Policy Director

Breaktime

Breaking the cycle of Young Adult Homelessness.

Job Description

Full-Time, $70-80k Salary
4% 401k Match and Health/Dental Insurance
 
Organization Overview

Breaktime (www.breaktime.org) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit working to break the cycle of young adult homelessness. We believe that it is time to break down barriers, break apart stigmas, and break into systems that hold back young adults experiencing housing insecurity. Through transitional employment and financial empowerment, Breaktime works to ensure job security, financial security, and ultimately housing security for these young people.

Breaktime prides itself on our supportive, flexible, and rewarding work environment. We offer valuable benefits such as unlimited paid-time off, 401k matching, health & dental insurance, and flexible hybrid work. We additionally offer a variety of professional development opportunities for our staff including meetings with influential members of the nonprofit world. These opportunities would support and empower you to reach your full potential and hit your personal/career goals. Breaktime is rapidly expanding as an organization, and we believe that there are a significant amount of opportunities for advancement.


At Breaktime, we have three key values that guide us in our work daily:

  1. Young Adults First: Elevating young adults experiencing housing insecurity’s voices is a core guiding principle behind Breaktime’s work, and we do everything we can do to support them.
  2. Radical Inclusion: To us, radical inclusion is about creating an equitable and welcoming space, particularly for those who are typically not included at the table. This permeates into how we make decisions at Breaktime, and we are grateful for the diverse perspectives that allow us to do so.
  3. Collaborative Innovation: We refrain from 'reinventing the wheel' and, instead, proactively build strong partnerships with other key stakeholders to more efficiently end young adult homelessness. 


Roles and Responsibilities
 
Breaktime is looking for an initiative-taking, driven, and organized innovator to scale and improve Breaktime’s Policy Team (particularly our statewide advocacy efforts here in Massachusetts). Policy change is the highest-leverage method of achieving systems-level change, so Breaktime is looking to invest more resources and energy into this area. Breaktime has already made significant progress in working with legislators and government officials to garner support for our initiative and widen the pipeline of resources coming to our broader field. The Policy Director will build off of Breaktime’s existing progress in municipal, statewide, and national advocacy, and they will also bring their own new ideas and initiatives to the team. More specific responsibilities include:
 
  • Lead the design and implementation of Breaktime’s strategic vision on policy change and advocacy work on the municipal, state, and national level, constantly engaging and uplifting the perspectives of the Associates and Alumni of our program; secure government funding on all levels through legislative or budget reform to scale our model
  • Build a Policy Team that centers youth voice and leverages a diverse array of talents and perspectives to mobilize an effective group of motivated changemakers
  • Coordinate outreach to and relationship development with legislators, government officials, advocacy groups, other policy shops, etc. to build a strong coalition of supporters behind our advocacy movement; work with Breaktime’s Special Projects Assistant to coordinate and prepare Breaktime’s Executive Director and Breaktime’s Associates and Alumni for conversations with these stakeholders
  • Collaborate with Breaktime’s Communications Director, Programs Director, and Development Director to engage other parts of our team in the advocacy process and to effectively leverage the resources and talents of the rest of our team; specifically, team up with the Communications Team on mobilizing our network to support advocacy efforts; coordinate with the Programs Team to effectively engage Associates and Alumni in advocacy efforts and effectively link these efforts with preexisting program objectives and impact goals; and align efforts with the Development Team to cultivate and steward government funding partnerships
  • Assist with preparation of a policy budget, and identify and pursue fundraising opportunities to directly support our policy and advocacy work
  • Track the activities of policymakers and research policy issues in order to draft reports and keep the organization up to date on potential policy and advocacy efforts we could support
  • Prepare Breaktime’s Executive Director for public testimony to government bodies, and brief Breaktime’s Executive Director on key information about policymakers, specific policy initiatives, etc.
  • In partnership with the Communications team, develop and disseminate materials supporting policy and advocacy efforts or providing key updates on our work to key legislators, legislative staff, government officials, advocacy groups, and other external stakeholders
  • Prepare reports and updates about our policy and advocacy work for the Board
 

Job Requirements

  • A clear, unwavering commitment to elevating the power and potential of young people 
  • Extensive knowledge of the Massachusetts state legislature
  • Based in Massachusetts and able to commute to Boston 2-3 days per week
  • At least one year of experience in managing at least one direct report
  • Ability to manage several projects simultaneously and to adjust to frequently changing demands; the ability to produce consistent, quality work in a fast-paced environment
  • Exceptional communication skills, both written and oral; experience as a public spokesperson and advocate; ability to analyze and articulate legal concepts and other complex issues and to communicate them to a variety of audiences
  • Demonstrated commitment to community organizing and ability to work constructively with grassroots partners as well as key legislators, legislative staff, government officials, and other external stakeholders
  • Excellent advocacy, consensus-building, coalition-building, and leadership skills; demonstrated ability to work collegially and collaboratively with other staff and other organizations; demonstrated ability to work with groups and individuals across the political spectrum
  • Ability to build relationships with relevant policy partners
  • Extensive knowledge of legislative and administrative processes
  • (Preferred) Extensive experience in a leadership role in representing an organization on issues of importance to young adults experiencing homelessness or opportunity youth more broadly
  • (Preferred) A broad understanding of policies that affect young adults experiencing homelessness and the broader group of opportunity youth
  • (Preferred) Experience analyzing and interpreting legislative and regulatory language