Director of Advocacy & Public Affairs

Who We Are

ANCOR, the leading voice in Washington for community-based providers of intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) services, is experiencing a period of unprecedented growth in both size and stature. Our growing community is composed of more than 2,500 private provider organizations, state provider associations, and community partners.

The ANCOR work environment is collaborative, fast-moving and mission-driven. We celebrate curiosity, value transparency and know that strong relationships are at the core of how we get things done.

What We’re Looking For

ANCOR seeks a Director of Advocacy & Public Affairs to report to the Vice President of Government Relations. This is a new position created in response to the organization’s continued growth. A member of the Government Relations team, the Director of Advocacy & Public Affairs is responsible for government relations-related communications and the mobilization of ANCOR members and other advocates to engage in grassroots activities that support the association’s legislative and regulatory efforts.

What You’ll Do

Reporting to the Vice President for Government Relations, this newly created position will oversee the execution of grassroots campaigns, further develop ANCOR’s grassroots and grasstops networks to support the association’s advocacy efforts, and work in close collaboration with ANCOR’s Communications team to amplify and elevate critical government relations issues through public affairs and digital outreach activities.

In this role, the Director of Advocacy & Public Affairs will:

• Collaborate closely with ANCOR’s Communications team to position government relations issues for greater visibility and mobilization through the drafting and placing of press statements, op-eds, talking points, social media content, and other external-facing communications.
• Guide the creation and oversee the execution of high-impact strategic advocacy campaigns through the setup, management, and marketing of events, fly-ins, calls to action, and external messaging.
• Track, monitor, and expand the engagement of ANCOR members and advocates in grassroots efforts to advance the association’s policy priorities.
• Serve as the lead staff liaison for ANCOR’s Grassroots Committee, including cultivating a pipeline of leaders within ANCOR's membership to facilitate the development and promotion of strategic opportunities to advance ANCOR’s policy priorities.
• Administer VoterVoice, ANCOR’s platform for online advocacy engagement, including broadcasting action alerts and maintaining advocate data.
• Create, maintain and promote advocacy tools for ANCOR membership, including toolkits, one-pagers, videos, story bank, and website content.
• Identify and educate team members about new trends and emerging strategies in grassroots advocacy.
• Deliver hands-on education and training to empower and support providers in their advocacy efforts.
• Work across internal departments to support government relations messaging in education, events, and membership development.
• Monitor, track, and report on key issues, activities, and outcomes related to ANCOR's advocacy efforts.
• Carry out other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

You’ll be a great fit for this role if you have:

• Exceptional written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated aptitude for developing persuasive messaging in support of policy initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to create and implement advocacy and grassroots strategies and messaging.
• Political acumen, strategic thinking, and ability to handle multiple and competing issues in a fast-paced environment.
• Sound judgment and ability to analyze situations and information.
• Proven ability to build networks and cultivate relationships among diverse populations.
• Ability to treat relationships with association members with sensitivity and thoughtfulness, recognizing the varying needs and perspectives of a diverse national member base.
• Ability to translate complicated legislative and regulatory concepts into easily to understand calls to actions.
• Exceptional understanding of effective advocacy tactics in federal issue campaigns.
• Willingness to travel as needed to lead trainings, workshops, and deliver presentations, and to attend advocacy-related conference and events.
• Experience with VoterVoice or similar advocacy software preferred.
• We encourage you to apply if you have:
• Bachelor’s degree in communications, public affairs, public policy, public administration or a similar field, or equivalent experience.
• 6-8 years of experience in issues management, strategic communications, public affairs, digital content development, advocacy, policy or related field.
• Previous knowledge and experience related to disability services specifically, or Medicaid-funded services in general, are preferred.

Growth & Development

This position offers the opportunity to grow into senior operational or cross-departmental roles over time, depending on your skills, interests, and the evolving needs of our organization.