Vice President, State and Local Advocacy

About KIND 

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is a global leader in the protection of unaccompanied and separated children who are forcibly displaced from their countries of origin. Launched in 2008, KIND champions a world in which every child’s rights and well-being are protected throughout their journey to safety. 

Building on its extensive programming and successful model in the United States, KIND is expanding in the Americas and Europe to bring its experience to bear in working with unaccompanied and separated children. Our work focuses on addressing the legal and mental health needs of this population; building strong partnerships and engaging in training and capacity strengthening with governments, NGOs, and the private sector; and advocating for systemic and pragmatic reforms to advance the rights of unaccompanied and separated children.

Position Summary

The Vice President, State and Local Advocacy will be the chief visionary and strategist to advance KIND’s mission and goals at local, state, and regional levels, including the integration and inclusion of newcomer children to protect children’s rights and well-being during their migration in search of safety. The incumbent will be responsible for providing executive level and administrative oversight of several policy, advocacy, and fiscal opportunities, including thought leadership, policy analysis, policy development, and cultivating key partner relations with decision makers and influencers in the local, state, and regional spaces of working with newcomer immigrant children.  

This role is highly visible and reports directly to the Chief of Global Policy and Advocacy and serves on the Policy and Advocacy Leadership Team. It will also provide proactive and reactive advice and counsel to the President and Senior Leadership Team on public policy, legislative efforts, and positions on the local, state, and regional levels in the United States to effectively advance KIND’s vision and mission. The position with work closely with the Vice President, U.S. Federal Policy to ensure cohesion in U.S. public policy and to provide legal analysis of different state and local statutory, regulatory, and case law, as well as litigation matters on the local, state, and federal levels. The position will also work across KIND to build internal consensus for appropriate public policy positions, ensuring alignment with staff across different departments, subject matter experts, and senior leaders who can be effective at internal and external advocacy. The Vice President, State and Local Advocacy will be charged with identifying existing funding opportunities for KIND, as well as engaging with local governments to create new sources of funding.

The Vice President, State and Local Advocacy will be both externally and internally focused, representing KIND at external events as well as internal forums, acting as one of the spokespersons for KIND’s strategic vision and helping elevate KIND’s reputation and profile. The incumbent will work collaboratively with other external and internal leaders to create a persuasive, bipartisan or multi-party, and impactful public policy and public affairs agenda, while effectively communicating KIND’s mission and accomplishments.

This a headquarters position based remotely from any location in the U.S.

• Strategic Direction & Policy Development

• Partners with the Chief of Global and Policy Advocacy and KIND’s other senior leaders to develop strategies, tactics, and policy positions that enhance KIND’s public policy agendas and to ensure seamless coordination and cohesion in U.S. policy and global policy strategies.
• Creates and executes the state and local government relations strategy for KIND in tandem with U.S. federal policy and KIND’s global strategy. Provide leadership, direction and content on positions and response for state and local policy. 
• Anticipates and advises President and KIND’s senior leaders on the public affairs implications of state and local current events.
• Shapes and influences legislative and regulatory programs, state and federal litigation strategies, and fiscal opportunities in alignment with KIND’s goals and objectives. 
• Proactively finds opportunities and risks in the state and local public policy arena and develops strategies to mitigate emerging risk and capitalize on policy, advocacy, education, and local government budgets. 
• Develops messaging and content to support advocacy engagements and policymaking meetings for state and local governance.
• Identifies state and local government leaders to drive policy impact and public investment in support of KIND’s mission. Mitigates state and local public funding risks by developing bipartisan strategies and messaging that sustains support for investments across political administrations.
• Strengthens and leads scaling and cross-learning for local governance advocacy to support KIND’s mission in internationalized cities and localities on a global basis.

• External Representation and Relationship Building
• Serves as a spokesperson for KIND on local, state, and regional government relations matters. 
• Builds a network of key external stakeholders who can support strategic policy objectives, including Leadership Council members. Advocates with state, local, and regional public officials to advance or defend KIND’s mission.
• Collaborates with state and local leaders and state and local policy positions to support the resource allocation and supports of unaccompanied children funded by national, federal grants and pass-through grants.
• Strengthens partnerships across public and private sectors to expand collaboration networks.

• Team Leadership
• Supervises the Policy and Advocacy team on matters related to state and local policies. 
• Sets clear goals, fosters open communication and collaboration, and empowers team members to ensure the accurate and timely completion of initiatives. 
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• JD and admitted to a state bar in good standing of any US state or the District of Columbia.
• Must be fluent in English; fluency in another language preferred. 
• Minimum of 10 years of senior-level advocacy and leadership experience in positions involving external affairs, state and local government relations, coalition management, and advocacy.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience with immigration law and policies, preferably on issues related to unaccompanied children and children’s immigration issues in the U.S. 
• Minimum of 5 years of management experience. 
• Proven ability to work across the aisle, and experience building and managing coalitions and strategic relationships with diverse groups and interests.
• Proven ability to craft and execute high-impact external affairs strategies, including success managing key relationships with policymakers and their staff, stakeholders, and coalitions.
• Proven ability to craft and execute high-impact multi-state and federal advocacy strategies, including managing government relations strategies, working with civil society, collaborating with grassroots and community-based organizations, and coalition-driven campaigns.
• Strong leadership and relationship building skills and experience managing and motivating a team.
• Expert knowledge of campaign tactics and effective government relations strategies to strengthen key relationships and broaden support for initiatives.
• Demonstrated success directing and managing consultants, government relations advisors, and legislative advocacy strategies.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills and ability to communicate well with traditional media, ethnic media, social media, and local, state, and national media.
• Passion for KIND’s mission of supporting unaccompanied immigrant and separated children, and an ability to communicate this to others, and support intersectional and multidisciplinary analyses of the needs of unaccompanied children.
• Comfortable changing organization and political climate, and able to excel by operating with a sense of urgency while remaining flexible, open-minded, and adaptable.
• Experience and comfort working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, able to contribute based on expert knowledge or otherwise, as needed.
• Ability to travel as assigned.
• Ability to work within an office environment or remotely and have regular interaction via telephone and email with KIND's national team.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (such as Teams, Excel, etc.).
• Ability to work collaboratively and multi-task in our KIND environment, managing numerous priorities and emerging opportunities.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to work on multiple projects in a deadline-oriented environment; ability to prioritize tasks and delegate as appropriate.
• Ability to work effectively with people of diverse backgrounds, lived experiences, and communication styles.
• Demonstrate discipline and adaptability to effectively deliver on our core mission of ensuring access to justice and safeguarding children’s well-being and rights.
• Ability to multitask and work with a sense of urgency in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Committed to practicing and supporting wellbeing and a work-home life balance. 
• Experience working and communicating in a remote environment, preferred but not required. 
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Our Benefits

- Medical, dental, and vision insurance with KIND paying 100% of the employee only portion of the premium for one of the three medical plan options, dental, and vision. 

- Pre-tax flexible spending account (FSA) for both medical and dependent care.  

- Pre-tax transit and parking spending account.  

- Employer-paid life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance.  

- Employer-paid short and long-term disability insurance.  

For a complete list of benefits, please click here. 

Our Focus on Wellness

KIND recognizes that our ability to help our clients starts with helping our team members. KIND has prioritized wellness for employees through Mindfulness and Wellness Trainings, Wellness Platforms, Employee Assistance and Resilience Programs, Time Away and Office Wellness Activities. 

For more information regarding our Wellness initiatives please visit this link.  

Application Instructions

To be considered for this role, please submit an employment application at supportkind.org/join-the-team, along with your resume and cover letter.

Disclaimer: KIND is committed to an ethical recruitment and hiring process and maintains a firm “no fees” recruitment policy. We will never charge a fee or ask for money as part of the application process. KIND also conducts all interviews via telephone or video conference, and at no time will KIND engage in a text or mobile app-based application or interview process. For more information, please visit the following website: https://supportkind.org/join-the-team/kind-employment-practices/.