Strategic Initiatives Associate

ABOUT HOUSING CALIFORNIA

Since 1988, Housing California has worked to create a California with homes, health, and prosperity for all in thriving, sustainable communities. We bring together a diverse, cross-sector network to prevent and end homelessness, increase the supply of safe, stable, affordable homes, and reverse the legacy of systemic racial and economic inequities by building power among the people most impacted by housing injustice, shaping the narrative, and advocating for the passage of transformative statewide policy solutions. Learn more about our current policy strategy here (which is in the process of a refresh) and explore additional information about Housing California on our website at www.housingca.org.

About the Roadmap Home:
First launched in 2020, the Roadmap Home is a bold state-level policy plan to create a California with homes, health, and prosperity for all. We are sharpening and updating the policies, which will result in launching the Roadmap 2.0 in the Fall of 2025. This work has included gathering feedback from over 100 partners across the housing production, homelessness, tenants' rights, tribal housing, climate and racial justice, and movement building spaces in California.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Strategic Initiatives Associate plays a key role in advancing Housing California’s mission and our
work to relaunch and implement the Roadmap Home 2.0 and other strategic initiatives. This position provides supportive functions across many activities, including working with cross-sector partners to advance key organizational projects, initiatives, and campaigns at the state level.

This position reports to the Strategic Initiatives Director and collaborates with our cross-functional internal teams to collaborate and carry forward day-to-day tasks.

This role requires creativity, organization, and strategic thinking to help shape and implement a multi-sector policy agenda and other strategic initiatives aligned with Housing California’s organizational priorities. As both a detail-oriented executor and a strategic thought partner, the Strategic Initiatives Associate ensures that our efforts are timely, impactful, and cohesive. Through their work, they will help ensure the success of Roadmap Home and other strategic efforts.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Strategic Initiatives Support

• Track, analyze, and report on efforts related to the Roadmap Home 2.0 launch and issues related to the policies and campaigns that follow, as well as other strategic initiatives.
• Contribute to the development of fact sheets, briefs, and reports.
• Conduct research and provide thought partnership to inform strategy development to further socialize and gain support across sectors for multi-year policy agendas, campaigns, and other strategic systems change efforts.
• Track implementation of Roadmap Home and other strategic initiatives.
• When needed, represent Housing California at coalition and campaign events and meetings.
• Develop content to support communications related to the Roadmap Home and other strategic initiatives in newsletters, email, Housing California and coalition websites, and social media.
• Assist in the development of trainings, presentations, workshops, and other capacity building tools to engage and build awareness of the Roadmap Home and associated campaigns and initiatives.

Coalition Building and Network Engagement

• Provide administrative and project support for collaborative workstreams with partners and stakeholders to launch and advance the Roadmap Home 2.0 policy agenda. This will include supporting the preparation of meeting agendas and taking clear and detailed notes of meeting discussions.
• Serve as a point of contact to field inquiries and share pertinent information related to the Roadmap Home and other strategic initiatives.
• Establish and maintain systems to identify, organize, and synthesize activities.

Organizational Responsibilities

• Collaborate internally with Housing California’s policy, power building, narrative and strategic communications teams, and events/administrative team to support alignment and coordination with the Roadmap Home and other strategic campaigns, initiatives, and projects.
• Contribute to organizational planning and team workplan development to align strategic initiative efforts with broader organizational goals.
• Identify opportunities for professional development and learning to strengthen role and teamwork.
• Compile information and prepare materials for fundraising, donor-facing, and membership content that highlights Housing California’s work to advance the Roadmap Home 2.0 and other strategic initiatives.
• Collaborate with other teams to coordinate planning, scheduling, and administration of Housing California’s Advocacy Day events, convenings, summits, and other strategic initiative events.
• Engage in and contribute to other strategies to advance Housing California’s goals, including media campaigns, outreach, and organizing.

WHO YOU ARE

• Justice-Oriented: You have a demonstrated commitment to racial, gender, disability, economic, and housing justice and work to uphold these values in your work.
• Mission-Aligned: You have experience in housing justice or a related field, such as health equity, community development, planning, criminal justice reform, education, labor, or climate justice.
• Strong Administrative Foundations: Your prior experiences have included roles that rely on strong note taking, scheduling, task management, and project planning.
• Adaptable Learner: You embrace the process of learning and adapting from trial and error
  as part of your work, thriving in an environment where continuous improvement and flexibility are valued. You welcome and value feedback.
• Takes Initiative: You are proactive and take initiative on tasks.
  You can effectively manage up to keep the work moving on a timely basis, make proposals for how to approach projects and tasks.
• Organized and Agile: You have excellent time management skills, strong attention to detail, and a knack for managing multiple priorities, meeting deadlines, and thriving in fast-paced, collaborative environments.
• Resilient Problem Solver: You are tenacious and committed to moving change through ambiguity and challenges through proactive actions to find solutions.
• Strategic Implementer: You are a strategic, analytical, relational, and creative thinker who can effectively work plan and execute the daily details of your work with clarity about how it advances a project’s goals or big picture vision.
• Clear Communicator: You bring strong verbal and written communication skills to communicate with clarity and brevity with a variety of audiences, including with internal Housing California staff, and groups such as policymakers, media, community-based organizations, people who live in affordable homes or are currently unhoused, cross-sector practitioners, advocates, and funders.
• Collaborative: You have a track record of developing and maintaining strong working relationships and collaborations with and among partners with many different backgrounds.
• Technologically Proficient: You are comfortable navigating policy, communication, and project management platforms such as AirTable, cloud-based tools, and CRM databases (e.g., EveryAction, Google Suite, Zoom, CapitolTrack, Asana).
• Willing to Travel: You are willing and able to travel periodically and attend occasional evening obligations.

Additional experience that would be welcomed, but is not required:

• Familiarity with California’s housing and political landscape.
• Experience or educational background in public policy, planning, public health, or related field that focuses on policy analysis and how systems and policy changes come about.
• Experience with activities that contribute to building cross-sector partnerships and coalitions.
• Experience supporting the planning of impactful and purposeful convenings with a broad set of stakeholders.
• Experience working in a setting that requires strong and polished communication skills and the ability to identify objectives and outcomes with a variety of audiences on complex issues
• Lived experience of homelessness or housing insecurity or experience working with people with lived experience.

Our ideal candidates may have experience that does not directly match the qualifications above, and we encourage people with similar experience to apply.

COMPENSATION, BENEFITS, AND LOCATION

This is a full-time, non-exempt position that reports to the Strategic Initiatives Director. The salary range is between $32.94 - $38.48 / hour (Annualized at $68,515 - $80,038.4), depending on experience.

Benefits package includes fully paid medical, dental, and vision for employee and 25% paid medical, dental and vision for dependents, paid parental leave, long-term disability and group life insurance coverage; commuting subsidy; cell phone/at home internet subsidy; 403(b) retirement plan with 3.5% employer contribution; generous vacation (3+ weeks, depending on tenure), sick leave (8 hours per month + employees start with 8 hours of leave), 12 paid holidays; organization-wide closure during the last week of December and a shortened workweek during the summer legislative break; training and professional development opportunities; and a hybrid work environment.

This is a hybrid position based in our office in Sacramento. Currently, the Strategic Initiative Team works in the office in Sacramento at least one day a week, once a month for an all-staff meeting, and other days as desired/and or required.

The position is expected to participate in travel (mostly in California) including the following engagements: twice yearly Board of Directors meetings (sometimes held in Sacramento); annual 2-3 day staff retreat; annual 3-day Housing California conference (often in Sacramento); annual 2-3-day statewide RUN summit (sometimes in Sacramento); plus various conferences and in-person partner meetings and events.

OUR CULTURE

Housing California is committed to creating a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplace that fosters a culture of belonging, ongoing learning, and collaboration, and supports, stabilizes, and incentivizes people to join the Housing California team and stay for the long game.

We value having staff who come from communities that are most impacted by the issues we address. We especially encourage Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and people of color; people from families that have immigrated to the U.S.; people who have been unhoused or experienced housing instability; women; LGBTQIA+ people; system-impacted people; and people with disabilities to apply for these positions.

We aim for our work to be both effective and sustainable; we balance required travel during some parts of the year and the fast-paced legislative calendar with a commitment to our team’s mental and physical health.

HOW TO APPLY & HIRING PROCESS

We will accept applications until the position is filled. The interview process will include one 30-minute screening call followed by two 60–minute interviews and a short activity.

If you have questions regarding your qualifications, compensation/benefits, our process or internal timeline for hiring, or suggestions for how to improve this announcement or the opportunity itself, please email Jenny Welch ([email protected]).