Senior Director, Communications, The HAVI

The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI) envisions a world where communities end violence and foster healing. Our mission is to reduce violence, particularly in communities of color, by advancing hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) and coordinated, community-led systems that heal trauma and promote equity.

HVIPs are rooted in the philosophy that violence is preventable, and that violent injury offers an opportunity to break cycles of violence. HVIPs integrate the expertise of violence prevention professionals (VPPs) with credibility and lived experience of violence. VPPs build rapport with violently injured individuals and offer pathways to safety and transformative healing. They use trauma-informed practices in the hospital emergency department or at the hospital bedside immediately after a violent injury occurs. After individuals are discharged from the hospital, VPPs continue to support them, collaborating closely with medical staff and with community partners to provide comprehensive, wraparound services.

HVIPs embrace a public health approach to violence prevention as they are grounded in data, which indicate that victims of violence are at elevated risk for re-injury and violence perpetration. This model has been the subject of numerous peer-reviewed studies indicating promising impact on injury recidivism, contact with the criminal legal system, and trauma symptoms. The HAVI is implementing Standards and Indicators for HVIPs nationally to ensure sustainability and fidelity to the model. HVIPs are now a recommended practice by the federal government.

The HAVI’s network has grown to hundreds of individuals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists, violence prevention professionals, outreach workers, and researchers who are affiliated with 72 member programs in the U.S., Canada, England, and El Salvador. Our goal is to support the growth of HVIPs throughout the United States. Internally, the HAVI is structured in 4 divisions: Organizational Growth and Equity, Policy and Communications, Communities of Practice, Data, Research and Evaluation. Each division works to operationalize the HAVI’s mission and Strategic Plan to strengthen the community violence intervention (CVI) field.

The HAVI is a fiscally sponsored project of Health Resources in Action, Inc. (HRiA).

Health Resources in Action, Inc. (HRiA) is a non-profit organization working to improve and reimagine public health. We connect, consult, and collaborate to solve complex challenges of access and equity in our health and social systems. Together with our partners, clients, and collaborators, we create actionable solutions so that all people can thrive.

In 1957, The Medical Foundation (TMF) was created to primarily fund biomedical research in Massachusetts. Since then, we’ve been on a journey of evolution. We changed our name to Health Resources in Action (HRiA) to reflect our impact in the field of public health. Today, HRiA works with individuals, organizations, and communities to drive a policy and systems change approach to advance health and racial equity.

HRiA seeks sustainable solutions for complex problems using an anti-racist approach. We aim to be adaptable and flexible in meeting clients and partners where they are, offering our decades of knowledge and resources to collectively realize our dream of equitable, sustainable health for all. The foundation of this work is centered on our values:

• Health and racial equity by identifying and addressing the root causes of health inequities, intentionally working to shift narratives and power imbalances and disrupt all systems of oppression.
• Leading with heart by demonstrating our passionate commitment to our work, continuously challenging ourselves with humility and vulnerability while pursuing and holding ourselves accountable to our mission.
• Collaboration by intentionally and respectfully leading, partnering, and following to strengthen relationships, uplift different voices and build trust.
• Innovation by driving toward new strategies, questioning norms, and continuously learning and evolving to support the needs of our clients and communities.

HRiA offers exciting, engaging, and challenging employment opportunities for facilitators, trainers, researchers, analysts, policy specialists, grant managers, and more. People come to HRiA because of our commitment to advancing health equity and inspiring work; they stay for our wonderful clients, partners, and dedicated and dynamic staff. With our growing portfolio of high-impact work, person-centered policies, and generous benefits, our team continually invests in making HRiA a great place to work. Our diverse staff of over 270 people hail from 30+ states, with a home base in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood.

Position Description

We are seeking a full-time Senior Director of Communications who will provide strategic vision, leadership, and oversight for the Communications Department and support its marketing portfolio to raise the visibility of the HAVI and advance the public discourse around violence as a public health issue that disproportionately impacts communities of color.

The Senior Director of Communications will be responsible for executing a strategic communications plan for the HAVI, in collaboration with communications staff and key stakeholders. The Senior Director will oversee the implementation of a large-scale initiatives focused on equipping the CVI field with the tools to effect narrative change and will play a key role in securing resources for the HAVI’s communications efforts.

This is an exempt, full-time position with a salary range of $130,000 to $140,000 based on experience and internal equity factors. National travel (10%) is expected for this position. The Senior Director will report to the Managing Director of the Policy and Communications Division or their designee.

Benefits

HRiA offers strong benefits to its employees, including:

• Health insurance
• Retirement plan
• Flexible summer hours (July – August)
• Vacation starting at 4 weeks
• 13 paid holidays, plus office closure time during the last week of December.

Duties & Responsibilities

Management

• Oversee the Communications team, including the supervision of at least 4 FTE Communications staff as well as potential vendors and contractors.
• Lead and contribute to the execution of a communications strategy and plan that raises visibility of the HAVI and advances the organization’s strategic goals.
• Lead a national narrative change initiative focused on equipping the community violence intervention field to shift mindsets about the causes of and solutions for community violence by aligning around and distributing accurate, empowering stories.
• Oversee communications work in the HAVI’s partnership with Kaiser Permanente Center for Gun Violence Research and Education.
• Drive departmental activities such as budgeting, work planning, staff development, and internal cross-departmental coordination.
• Establish and improve operational processes for managing and executing communications projects effectively and efficiently.
• Monitor and analyze trends and metrics to inform communication and marketing strategy and activities.
• Partner with the HAVI’s Organizational Growth and Equity division to establish effective internal communications efforts across our diverse and growing remote workforce.
• Ensure strategic alignment between communication and new business development.
• Build relationships and coordinate communications and marketing activities with staff and external partners.

Project Work

Branding and messaging:

• Develop, oversee, and maintain the integrity of the HAVI brand across all platforms; refresh and expand current attributes and guidelines to ensure alignment with the HAVI's values, vision, value proposition, and audiences served.
• Craft positioning and messaging for broad national audiences as well as for targeted audience segments and support staff in applying it with integrity across communications.
• Oversee the completion and evolution of the HAVI style guide.

Content strategy and development:

• Oversee and contribute to the development and design of content for a variety of audiences, channels, and formats, including one-sheets, brochures, pitch decks, infographics, reports, web content, social posts, and more. Includes oversight of strategy for the HAVI e-newsletter and social media channels and engagement of graphic design consultants.

Digital communications and marketing:

• Lead and support the development and execution of multi-channel campaigns in support of key business objectives (i.e., promoting policy positions, disseminating thought leadership content, growing membership and/or HVIPs, etc.).
• Oversee website strategy and management, including decisions about navigation, architecture, tech stack, and more.

Public relations:

• Develop a proactive press strategy to raise the visibility of the HAVI as a key player in the field of community violence intervention and the leading national expert on hospital-based violence intervention.
• Manage press inquiries and provide strategic counsel to other members of the communications team interacting with reporters.
• Prepare the HAVI’s leadership for media appearances, speaking engagements and other public appearances.
• Provide talking points and messaging support to staff in preparation for media interviews, professional conferences, and other high-visibility events.

Coalition engagement:

• Manage a national narrative change initiative that will include a working group of external collaborators from the CVI field; facilitate message testing and development efforts and create educational experiences (such as webinars) and tools to equip the field in aligning on and executing narrative change efforts.
• Provide communications support as needed for additional external collaborative efforts.

Thought Leadership

• Position executive director and key HAVI staff as leading national experts on public health approaches to violence prevention, including hospital-based violence intervention, with the media and other key stakeholders.
• Conceptualize and develop HAVI-branded knowledge products (e.g., practice briefs, white papers, videos) in coordination with subject matter experts.
• Generate ideas for events or activities designed to introduce the HAVI’s thought leadership – i.e. its unique point of view, recommendations, or research data to key audiences and organize them efficiently.
• Participate in the HAVI’s senior leadership team.

Business Development

• Cultivate and identify opportunities for strategic partnerships.
• Develop strategies in collaboration with staff to identify new marketing opportunities to expand HAVIs brand and reach.
• Develop and contribute to funding proposals and support funding strategies.

Candidate Qualifications

Special Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and at least 10 years of experience in communication and management.
• Proven work experience as a Communications Director or similar role.
• Strong skills in relationship management and engaging diverse stakeholders.
• Demonstrated knowledge and proficiency with communications technologies and platforms.
• Ability to craft effective and impactful messages and adapt them for different audiences.
• Understand principles of copywriting, graphic design, layout, and publishing.
• Familiarity with social media platforms and social media marketing.
• Demonstrated experience in strengths-based supervision of staff.
• Deep commitment to and passion for the vision and mission of the HAVI.
• Experience working in a virtual, fully remote environment strongly preferred.

Organizational Values and Competencies

• Skill in strategic thinking and problem-solving.
• Operates with a lens of equity, social justice, and trauma-informed approaches
• Demonstrated understanding of health and racial equity, the root causes of inequities, and racism as a public health crisis
• Commitment to advancing racial equity, demonstrated cultural humility, and celebration of diverse perspectives and lived experiences
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal skills in both virtual and in-person settings
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative team environment and to work independently as needed
• Proactive, solution-oriented work style
• Growth mindset and ability to adapt to changing needs
• Flexibility and a sense of humor
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Outlook, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint, and SharePoint
• Ability to learn software programs, including Insightly (CRM), Asana, and other tools used by the organization

This description is intended to indicate the kinds of work duties that will be required in this position. It is not intended to limit, or in any way modify, the rights of any supervisor to assign, direct, and contract work of staff under their supervision. The use of a particular illustration describing duties shall not be held to exclude other duties, not mentioned, that are of a similar level or difficulty.