Managing Director, Advocacy

Managing Director, Advocacy

About the Role

Good Reason Houston and our partner organization, Houstonians for Great Public Schools (Houston GPS) are working to make Houston the top public education city in the nation by transforming the educational experience for Houston students. The Managing Director of Advocacy will serve as a shared resource between Good Reason Houston and Houston GPS and will play a crucial role in driving the mission forward for both organizations. The Managing Director of Advocacy will develop and oversee a holistic advocacy and political strategy to shape the future of public education in Houston by developing meaningful relationships with key regional stakeholders, including community leaders, policymakers, and grassroots supporters.

An ideal candidate for this role is an experienced advocacy or political leader who will position the organization as a powerful advocate for public education transformation in Houston. This candidate will thrive in a fast-paced environment, possess strong strategic instincts, and be passionate about leveraging advocacy to influence stakeholders, drive policy change, and elevate leaders and issues aligned with our organizations. 

This high-impact role will be tasked with designing an adaptive advocacy strategy, evaluating progress towards advocacy priorities and empowering your team to execute diverse community engagement strategies effectively. 

This position will also support the work of our partner organization, Houstonians for Great Public Schools, by designing political strategy for both school board candidate cultivation and regional campaigns,  and leading a team working to build grassroots and grasstops electoral pressure to increase the number of great public schools.  

The Managing Director of Advocacy reports to the Chief Policy Officer of Good Reason Houston and the Executive Director of Houston GPS. 
 

The ideal candidate for this role will be:

• An experienced leader and people manager: You will lead and develop a team of advocacy professionals including the Director of Grassroots Engagement and Organizing and the Director of Civic Leadership Engagement, setting clear vision, direction, and expectations. You will leverage the strengths of your team to deliver against organizational goals and serve as a direct manager, responsible for supporting the success and development of your team. 

• A strategic thinker and political strategist: You will guide the development of sophisticated candidate and campaign strategies, ensuring that they are effectively communicated and executed to influence the public education landscape in Houston.

• A connector and coalition builder: You will be adept at building and sustaining relationships with key stakeholders, including grassroots and grasstops supporters, to amplify the organization’s advocacy efforts and broaden its influence.

• Data-driven and impact-focused: You will set ambitious targets for advocacy efforts and rigorously assess the efficacy of the strategies in place, making data-informed adjustments to ensure the organization’s advocacy goals are met.

• Equity-minded: You will be committed to addressing patterns of inequity in education and will ensure that all advocacy efforts reflect a dedication to creating a more equitable public education system for all students in Houston.

The ideal candidate will believe in: 

• Students First.  School leaders must prioritize students and student academic outcomes in all decisions.  
• Transparent and Accurate Measurement of Student Achievement. School performance and student academic achievement must be transparent and easily understood by parents, students, and communities so they may hold systems accountable for student learning. 
• Accountability.  Adults and systems must be held accountable for student success.  School leaders must use academic accountability data to make decisions to improve student achievement.
• Immediate & Persistent Action.  School leaders must take immediate and persistent action to improve D and F rated schools.  

Primary Responsibilities

Advocacy Team Leadership

• Develop and execute a holistic advocacy strategy that aligns with the organizations’ mission and goals. 
• Lead the advocacy team, which currently includes the Director of Grassroots Engagement and Organizing and the Director of Civic Leadership, to ensure cohesive execution of the strategy.
• Provide leadership and coaching to direct reports, fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment, ensuring that the advocacy team is equipped with the resources and guidance necessary to succeed.
• Collaborate with other departments, including communications, research, and advancement, to integrate advocacy initiatives across the organization.
• Co-design and monitor key performance indicators for advocacy initiatives, making informed adjustments as needed to achieve organizational goals.

Grassroots and Grasstops Engagement

• Oversee the development of strategies for engaging and mobilizing grassroots supporters. Ensure the team is creating opportunities for supporters to participate in advocacy efforts effectively.
• Guide the team in building and maintaining relationships with influential community leaders, business leaders, and other key stakeholders to amplify advocacy efforts.
• Develop and support strategies for forming and maintaining coalitions with like-minded organizations to strengthen advocacy campaigns and broaden influence.
• Ensure the advocacy team is providing high-quality training and resources to grassroots and grasstops advocates, empowering them to effectively support the organization’s policy priorities.

Candidate and Campaign Strategy 

• Develop a strategic approach to candidate identification and support, ensuring alignment with the organizations’ mission. Oversee the team’s efforts in providing strategic guidance and resources to endorsed candidates.
• Develop and guide endorsement processes. 
• Lead the creation of campaign strategies that advance the organizations’ advocacy goals; ensuring the team is effectively executing strategies, including messaging, outreach, and coalition building, and voter engagement.
• Direct the development of relationships with key, local figures and other stakeholders, enhancing the organizations’ influence.
• Ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and ethical standards as it relates to Houston GPS’ political program.

Other duties as assigned by the Chief Policy Officer of Good Reason Houston and the Executive Director of Houston GPS.

Qualifications & Key Attributes

• Seasoned advocacy professional with at least 10 years of relevant experience in political campaigns and advocacy.
• Experience in the Houston political landscape is a plus.
• Significant experience developing and leading organization-wide advocacy strategies.
• Superior political acumen and strategic thinking in navigating complex policy and political environments.
• Exceptional relationship-building skills with key stakeholders, including community leaders.
• Strong campaign strategy development and oversight experience.
• Proven leadership excellence with a track record of managing and mentoring high-performing teams.
• Highly effective communicator with superior written and verbal communication skills.
• Exceedingly strong collaboration skills and ability to work across departments and with external partners.
• Analytical and data-driven with a keen sense of how to measure and assess the impact of advocacy efforts.
• Experience with a CRM and/or voter database system is required. 
• Due to the external-facing nature of the work, this role is expected to work outside of traditional office hours when required, including holidays and weekends, and should have reliable transportation to fulfill job responsibilities. 

Our Team

Along with our core beliefs, the traits listed below were generated by the team to capture what it looks like in action when operating at our best. 

We embrace and drive change.

We are flexible and fierce.

We operate with a bold bias toward action.

We fess up when we mess up.

We dare greatly and engage humbly.  

We grow as we go.

We turn up the love when we turn up the heat. 

We root for each other. 

Good Reason Houston staff are expected to support this organizational culture by promoting and adhering to these team traits to maintain an open and cohesive work environment and relationships.

Working at Good Reason Houston

Good Reason Houston offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience in a similar position. New hires are offered a salary depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. Benefits offered include 401(k) (automatic 3% employer contribution), life, medical, dental and vision insurance packages. Each employee accrues 35 paid time off days per calendar year in addition to the 19 paid holidays per year. Good Reason Houston is an office-based organization, but allows for virtual work on Mondays and Fridays.

Apply at www.GoodReasonHouston.org/Careers.