Manager, Advocacy and Legislation

Womankind works with survivors of gender-based violence across the lifespan, to rise above trauma and build a path to healing. In addition to promoting healing and safety through service provision, Womankind promotes gender justice through research, coalition building, policy analysis, and community education and mobilization. In conjunction with our recent rebranding, Womankind is expanding our social advocacy efforts. The Manager of Advocacy and Legislation works closely with Womankind’s senior leadership to refine and advance an advocacy agenda that increases the capacity of communities to prevent, recognize, and heal from violence.

We believe that in order to achieve our vision, we must position and understand ourselves to be part of a bigger movement. In order for our community’s voices to truly be reflected – not simply as a standalone or siloed issue, but as issues inherently linked to gender justice for all – we actively seek to be in multi-racial spaces that strive to operate from an anti-oppressive lens. Every part of our policy and advocacy work takes to heart the concept of intersectionality, how the layers of identities not just overlap but intertwine and compound in ways where power dynamics, barriers, and oppression manifest in multiple ways. Policy and advocacy’s role is to reflect, lift up, and amplify the realities of our community and the work of our advocates. Its role is to make sure that individual experiences of trauma and healing are embraced as collective wisdom, in order for society as a whole to rise above violence.

Primary Responsibilities:

Strategy Development and Implementation

• Shaping and executing Womankind’s advocacy agenda in collaboration with leadership and program staff.

• Monitoring and analysis of relevant city, state, and national legislative issues. 

• Oversight of advocacy communications and messaging to various populations, including partner organizations and general supporters.

• Capacity and knowledge building of macro-level policy and advocacy work among staff, including technical assistance and training facilitation.

Coalition and Partnerships

• Working in coalition with local grassroots leaders and elected officials to create dialogue among the larger Asian community on issues such as policing, violence, poverty, and how they relate to gender justice. 

• Cultivation of relationships with key stakeholders, including elected officials, community members, partner agencies, and advocacy organizations.

• Representing Womankind on various panels, speaking engagements, legislative hearing and meetings, taskforces, and coalitions.

Administrative

• Develop and implement a way to track and manage Womankind’s advocacy and partnership efforts across the organization.

• Attend trainings and conference that help to inform Womankind’s advocacy and policy strategies.  

• Work with our development team to articulate the needs of the organization to support grant proposals.

• Incorporate grant deliverables and funder commitments into program work and strategy.

Qualifications:

• Experience in immigrant rights, housing rights, anti-poverty work, gender justice, and/or anti-violence advocacy. Organizing background a major plus.

• Ability to analyze and articulate issues of gender-based violence from an intersectional viewpoint. Comfort and/or willingness to gather data and information from a wide variety of sources, including social media, websites, legislative documents, and scholarly publications.

• Excellent ability to communicate orally and in writing to a wide audience.

• Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with individuals and groups who come from varying political and personal backgrounds. 

• Knowledge of New York City and New York State legislative, administrative, and budget processes.

• Highly resourceful, self-directed, and flexible. Ability to creatively take goals from ideation to implementation.

• A Bachelor's degree is required, with a preference for a Master's degree; however, relevant experience will also be considered.