Policy and Community Advocate

Description

About Second Harvest of Silicon Valley

Founded in 1974, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is one of the largest food banks in the nation and a trusted nonprofit leader in ending local hunger. The organization distributes nutritious groceries through a network of nearly 400 partners at drive-thru and walk-up sites across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Due to the prohibitively expensive cost of living in Silicon Valley, the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rise in inflation, Second Harvest is now serving an average of about 500,000 people every month. Second Harvest also connects people to federal nutrition programs and other food resources, and advocates for anti-hunger policies on the local, state and national levels. To learn more about how Second Harvest is responding to the incredible amount of need in Silicon Valley, visit shfb.org.

About the Position

The Advocacy team works collaboratively with school districts, community partners, and elected officials to increase access to federal nutrition programs, advocate for stronger food access policies, understand and address community needs, and measure the organization’s impact in our communities. This Advocate will support and accelerate the Advocacy Team efforts. You will play an important role in organizing, implementing, and supporting the impact of Advocacy key initiatives.

This job might be for you if:

• You are passionate about ending hunger.
• You enjoy working collaboratively and communicating effectively with a diverse range of stakeholders.
• You enjoy planning and executing outreach efforts and events.
• You will enjoy working on a small, but dedicated team.
• You are detail-oriented and understand the importance of accurate data entry and thorough recordkeeping.

Responsibilities

Advocacy

• Track legislative initiatives and policy changes as outlined by our Advocacy Team.
• Assist with scheduling meetings with government officials, including agenda creation, position research, identifying sites for visits, and sending follow-up materials.
• Assist in arranging story collection from school food services staff, students, clients, and other community members for advocacy efforts.
• Plan for and attend lobby days virtually and in-person, including occasional travel to Sacramento.
• Work cross-functionally with other departments to identify opportunities for community advocacy.
• Manage and execute voter education and outreach efforts in collaboration with internal and external partners.
• Develop deep knowledge and understanding of issues impacting our local communities, and their potential policy solutions.

Community Outreach

• Represent Second Harvest of Silicon Valley at coalition, partner, and/or other community meetings, both in-person and virtual. Build relationships and bring back information for potential partners and policy solutions.
• Manage and organize Child Nutrition Coalition meetings including scheduling speakers, delivering presentations, collecting feedback, taking notes, and sharing information. Conduct outreach to increase meeting engagement.
• Collaborate with Marketing and other internal teams to design, execute, and evaluate public outreach campaigns related to nutrition programs and legislative advocacy.
• Compose update emails to partners of various kinds under guidance of Advocacy team.

Administration

• Lead the day to day running of the team’s Salesforce database, including data entry for monitoring and entering advocacy activities, maintaining contact records in Salesforce, tracking grant deliverables, documenting interactions with partners, and developing reports and dashboards. Work with IT to develop and implement database enhancements and improvements.
• Schedule and prepare for meetings and events including agenda creation, supply orders, day-of preparations, follow-up emails, etc.
• Maintain a well-organized shared file system on SharePoint
• Provide other administrative support to the team as identified.

The ideal candidate will possess the following professional qualifications:

• Possess a passion for the advancement of the agency’s mission.
• Self-starter with the demonstrated ability to organize, plan, and conduct activities independently to meet specific timelines and goals.
• Team player with demonstrated collaboration experience.
• Exceptional written, oral and presentation communication abilities.
• Strong analytic and critical thinking skills.
• Expertise with Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Salesforce or other CRM.
• Knowledge of social media platforms.
• Possession of a valid California driver’s license and a clean DMV record.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred.

Reports To

Senior Manager, Strategy & Advocacy

Location

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, Curtner site, 750 Curtner Ave. San Jose, CA 95125

This is a hybrid position. Specifics of work location will depend on department need.

An employee’s regular remote work site should be within driving distance of one of Second Harvest’s locations and must be within the state of California.

Hours

Full-Time. Exempt. 40 hours/week, with some evening and weekend work as necessary.

Compensation

$66,560-69,661 is the wage range for this position. The salary wage offer will be commensurate with skills and experience. Outstanding and generous health benefits program, 4-5 weeks of Flexible Time Off (vacation and sick), eleven paid holidays, and retirement plan.

EOE

Second Harvest is committed to being an equal opportunity employer which values diversity. Under-represented groups are encouraged to apply for all positions. ­

Learn more here