MANAGER, REGIONAL ADVOCACY

CARE is an international NGO with local staff and community partners in more than 90 countries. We create local solutions to poverty and inequality and we seek dignity for everyone every day and during times of crisis. These solutions have a broad range, from clean water to access to education; from microfinance to ensuring that everyone has nutritious food; from agriculture and climate change to disaster response. CARE puts women and girls at the center of everything we do because they have proven to be the best hope for creating lasting change in the world. Our staff live where they work, which makes us effective at understanding the challenges they face. We’ve been doing this for over 70 years, since World War II. It started with the world’s first CARE Package® of food for the post-war hungry in Europe. Our work today is as important as ever, we believe that poverty and inequality are historic injustices that we can end within a generation, for good. If you share our core beliefs: poverty is an injustice; poverty is solvable; and together, we have the power to end it, join us, and fight with CARE.

Policy change is one of the most effective means of achieving greater impact as CARE works to end global poverty and improve the lives of women, girls, and vulnerable populations around the world. As part of the U.S. Programs & Policy department, CARE is seeking a Regional Advocacy Manager to lead and implement a targeted regional strategy to mobilize CARE supporters and community leaders to engage a set of strategic members of Congress around CARE’s mission.

The Regional Advocacy Manager (RAM) will join a dynamic team focused on building the CARE Action Network (CAN) into a diverse, inclusive, and equity-focused national constituency. The person in this position will work alongside a group of peers and colleagues on CARE USA’s U.S. Government Policy team to influence U.S. development policies and programs by centering the needs and stories of millions of people in low-and-middle income countries.

The RAM will identify, recruit, and train volunteer leaders to support the CAN team in building a cadre of advocates capable of reaching key U.S. legislators. The RAM will focus on recruiting influential supporters who are willing to leverage their connections to elected officials to advance CARE’s policy agenda as well as volunteer advocate leaders who will help organize support for CARE’s advocacy agenda in their communities. To build their list of advocates, the RAM will conduct one-on-one outreach to interested CARE supporters in key states and districts and will also collaborate with other departments within CARE, including Fundraising and Marketing.

The Regional Advocacy Manager will work under the direction of the Deputy Director for Advocate Engagement and work alongside peer RAMs who support CARE advocate leaders in other regions of the U.S. They will assist in developing and executing national engagement plans that leverage key annual CARE initiatives (e.g. Amplify Your Voice, CARE National Conference, Day of Action for International Day of the Girl, etc.)

The Regional Advocacy Manager will represent CAN as needed in cross functional strategy development, contributing to a national strategy to build a constituency to support our policy goals and engaging with his/her peers in implementation.

Responsibilities:

• Design and implement a regional plan to mobilize advocates and build Congressional champions – Develop individual strategies for targeted members of Congress to build Congressional support through constituent engagement for CARE’s advocacy objectives. The RAM will work with the Deputy Director and CARE’s Government Relations team to determine which members of Congress are of critical importance. Within those districts, the RAM will deploy the necessary strategy and tactics to gain influence over that member of Congress. These tactics includefinding high level advocates in the district, holding local meetings and events, enlisting a volunteer leader, and recruiting constituents to attend the CARE National Conference). The RAM will work in collaboration with other Regional Advocacy Managers to intentionally recruit, engage, and mobilize a group of young and racially diverse advocates in support of CARE’s policy goals. They will support programming led by youth advocates and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color advocates intended to reach young and diverse audiences with CARE advocacy opportunities including summits, roundtables, meet ups, and CARE clubs.
• Grasstop Mobilization & Volunteer Leadership Development – The RAM will focus his/her efforts on building a list of high level advocates with the existing or potential ability to access members of Congress. The RAM will research community leaders and political donors and will introduce them to CARE’s advocacy efforts. The RAM will maintain these relationships by creating engagement opportunities such as in-district meetings, advocacy actions and other events. These opportunities may involve close collaboration with other teams within CARE including fundraising, marketing and communications. The RAM will provide ongoing coaching and training of volunteer leaders to improve and utilize their skills in public speaking, advocacy, organizing, and building inclusive, equity-focused communities.
• Contribute to CAN’s National Strategy – The RAM will assist in the development of CAN’s national engagement strategy using their knowledge of grassroots organizing trends and piloting new approaches to advocacy campaigns. Under the direction of the Deputy Director, the RAM will contribute to CAN’s strategic initiatives ( CARE National Conference, Amplify Your Voice, Leadership Summit). The RAM will also work to develop regional community partnerships that support CARE’s policy goals.
• Represent CAN at Cross Department Strategy Meetings and Across Issue-Based Campaigns – The RAM will contribute to his/her issue team by providing the constituency-building perspective on goals and work plans on cross department strategy calls. The RAM will offer ways to engage CAN advocates around the country on a given issue (e.g. food and nutrition security, maternal health, etc).

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in international relations, political science or similar field or equivalent combination of education and work experience
• 2-5 years of experience working on issue/political campaigns or Capitol Hill
• Experience working with local, national or international social justice movements and campaigns
• Previous organizing experience with issue and/or political campaigns, including student activism and racial justice organizing
• Experience organizing and managing volunteers
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including experience communicating with volunteers and/or other external stakeholders
• An appetite and aptitude to learn our technology systems, including Microsoft Office and Salesforce. Proficiency in these systems a plus
• Special events planning and logistics coordination
• Self starter who is capable of working independently and who understands how their work contributes to broader teams goals
• Willingness and capacity for travel within the U.S. (pending lifting of CARE’s travel restrictions due to COVID-19)