Public Affairs Manager

The Campaign for College Opportunity (the Campaign) seeks a highly proactive, energetic, Public Affairs Manager to further the mission and work of the organization. Reporting to the Public Affairs Director and in close coordination with the Vice President of Partnerships and Policy Engagement, the Public Affairs Manager will lead the Campaign’s strategy to significantly improve college access, college-going, college completion, and affordability by strengthening local implementation of statewide policies, building local advocacy capacity in the Los Angeles, Inland Empire, and Central Valley regions, serving as a higher education resource for these regions, and activating regional partners to engage in statewide policy advocacy.

The Organization:

The Campaign for College Opportunity is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) broad-based, bipartisan coalition, including business, education, and civil rights leaders, that is dedicated to ensuring all Californians have an equal opportunity to attend and succeed in college to build a vibrant workforce, economy, and democracy. Our mission is focused on substantially increasing the number of students attending two- and four-year colleges in the state who complete their college education. Every day, the Campaign fights to make public policy changes to help more California students enter and complete college. The Campaign maintains offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

The Position

The Public Affairs Manager will serve as the Campaign’s leading advocate, liaison, and expert supporting regional and state engagement and statewide policy advocacy work. The position will require flexibility and the ability to travel throughout the state frequently, and maintain a balanced, team-centered approach when assigned to co-collaborate on Public Affairs projects and initiatives.

The successful candidate will have a passion for the transformative power of higher education and a commitment to resolving the inequities in college access and college completion that persist across race/ethnicity, income, and region in California. The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience building and leading advocacy-based coalitions. Familiarity with the regional and statewide political and higher education landscape is strongly preferred.The successful candidate will be a recognized leader with key contacts, political savvy, strong public speaking, and interpersonal and relationship-building skills.

More specifically, the Public Affairs Manager will:

• Ensure that key statewide higher education policies and goals are successfully implemented throughout the state. Through the management of the California Higher Education Engagement Hubs (Hubs), the Public Affairs Manager will work to empower regional and local leaders in the Los Angeles, Inland Empire, and Central Valley areas to bring attention and pressure to the following key issues:
• Improving transfer from community colleges to California’s 4-year universities;
• Redesigning and improving outcomes in basic skills/remedial education instruction at community colleges;
• Improving graduation rates and closing equity gaps across community colleges, the California State Universities, and University of California campuses;
• Preserving and expanding access and affordability across the state’s public colleges and universities, and;
• Supporting local initiatives that significantly increase college preparation, access, completion, affordability, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
• Build a regional coalition and cadre of advocates in Hub areas empowered to affect significant improvement in college access, success, and affordability. Develop relationships with local college campus leaders, including trustees, Presidents, faculty leaders, student leaders, and administrative leaders. Regularly attend governance meetings, hearings, and other relevant events. Develop relationships with external stakeholders interested in higher education, including local civil rights, community, and business leaders, and attend and participate in local meetings and events to deepen engagement in higher education efforts. Convene partners for briefings and development of a regional plan to improve college access, success, and affordability.
• Activate local stakeholders to participate in the Campaign’s statewide legislative efforts in Sacramento by writing letters of support for legislation, joining regional and Sacramento meetings with legislators and staff, engaging the media to raise awareness, and creating a regional movement in support of specific policies. Direct college and regional leaders to expert guidance and support as they develop proposals for student equity plans, basic skills grant opportunities, etc.
• Through local coalition building, the Public Affairs Manager will work to empower student leaders to bring attention and pressure to the following key issues:
• Improving transfer from community colleges to 4-year universities;
• Increasing the number of students enrolled in college-level coursework;
• Increasing access to financial aid for students with the highest need;
• Improving graduation rates and closing equity gaps across California Community Colleges (CCC), California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) campuses; and
• Supporting local initiatives significantly increasing college preparation, access, completion, and affordability.
• Facilitate and develop relationships with student leaders, student organizations, and other campus leaders. Regularly represent the Campaign at student governance meetings, hearings, and other relevant events, participating as necessary.
• Recruit and organize a cohort of student leaders from the UC, CSU, or CCC to serve in the Campaign’s Student Leadership Institute. This immersive policy training program prepares the next generation of student leaders to be changemakers in higher education. Facilitate training sessions for student leaders while identifying topical speakers to offer students advice and insight on their work.
• Support the Public Affairs Team through various engagement activities, including research dissemination, policy briefings, public testimony, speaking engagements, and organizing activities.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and execute management of the regional Hubs. This includes but is not limited to the following:
• Convene the Hubs to provide critical updates in the policy areas outlined above and to develop strategic advocacy plans to achieve full policy implementation. Develop and execute meaningful agendas that are informative and engaging. Convene Hubs in an ad-hoc fashion when advocacy campaigns or “breaking news” warrants;
• Deepen and broaden relationships with Hub partners and seek out new stakeholders interested in higher education, including regional civil rights, community, and business leaders, to grow impact. Attend and participate in local meetings and events to deepen engagement in the regions;
• Develop relationships with college campus leaders, including trustees, Presidents, faculty leaders, student leaders, and administrative leaders. Regularly attend governance meetings, hearings, and other relevant events and regularly contribute to inform participants of our key policy priorities;
• Monitor statewide policy implementation at the regional level and work with the senior team to develop goals for regional improvement.
• Mobilize regional coalitions to support statewide policies through advocacy campaigns that could include, but are not limited to, letters of support, calls and meetings with elected officials, public testimony, letters to the editor, and opinion editorials.
• Serve as an ambassador for the Campaign by providing testimony in front of governing bodies, informational briefings to partners, leading meetings with elected officials or governing board members, and crafting timely communications to inform and sustain local coalitions.
• Support the production of regional events such as roundtables, community panels, and news conferences as needed.
• Increase public awareness of the Campaign by maintaining relationships with local officials and their staff and community leaders.
• Represent the Campaign at relevant policy and community events.
• As necessary, provide one-on-one advocacy coaching, public speaking support to coalition partners.
• Create an annual recruitment plan to secure a diverse cohort of UC, CSU, and CCC students for the Student Leadership Institute.
• Develop, in coordination with the Public Affairs Director, a curriculum for the Student Leadership Institute program that includes a robust line-up of key speakers, a detailed agenda aligned with the Campaign’s policy priorities, and opportunities for students to apply their skills in real-world scenarios.
• Cultivate relationships with current and upcoming student leaders from the UC, CSU, and CCC systems, including elected student leaders in associated student organizations such as Associated Students Inc., Associated Students Org., Cal State Student Association, University of California Student Association and Student Senate for California Community Colleges.
• Support the Public Affairs Team through various engagement activities, including research dissemination, policy briefings, public testimony, speaking engagements, and organizing activities.
• Support the Public Affairs Team with report releases, including hosting briefings with associated student organizations, securing quotes, securing media interviews, promoting report findings to key student partners, and identifying diverse student speakers to be uplifted across the Campaign’s work.
• Serve as a thought partner and lead strategist in identifying opportunities to uplift student voice further and ensuring students are well-represented at decision-making tables.
• Be a leading spokesperson for the Campaign for College Opportunity.
• Provide regional update reports to senior leadership as needed.
• Other duties as needed to support the mission of the Campaign.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor's degree in public policy, public affairs, communications, education or other related field;
• A minimum of five years of relevant work experience (in outreach, advocacy, or community organizing);
• Excellent oral and written communications skills;
• Knowledge of the local education and political landscape; existing contacts in the Inland Empire a plus;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office;
• Digital fluency
• Strong organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail;
• Demonstrated ability to clearly and accurately describe complex issues in ways that different audiences can understand;
• Excellent project management skills and ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-moving, team-oriented environment.

Location

This is a hybrid position based in Los Angeles, with 2 days per week expected in office. Frequent travel will be required.

Vaccination Requirement

For the safety and wellbeing of our staff, the Campaign requires all employees to be fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters as a condition of employment.

For regular, full-time employees, our total compensation package includes competitive, equitable base pay and benefits as outlined below:

• Competitive and equitable salary – Salaries reflect our compensation philosophy of market competitiveness and pay equity. All candidates receive a first/best offer in line with our market for talent and geography, and that recognizes their education/training, years of experience, and level of expertise.
• Health Insurance – We pay 100% of medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums for employees and their dependents.
• Paid Time Off – We provide 3 weeks paid vacation, 13 paid holidays (including Cesar Chavez Day and Juneteenth), and 8 days paid sick leave, as well as extended holiday closures. Vacation increases to 4 weeks upon the employee’s 5th anniversary and 5 weeks upon the 10th.
• Retirement Savings – After 90 days of service, employees are eligible to enroll in our 401k plan, and for those who do enroll, we provide a generous 401k match of up to 5% with 100% immediate vesting.
• Flexible Spending Account – We provide an opportunity for employees to use pre-tax dollars for eligible Medical and Dependent Care expenses.
• Peace of Mind – We cover the cost of basic life insurance, long-term disability insurance, and AD&D insurance.
• Growth and Development – We value each team member’s professional growth and, through our Professional Development program, provide $1,000 per employee to put toward individualized development needs each year, as well as additional professional development opportunities, as approved by their supervisors.
• Sabbatical Program – Long-serving employees with outstanding performance are eligible for up to 12 weeks of sabbatical leave after 7+ years of service.