Senior Director of National Policy and Coalitions, National Roundtable on Ending Poverty

About Goodnation

Founded in 2017, Goodnation directs philanthropic resources toward projects that can transform our communities and country. We address the root causes of societal challenges by empowering changemakers and driving meaningful social impact as a trusted fiscal sponsor and innovator.​ So far, over $85M has been deployed through Goodnation to help reform systems, protect the vulnerable, and solve our world’s toughest challenges through vetted nonprofit organizations and unique initiatives.

At Goodnation, we believe ending poverty in America is possible — and the time to act is now. In June and November 2025, we convened nearly 400 leaders from all 50 states across two National Roundtables focused on ending poverty in America. We also conducted multiple surveys of more than 200 community funders representing over $1 billion in annual anti-poverty grantmaking. The message is clear: ending poverty will require community funder leadership, a shared strategy, stronger collaboration, and bold federal policy adoption.​

In addition to the National Roundtable on Ending Poverty, through comprehensive fiscal sponsorship support, Goodnation enables visionary programs to thrive.

Goodnation employs a structure termed a contract hybrid, consisting of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called the Goodnation Foundation, a social enterprise called Goodnation Philanthropy Advisors, and a 501(c)(4) called Goodnation Action. This role will be employed by Goodnation Philanthropy Advisors and work across all three entities.

The Role

Goodnation seeks a National Communities Director for the National Roundtable on Ending Poverty to lead the next phase of this work with community funders. Working closely with Goodnation’s Founder and President and a Planning Team of 25 community funders, this leader will translate the momentum from recent convenings and survey findings into a coordinated national policy agenda. Additionally, the Director will collaborate with Goodnation’s Senior Philanthropy Advisor, operational team and consultants. The Director will champion seven proven federal interventions that expand economic opportunity and unite community funders, advocates, and researchers around an eight-year blueprint for change.​

The National Communities Director will partner with the Planning Team and a growing coalition of community funders to create Working Groups focused on specific federal policies. Each Working Group will develop a Playbook integrating aligned giving opportunities with coordinated federal advocacy actions to advance that policy. Additionally, each Playbook will include innovative strategies to help people in communities directly, even as the coalition works to improve the overall system.​ The person in this role will be expected to spend 10-20% of their time traveling domestically.

What You’ll Do

Strategic Leadership

• Collaboratively lead the National Roundtable on Ending Poverty: Reporting to the Founder, co-develop and execute Goodnation’s comprehensive national community-integrated policy strategy to reduce poverty.
• Economic Security Measurement: Lead efforts to develop and implement the American Economic Security Index (AESI)—a national and local affordability measure quantifying the percentage of Americans whose incomes meet essential living costs, adjusted for geography. In partnership with the Living Wage Institute and other research organizations, this work will align Roundtable partners around a credible, media-ready metric of economic security.
• Organize Community Funders: Coordinate a growing network of community funders engaged in federal policy, organizing both the overall coalition and policy-specific Working Groups. Lead the effort to convert this engagement into sustained funding through aligned giving and coordinated advocacy initiatives.
• Aligned Giving: Collaborate with leaders in national community-based power building and federal policy advocacy to create an integrated set of grantmaking options for each policy priority identified by the Working Groups. These strategies will connect philanthropic investments directly to advocacy efforts, ensuring that funding supports both policy development and the community-led movements driving systemic change.
• Coordinated Advocacy Efforts: Harness the local power of community foundations to advance high-impact federal policies that expand economic opportunity, strengthen the social safety net, and support families. Build strong relationships with House and Senate Representatives, educate them on community needs and priorities, and leverage those relationships to advance the seven federal policy areas in partnership with leading national policy organizations.​

Coalition Growth & Engagement

• Coalition Expansion: Build the coalition to more than 1,000 community foundation members nationwide, including community foundations, community health foundations (health conversion funders), and other prominent community funders.
• Member Engagement: Develop and implement strategies to sustain momentum, encourage participation, and foster unity among a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Consensus Building: Facilitate constructive dialogue, identify shared goals, and align priorities across the coalition to drive coordinated action.​

Partnership Development

• Funders: Build and sustain strategic relationships with leading community funders to drive new resources to policy development and adoption and with national leaders to underwrite coalition efforts.
• Voice: Serve as a visible and credible public voice within the coalition and broader philanthropic space for evidence-based, collaborative anti-poverty initiatives at events and through philanthropic speaking engagements.​

Convening

• National Roundtables: Coordinate with Goodnation staff and the Planning Team to host semi-annual virtual national roundtable convenings.
• Regional and Virtual Engagements: Support year-round programming through webinars, virtual discussions, and regional meetups to strengthen network connections.​

Communications

• Stakeholder Communication: Maintain transparent and frequent communication with coalition members, partners, and funders through newsletters, briefings, and social media.​

Who You Are

• 5–10 minimum years of experience in philanthropy or the foundation space
• Experience leading or working within funder coalitions at the local, state, or national levels
• Experience in the policy and advocacy spaces, federal, state and/or local
• An entrepreneur who wants to drive scaled social change
• A bridge-builder who thrives in diverse coalition environments
• A communicator who can inspire community funders into action
• Deeply committed to sustainable, equitable, systemic change
• Strong attention to detail in a small team environment​

Interview Process

Goodnation will review applications on a rolling basis and plans to conduct four rounds of interviews between candidates and various members of the team before making a final decision.

Benefits & Paid Time Off

This full-time position will be hybrid remote for employees located in the NYC area, with every other Wednesday in the Financial District office. This schedule is subject to change. Other employees will be fully remote.

This role will be hired by Goodnation Philanthropy Advisors, with the option to be hired under Goodnation Foundation if there is a need for loan forgiveness.

Goodnation offers a comprehensive benefits package that supports the well-being and work–life balance of our team.

Benefits:

• Health
  • Medical, dental, and vision plans with generous employer contribution and a zero waiting period
  • Health Advocate
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account
• 401K plan with 4.5% employer match
• Stipends
  • Reimbursement for bike share membership
  • Monthly tech stipend of $100
• Time off
  • Unlimited PTO
  • Early closure on summer Fridays
  • 13 company holidays including Juneteenth, Veterans Day, and Indigenous Peoples’ Day
  • Four months paid parental leave