratively and across multiple departments and geographies.
• Though the job is fully remote, applicants should be based in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia (DMV area) with the ability to attend in-person meetings and events as they arise.

Position Specifications

This is a full-time, exempt position that can be based in a home office. The person in this role must reside in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia. Occasional travel (approximately 4–5 times per year) is required to support affiliates, participate in team retreats, and attend one to two national meetings annually. Some overnight travel will be necessary to accommodate these meetings.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $137,000-155,000 and commensurate with experience. Reach Out and Read offers a robust benefits package including medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k) retirement plan with match, paid time off, and more.

How to Apply

Interested candidates are encouraged to promptly submit their cover letter and updated resume through our online portal and answer a few application questions. All applicants will receive a response to their application within two weeks of submission.

Commitment to Diversity

Reach Out and Read is committed to building an organization that embraces diversity, pursues equity, and fosters an environment of inclusion. Reach Out and Read sits at the intersection of health and education, uniquely positioned to play a critical role in addressing systemic disparities and inequities in the public health framework. Reach Out and Read strives to be an antiracist organization, using its influence to fight against social injustice by supporting a culture of learning, empowerment, equity, and a deep appreciation for the unique experiences that we each bring to our communities. And, we believe that changing the world begins with holding ourselves and our workplace to that same standard.

About Reach Out and Read

Founded in 1989, Reach Out and Read is a national non-profit organization working to ensure all families have the opportunity to create meaningful everyday moments through shared reading aloud and building relationships. By leveraging pediatric care to champion the positive effects of reading daily and distributing books, Reach Out and Read gives young children a foundation for success and reaches 4.2 million children across the county – half of whom identify as BIPOC and a quarter of whom come from low-income families.

Reach Out and Read’s tens of thousands of trained pediatric providers use books as a diagnostic tool during regular check-ups, and teach parents how to engage their child with a book to promote positive parent-child interactions during the rapid brain growth between birth and age five. The daily practice of reading aloud with a parent supports children’s literacy and math skill development, their social-emotional development, and prepares them for future success in school. Working together with our sites and providers, we leverage our three decades of expertise, build on our literacy foundations, and engage our shared networks as a catalyst for change, focusing on equitably strengthening and deepening our impact on the children, families, and communities we serve.

The Impact

• Reach Out and Read serves 4.6 million children and their families annually.
• More than 7.6 million new, developmentally appropriate books are given to children annually.
• 39,000 medical providers currently participate in Reach Out and Read
• Our peer-reviewed body of evidence demonstrates that Reach Out and Read parents are two-and-a-half times more likely to read regularly to their children, and that children experiencing Reach Out and Read show enhanced language development.

To learn more about Reach Out and Read, visit www.reachoutandread.org.

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Reach Out and Read is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, cultural heritage, ancestry, political belief, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability or veteran status. Reach Out and Read is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and we are committed to making special accommodations for your interview or work as a member of our team. If specific accommodations are needed, please email HR @ reachoutandread.org and our HR team will work to accommodate your needs.