Western States Advisor

All Hands On Deck Network Inc.

4d•$120,000 - $140,000•Remote

About The Position

As the Western States Advisor, you will be MVP’s main liaison with local groups, intermediaries, select national partners, and select donors seeking to support movement building across a set of priority states in the West, including but not limited to California, Alaska, Nevada, Nebraska, and Texas. You will report to the Director of State Programs and work closely with peer State Advisors and the Capacity Building teams. State Advisors are integral to meeting MVP’s mission. They are responsible for cultivating trusting relationships and contributing flexible resources to make timely investments that result in greater progressive power and meaningful policy change, especially for communities that are still fighting to secure a seat at the table. State Advisors: 1. Build a deep, ongoing understanding of state political landscapes, progressive infrastructure, challenges, and opportunities through ongoing landscape analyses, and serve as experts in their state at MVP (20%). 2. Work on the ground with state-based partners to advance power-building efforts in support of short-term and long-term policy and electoral goals (35%). 3. Make investment recommendations to the MVP team to support immediate political opportunities, organization and infrastructure-building, and long-term progressive electoral and legislative power (15%). 4. Serve as a trusted ally and strategic advisor to our partners and connect partners with capacity-building resources at MVP to support their organizational development and strategic capacities (10%). 5. Advise and align in-state donors, funding partners, and intermediaries to leverage, maximize, and streamline funding towards progressive gains (10%). 6. Document and communicate about the groups and the state landscape regularly as needed; evaluate progress and make recommendations for necessary future strategic shifts (10%).

Requirements

Depth of knowledge of political and movement ecosystems in the state gained through political campaign experience and/or movement organizing experience (ideally both!).
Experience working across diverse movements, coalitions, and constituencies.
Passion for supporting a diverse ecosystem of grassroots organizations.
Ability to assess state funding landscapes and grassroots groups’ capacity to grow and expand.
Ability to communicate clearly and effectively verbally and in writing.
Organizational and campaign leadership experience, preferably at the senior level.

Nice To Haves

In-depth understanding of the funding landscape in Western states, with a particular interest in Nevada, as well as the funding needs of grassroots groups in the state.
Some experience with, or strong desire to learn about, fundraising and grantmaking.
Demonstrated success supporting and coaching a wide variety of leaders and organizers.
Experience in state-based organizational leadership roles.
Familiarity with field campaign data and tools, including Slack, Airtable, VAN, and Google Suite.
Some experience with, or strong desire to learn about, compliance issues that guide 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and PAC work.

Responsibilities

Continue building our Western strategy: Continue developing and implementing a Western strategy, with a particular focus on Nevada and other necessary states.
Build a deep and ongoing understanding of the region’s political landscape, progressive infrastructure, challenges, and opportunities through ongoing landscape analyses and serve as experts in the region at MVP.
Bottomline efforts to identify opportunities for regional approaches to support ecosystem building, policy gains, and/or electoral needs.
Build a deep and ongoing understanding and strategy for the region: Informed by local partners and other resources, build an understanding of the progressive ecosystem – political, policy, and infrastructure – to inform short-term and long-term investment recommendations within the region.
Work with local, state, and national partners to identify opportunities for state partners to work across state lines to support policy goals, ecosystem building, and/or electoral goals. Examples of this could include building regional policy groups in support of an environmental project with multi-state impact; securing and identifying volunteers to support critical election needs in nearby states, etc.
Ensure power-building investments are reflective of MVP’s values, especially mission- based and our commitment to anti-oppression, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice
Through regular meetings with partners and allies, build and maintain trusting, values-driven, strategic relationships.
Work with local groups to strengthen their annual and multi-year electoral, issue advocacy, and base-building plans; at times, particularly for start-up and developing organizations, this may include helping them draft plans and budgets, or even to expand existing plans — aka, helping groups “dream big”!
Identify state infrastructure gaps and political opportunities, then work with partners and allies to address and build infrastructure and take advantage of political opportunities.
Make investment recommendations: Draft internal strategy documents and external C3, C4, and PAC state plans that make the case for where, when, how, and how much to invest for success in the short- and long-term to build progressive power through grassroots organizing. Plans may include landscape analyses; assessments of partner staffing and capacity needs; opportunities, challenges, and gaps both within and between organizations; key best practices to share; budgets; and more.
Manage your grantmaking budget for the state, including tracking partner budget gaps and adjusting grantmaking budget accordingly.
Based on identified infrastructure gaps and opportunities, nurture new and emerging movement voter organizing groups, alliances, and special projects or campaigns.
Work with MVP’s grantmaking team to administer and track grants across the state. Keep all MVP tracking systems updated and ensure all recommendations for grantmaking are current and meet legal compliance in Airtable or other systems of record.
Strengthen organizational development: In partnership with MVP’s Capacity Building team, support local groups in assessing their staffing and capacity needs, upgrading their operations, identifying opportunities and gaps, and implementing best practices.
Align with allied donors, funders, and intermediaries: Liaise and actively engage with all relevant stakeholders as appropriate: local funders, organizing networks, intermediaries, influencers, etc.
Develop relationships with local funders, partners, and intermediaries to advise their work in the state and/or fund state plans, in partnership with MVP’s Senior State Strategy Director and State Programs Team leadership.
Lead MVP’s engagement with the state C3, C4, donor tables, and other local alliances as appropriate.
Document, communicate, and evaluate progress: Work with state-based groups to complete compelling and legally-compliant program reports that are rooted in state plans, measure progress to goals, and continue to inspire movement-building and donor support for this work.
Provide strategic insights to State Programs Team leadership about how MVP reporting processes can continue to evolve to meet legal compliance and other needs.
Offer feedback and suggestions to state-based organizational leaders about their progress to goals.
Share “what’s working” with other partners and fellow State Advisors to facilitate continued relationships and growth.
Document and share with MVP staff stories and photos from local organizations, campaigns, and individuals that illustrate the success of your state’s strategy monthly and in key moments.

Benefits

Employer-paid premiums of health insurance at 100% for most individuals & 75% for family
Dental and vision insurance coverage
401(k) account with partial match
Basic life, accidental death & dismemberment, and disability insurance direct coverage
Medical and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account availability
Work From Home stipend
Wellness stipend
Student Loan Repayment Assistance
Access to free online courses
Paid vacation (4 weeks), paid holidays (9 days), and office closures (fall and winter breaks)
Two floating paid days off (to be used at your discretion)
18 weeks of paid Parental Leave
Up to 4 weeks of paid Bereavement Leave
Up to 12 weeks of Family Leave (up to 4 weeks paid)
Sabbatical policy