Those who insist that we cannot solve America’s education problems without first solving poverty have it exactly backwards: we will never solve poverty until we guarantee a great education for all our children.
This belief inspires our work at 50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now, a nonprofit advocacy organization that recruits and supports local leaders who build citizen movements in their states to ensure that every child has access to a great school. 50CAN is led by President & Founder Marc Porter Magee, and is built on the groundbreaking accomplishments of ConnCAN, where he spent six years as its chief operating officer. 50CAN operates campaigns in Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
As part of 50CAN’s eight-person national campaigns team, the policy and research manager will help produce research materials and policy recommendations for 50CAN’s state campaigns. This position reports to the senior vice president of campaigns and will join a team of two additional policy and research managers as well as four communications professionals.
Key Responsibilities
Provide state campaigns with policy support
Support state teams as needed by drafting issue briefs, one-pagers, research reports, testimony, talking points and other materials to make a research case for our policy goals. Lead creation of model legislation, policy crosswalks, national best-practice scans and other materials in support of specific annual and long-term policy goals. Conduct qualitative research including in-state interviews and quantitative research including analysis of state data and quick-turnaround data requests to support media inquiries, legislative asks and other needs. Provide feedback to team members on research techniques, advocacy strategies and writing.
Become a go-to expert on policy
In addition to broad support for state teams across education policy areas, each policy and research manager will be responsible for becoming the organization’s go-to expert on one key policy area by reading every new report and key historical reports on the issue cover-to-cover, synthesizing the newest research on the issue for staff in regular briefings, building relationships with key experts from other organizations in this area, attending conferences and panels on the issue and writing blog posts and other social media content.
These key policy areas include school choice, teacher quality, Common Core State Standards and early childhood education.
Staff special projects
Support 50CAN’s policy work in special projects including creation of an online “Ed Reform 101” course, online School and District Report Cards mapped to new Common Core State Standards, annual State of Public Education reports in each state, seven-year policy blueprints and quick-turnaround analysis for release of test scores.
Key Skills, Abilities and Experience
The ideal candidate has a strong commitment to 50CAN's mission of great schools for all, and possesses:
- A master’s degree in public policy, education policy or related fields, or an equivalent level of experience working in education policy analysis and research.
- Demonstrated ability to initiate and successfully manage projects.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment with multiple and varied assignments.
- Outstanding research and writing abilities; the ability to quickly gather and analyze both quantitative and qualitative education-related information from various sources concisely and accurately with unwavering attention to detail; knowledge of Excel required.
- 50CAN’s core values (“PORCH”): Plussing it, Optimism, Relentlessness, Candor and Humility.
- Commitment to 50CAN’s mission.
Interested candidates should send a cover letter and resume to christina.vanoverbeke@50can.org.
Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. This position is based in Washington, D.C. 50CAN offers a comprehensive benefits package.
50CAN is an equal opportunity employer.