Advocacy & Policy Strategist

About the Praxis Project

The Praxis Project is a values-driven, national nonprofit organization that seeks to improve health justice through partnerships to build community power and increase authentic collaboration and engagement. Praxis believes strongly that organized communities are critical partners in the struggle to create healthy communities. Praxis works with over 200 diverse grassroots groups across the United States that influence local policy, mobilize communities, and strengthen programs and organizations to improve health, equity, and racial justice. Praxis works to enable local efforts to build community power through training, technical assistance, capacity-building, hosting spaces for building relationships and learning, as well as comprehensive fiscal sponsorship. Our capacity-building programming is focused on partnerships that actively advance Praxis’ mission to build healthy communities by transforming the power relationships and structures that affect our lives. For more information, please visit www.thepraxisproject.org.

About the Oregon Health Equity Alliance (OHEA):

OHEA is one of nine Regional Health Equity Coalitions (RHECs) in the state of Oregon. OHEA staff members are staff of our fiscal sponsor, though our work is independent of the fiscal sponsor.

OHEA is a people of color-led collaborative, organized to center and uplift the wisdom of our communities of color through racial justice-informed health equity policies and practices, as part of the movement to dismantle white supremacy and shift the imbalance of power. OHEA is guided by four culturally specific organizations: the Native American Youth and Family Center, Future Generations Collaborative, Micronesian Islander Community Organization, and IRCO Africa House.

We focus our work in three areas, listed below:

Advocacy: We recognize that in order to achieve systems change, we must shift public policy. We do so in three ways: leg agendas, local policy, and support for a strong racial justice agenda.

Convener: We convene and build the capacity of anti-racist organizations towards a collective health equity vision. We believe community cohesiveness is key to fostering health and believe and acknowledge racism and colonialism as social determinants of health.

Knowledge Center: We recognize that in order to remove barriers to health equity and shift the balance of power to more directly lift up community voice, we must disrupt processes and systems that oppress our communities. We believe in developing a community expertise model (prioritize and organize those who face the greatest barriers)

Position Summary

The Advocacy and Policy Strategist is responsible for leading OHEA’s policy work in support of OHEA’s broader mission to advocate for racial justice-informed health equity policies and practices in Oregon. The strategist focuses on ensuring our policy strategies, advocacy outreach, and policy agenda are accessible and grounded in the wisdom of our partner organizations and communities most impacted by health disparities. This position will represent OHEA to community members and partners, in coalitions, and policy makers, and other local and statewide decision makers.

This position will:

• Lead OHEA’s state legislative agenda
• Convene OHEA’s monthly Policy Committee
• Track and inform policy priorities and strategies via participation in coalitions, campaigns, advisory meetings, and workgroups
• Outreach & build relationships with elected officials and decision-makers, regionally and statewide, advocating for OHEA priorities
• Draft and provide testimony, track bills, and budgets, including implementation of past policies
• Create accessible policy and advocacy updates for community education and organizing

This is a part-time exempt (36 hours per week), benefits-eligible position, with a general work schedule of Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm PST. The salary range for this position is $70,000 - $85,000 per year, and the final salary will be based on experience.

Duties and Responsibilities

Advocacy & Policy 45%

• Lead OHEA’s state legislative agenda priorities every legislative session, which includes connecting with elected officials, tracking bills, interpretation of impact, and sharing out in an accessible way to our communities as a way to educate on potential policies and laws.
• Build relationships with elected officials and decision makers, and track policy work in our three regional counties, Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington, and legislative districts.
• Organize events that support community engagement and skill building related to policy and advocacy strategies, including our annual Where Are They Now legislative event.
• Track implementation of past policy and advocacy.
• Create accessible policy and advocacy updates and communications or community outreach and organizing.
• Work closely with the Director to develop policy strategy to strengthen Oregon’s health environment.
• Manage OHEA’s policy work with a focus on accessibility, including agenda building, member and community engagement, and policy communications
• Track and lobby on behalf of OHEA's legislative priorities as needed, including coordinating testimony support

Coalition Building 35%

• Convene OHEA’s monthly policy committee to set coalition policy priorities, collectively strategize, and share resources.
• Attend and present at quarterly OHEA membership meetings on coalition policy work.
• Represent OHEA in legislative and policy strategy spaces via coalitions, campaigns, advisory meetings, and ongoing organizing meetings to ensure racial justice-centered health equity is prioritized in the creation and implementation of said policies.
• Coordinate community engagement initiatives around OHEA’s policy work that foster meaningful and responsible engagement
• Support the provision of advocacy capacity-building events for our membership, community leadership team, and the general public
• Serve as a liaison to partner coalition spaces, providing health equity analysis as needed

Organizational Support 20%

• Support the revision and provision of existing training and curriculum for member organizations centered on anti-racist practices
• Support team with convening membership and membership and general public through regular political education events to broaden our communities' understanding of health equity and racial justice as needed
• Support with related positions' grant and contract terms, invoicing, budget planning, and reporting as needed
• Participate on the OHEA facilitation team for our external trainings as needed
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned by Director

Qualifications, Education, and Experience

• Master of Public Health or equivalent of 5 years of work experience
• Community Organizing background with at least 5 years of experience

Required skills, knowledge, and abilities

• Ability to work remotely, experience with Zoom, Google suites, Canva,
• At least 5-7 years’ experience in social, racial, gender justice, and/or health equity, and coalition building.
• At least 3-5 years’ experience with state and county policy and advocacy work such as community organizing, campaign management, lobbying, and/or political field work, and working with culturally specific community-based organizations, particularly in developing strategies and collective decision-making.
• Facilitation and convening experience and/or desire to learn and grow as a facilitator and convenor lead.
• Experience with policy communications and communicating complex information in an accessible way to a variety of audiences.
• Excellent organizational and record-keeping skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong written and interpersonal communication skills
• Able to work independently and as a team, remotely.
• Lived experience and a deep understanding of health inequities, racial injustice, and the impacts of the social determinants of health.
• Understanding of Oregon’s current and historical political and policy-making landscape and process

Desired qualifications: Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities

• Fluent in Spanish, written and spoken
• Experience with anti-oppression and anti-racism work experience and/or training.
• Experience working on issues affecting communities most impacted by health inequities, including but not limited to Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities, LGBTQIA2+ communities, immigrant and refugee communities, individuals living in rural and frontier communities, and disabilities communities

Mental and physical demands

• Fast-paced work environment.
• High level of concentration and attention to detail required.
• Time speaking and listening ranges between 25–50%.
• Extended time sitting or standing while at a computer.
• Praxis currently works remotely both as an internal team and with our partners based across the United States. Leading and participating in remote video and telephone conferences is required.
• Multiple video conferences per day with camera settings and video camera on.
• Some exposure to hearing, seeing, or imagining traumatic events or social crises within the communities we serve.
• Extensive interaction and communication with colleagues and strangers, virtually.
• Valid driver’s license, clean driving record, and insurance are required for employees driving on Praxis business; driving record checks may be required as well.

Full Job Posting on our website

Fluency in Spanish, written and spoken.