Policy Engagement Fellow

Young Invincibles • Austin, TX

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Young Invincibles (YI) is seeking a policy engagement coordinator with methodological and data analysis skills to drive our research and advocacy on health care, higher education, and workforce issues facing young adults today. This role offers a unique opportunity to blend data and policy analysis with young adult grassroots advocacy. This position will split its time between Texas legislative policy work and issue-led organizing, coalition building, and youth storytelling. This role will also handle data collection, analysis, and visualizations for the Texas offices, while translating policy into actionable campaigns that get young adults involved in the political and advocacy process. A policy engagement coordinator at YI will work collaboratively with our national team and other regional offices to support our 2026-2027 strategic agenda. This unique role balances rigorous, national-level data analysis with on-the-ground state policy advocacy. The position will report to our Texas Policy & Advocacy Manager for assisting with data collection, data analysis and findings, report writing, data visualization, and engage young adults in Texas issue-based campaigns, as well as robust health care advocacy campaigns to defend the Affordable Care Act.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with 2+ years of relevant policy and research experience in social sciences, such as education, health care, workforce, political science, economics, and/or related fields.
• Two years of experience in political advocacy, specifically in Texas cities (e.g., Austin, Dallas, and Houston).
• Familiarity with Texas state policy issues related to health care, higher education, mental health, workforce, and civic engagement.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, specifically Excel.
• Knowledge of accessing, downloading, cleaning, and analyzing publicly available data. Examples of publicly available data include IPEDS and the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills and a solid understanding of statistical methods used in social science and economic research, such as linear regression, quasi-experimental methods, and survey design.
• Completion of coursework that demonstrates experience in statistics.
• Two or more years conducting interviews, focus groups, and case studies.
• Knowledge of survey platforms, such as Qualtrics, Google Forms, and SurveyMonkey.
• Experience with working with large scale datasets and statistical softwares (e.g., STATA and/or R).
• Ability to work on multiple projects, as well as establish priority for projects and tasks.
• Community/Campus organizing experience, the ability to identify needs, address needs, building relationships, and the ability to influence a level of change.
• Exceptional writing and communication skills.
• Experience with writing fact sheets, blog posts, policy briefs, white papers, research reports, etc.

Nice To Haves

• Technical assistance experience preferred.
• Grant-writing experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Access, clean, and analyze large-scale public datasets and research to support research initiatives for the national and Texas offices.
• Assist with drafting policy reports, issue briefs, and fact sheets that analyze health care, employment, and education policy with Policy & Advocacy Manager.
• Translate data into clear, compelling visuals and graphics for campaigns and presentations to policymakers, partner organizations, and stakeholders.
• Coordinate with policy, communications, and organizing teams to develop Texas specific policy positions across all of YI’s issue areas.
• Build relationships with policy decision makers, partner organizations, young adults leaders, and other stakeholders.
• Collaborate with the Regional Director, Southern Policy and Advocacy Manager, and Youth Advisory Board to develop the interim policy and ensure youth voices guide our research.
• Translate complex state and federal healthcare policy (including defending the ACA) into accessible concepts that young adults can understand and organize around.
• Collaborate with local partners to organize community events and tabling to build YI’s young adult base
• Present and help facilitate training, activities, and workshops, including but not limited to YI’s Health insurance literacy (HIL) training, mental health, and student debt and financial aid.
• Assist with conducting in-person outreach and building partnerships to reach uninsured young people.
• Collaborate with our Communications team to represent YI in the media, at hearings, and at various conferences.
• Co-lead YI’s Content Camp, ensuring young adults are meeting cohort deliverables
• Lead efforts to capture the lived experiences of young Texans navigating issues related to healthcare and student debt.
• Support the Fall and Spring YAP cohorts by working to help design and deliver Texas-specific trainings.
• Partner with the National Director of Policy Research on survey design and input gathered from YAP cohorts.
• Serve as a core YI representative and collaborator within statewide healthcare advocacy networks.
• Help lead the planning and execution of the annual Texas State of Open Enrollment Conference in the Fall.
• Attend quarterly stakeholder meetings to report on progress and project outcomes.
• Other duties as assigned for meeting the Texas policy, organizing, and campaign needs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level