Policy Manager

About MinnCAN
Since 2011, MinnCAN: The Minnesota Campaign for Achievement Now–a local, independent education advocacy nonprofit–has advocated for the success of every Minnesota child, from pre-K through college and career. We improve policy to help all students thrive, and share promising practices and stories to demonstrate that all kids CAN succeed. MinnCAN has an energetic, results-driven team working on state-level opportunities to eradicate Minnesota’s pervasive education opportunity gaps. MinnCAN is a part of the 50CAN network. For more information, please visit www.minncan.org.

About the position
The Policy Manager will be responsible for crafting and implementing state policies that build momentum to give parents the option to select the best educational choices for their children.

The Policy Manager will be our in-house expert on state charter school policy and best practices, working with local school leaders and authorizers to understand their needs, building relationships with national charter experts and working closely with state policymakers to advance needed change. The Policy Manager will work on public charter school issues including, but not limited to, accountability and funding.

The Policy Manager will also explore and advance other policies that ensure students have access to school options that are both high-quality and culturally/academically relevant throughout the PreK-12 pipeline, including but not limited to high-quality, parent-directed pre-K and dual enrollment for secondary students.

The ideal candidate will possess excellent relationship-building skills, a relentless commitment to educational equity and the ability to work closely with a team while playing a leadership role in building MinnCAN’s work around charters and school choice. The ideal candidate will have a working knowledge of both education and public policy.

The Policy Manager will work out of the MinnCAN office in Minneapolis, Minn. and report to the Deputy Director.  

Responsibilities
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Building and maintaining a deep understanding of existing state charter and choice policies and laws in Minnesota, including fostering meaningful relationships with key partners;
• Building and maintaining an understanding of the national charter and choice landscape, including bringing national best practices into the local conversation;
• Working closely with local independent school leaders, charter school leaders and authorizers to understand barriers and opportunities, and both build and activate effective practitioner coalitions;
• Working with state legislators to advance state policy around charters and choice, from relationship-building to bill-drafting to strategy development to testifying;
• Working with parents and students from low-income families and communities of color to understand their needs as related to school choice, and identifying and advancing appropriate policy solutions;
• Conducting background research and developing written documents to support advocacy initiatives, working closely with MinnCAN and 50CAN colleagues;
• Representing MinnCAN at public events and presenting on our work; and
• Collaborating closely with other team members to advance the larger MinnCAN mission and vision, building a strong strategic partnership with MinnCAN’s Advocacy Manager, executing on projects with MinnCAN’s Public Affairs Manager and building strong working relationship with national policy/research staff.

Qualifications
The ideal candidate has a strong commitment to education reform, school choice and MinnCAN’s mission to make sure every Minnesota child has access to a great public school. The position requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree with at least two years of experience working in the fields of education and/or policy. Experience working with or deep knowledge of charter and/or independent schools strongly preferred.

Ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Exceptional organizational and project management skills. Able to self-direct and prioritize among competing goals to create manageable work plans and initiate process improvements.
• General understanding of political and legislative processes, and of education policy specifically. 
• Working knowledge of differences between traditional public, public charter and independent schools.
• Strong verbal communication skills. Ability to speak publicly, before legislators and the community.
• Strong writing skills, with ability to convey accurate, persuasive messages to multiple audiences.
• Sense of humor, strong work ethic, creativity and willingness to do “whatever it takes” in a fast-paced work environment.
• Record of perseverance in the face of challenges, delivers against timelines, not intimidated by tasks/time limitations.
• Integrity (doing what’s right, even when it is uncomfortable), transparency, candor and directness, along with a strong commitment to collaboration.