Rising Communities - Director of Community Resilience

RISING COMMUNITIES

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RESILIENCE

ABOUT RISING COMMUNITIES

Rising Communities, formerly known as Community Health Councils, is a non-profit, community-based health education, advocacy and policy organization established in 1992 in response to the growing health and healthcare crisis in Los Angeles. Rising Communities’ mission is to collectively build equitable systems to eliminate disparities in health and well-being with a primary focus on South Los Angeles. Our policy areas include Health Systems, Food Justice, and Community and Economic Resiliency. Each area represents a unique opportunity to engage members of impacted communities in program and policy development through a wide variety of community interventions and strategies, as well as representation and leadership through the coalitions and collaborations convened.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Director of Community Resilience (DOCR) will report to the Senior Director of Community Resilience and will have direct oversight of Rising Communities Best Start Regional Task Force, Local Delegate Councils, Sustainability Hubs, and will support the Senior Director in other community engagement grants, like the Trauma Prevention Initiative, Community Health Work, Systems Navigation programs, and other community facing activities and initiatives. This position will also provide budget management; ensure compliance with funding agencies; develop and cultivate relationships with organizations, regulatory agencies, elected officials, and associations working on similar issues; and serve as a member of the Management Team.

The ideal candidate is passionate about community voice and developing resident leadership and agency. They have experience managing community-based boards and coalitions to drive policy and systems-change. They understand the value of leadership and followership and strive to maintain a creative tension between these two roles. They understand that sustainability means working yourself out of a job so that the community may lead itself with collective determination. They enjoy the challenge of community organizing and find energy in inspiring others to step up to this challenge, while continuing to hold themselves and their team accountable for achieving goals, meeting deadlines and exceeding expectations.

This role is charged with partnering with key policy and research staff to ensure tight alignment between research, policy, and practice – maintaining a robust feedback loop to inform and support systems change initiatives.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership & Strategy

• Participates and plays a key role in developing inclusive strategic planning processes so that initiatives reflect the complex intersection of policy and systems change.
• Manages the Community Resilience team Project Administrator, Community Liaison, Manager of Community Organizing and Strategic Engagement, as well as several subcontractors and consultants.
• Communicates with community leaders across the region to ensure effective utilization of resources where shared tasks and deliverables are being implemented.
• Manages and oversees the leadership pipeline for the Best Start Region 2.
• Works with subject matter experts and stakeholders to incorporate innovative ideas and models, robust data-driven insights, and conducts trainings/presentations for coalition members and the community.
• Coordinates with members to implement coalition action plans, as well as developing agendas and documentation for coalition meetings and initiatives.  
• Works with VP of Policy and Government Affairs and VP of Innovation and Economic Development to ensure coalition adherence to grant requirements, record keeping and program reporting.
• Effectively engages stakeholders and facilitates multi-disciplinary dialogue and engagement throughout the evaluation and implementation process from project scoping to implementation to close out.
• Prepares programmatic reports in accordance with reporting requirements, and information gathering in a timely manner.

Team Leadership

• Ensures that team members are using Asana to develop project dashboards and Key Performance Indicators to measure project and process performance.
• In collaboration with the Director of Strategic Initiatives, creates professional development and leadership opportunities that strengthen team cohesion and team effectiveness.
• Ensures the use of Rising Communities protocols and systems.
• Guides staff to identify and establish strategic workplans in alignment with Rising Communities priorities and overall mission.
• Works with coalition subcommittees on developing materials for social norms. 
• Develops and maintains a process for ensuring subcontractors and grantees are implementing projects as intended, based on the guidelines provided by Rising Communities and are aligned with community priorities.
• Monitors each projects’ achievement toward intended outcomes including coordinating evaluation activities and conducting site visits as appropriate.

Community Engagement & Advocacy

• Seeks, organizes, recruits, and maintains strategic relationships with organizations, decision makers, community stakeholders and Rising Communities partners to support the effective implementation and reproduction of Rising Communities’ positioning strategy.
• Partners and develops strong working relationships with institutional leadership, special committees, and consultants to support execution of key priorities.
• Develops a directory of methods (strategies, activities, programs) for partnerships with shared stakeholders throughout the region and nationally.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree is preferred or equivalent experience in similar field.  
• At least 5 years’ experience working in community organizing, coalition building and driving social impact within communities of color, or equivalent combination of education and experience. 
• At least 3 years of management experience leading initiatives or projects.
• Solid strategic planning, analytical, critical thinking, and project management skills, including skill in problem recognition, avoidance, and resolution.
• Advanced skills in advising and consulting management to ensure that desired institutional messages are delivered to appropriate target and/or broad general audiences. 
• Have written/published papers on policy and systems change, place-based initiatives, strategic planning, organizational development, or related subjects (peer reviewed publication a plus). 
• Familiarity with GIS, STATA, and Qualitative Analysis Software (Atlas) a plus. 
• Experience in grant writing of foundation and government grants. 

COMPENSATION

Salary Range is $82,000 - $115,000 depending on experience. Benefits are also included; the totality of these benefits is between 23-25% of a person’s salary. 

Rising Communities is a non-profit, community-based health advocacy, policy, and educational organization. We offer a competitive salary and generous benefits including medical, dental, vision and 403b plans, vacation, sick and holiday benefits. CHC is an equal opportunity employer. Women and persons of color are encouraged to apply.

Envision Consulting was retained by Rising Communities to conduct the search for their incoming Director of Community Resilience.

Applicants needing accommodation for any part of the application process may contact Envision Consulting at 626.889.7905 to request and arrange for assistance.