State Relations Associate- Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center

The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, within the Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, aims to accelerate states’ equitable implementation of evidence-based policies that help all children thrive from the start. The outreach team at the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center works to foster and build relationships with state policy leaders and advocates, and to translate our rigorous research findings into policy action. The State Relations Associate will support our targeted state engagement efforts by building relationships with state leaders and advocates, connecting research to policy, and articulating and sharing the value of the Center’s resources with relevant parties. 

General Notes: 

This position reports to the State Relations Manager. Applicants from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse environment to continue to build a strong and equitable prenatal-to-3 system of care. This position can be performed remotely, and hybrid remote-work opportunities are available.  

Please note: This role does not offer Visa sponsorship.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of the position include: 

Project support and management: 

• Contribute to the implementation of a state engagement strategy to expand the reach of the Center’s work and engage in targeted state support efforts. 

• Seek innovative ways to help the Center meet its goal of expanding its impact and reach across states 

• Routinely document project goals, deliverables, and timelines  

• Demonstrate ownership of project timelines, analysis, and all work products 

• Communicate and work collaboratively with other staff to ensure organizational goals are met 

• Contribute to developing and improving processes and procedures that improve work flow with and across teams 

• Be an engaged partner in all work managed by the Outreach and State Relations team 

State engagement and relationship building:  

• Identify and cultivate relationships with diverse state leaders – elected officials, advocacy coalitions leaders, and other contacts – across the 50 states plus DC 

• Collaborate with Policy Impact Center researchers to marshal relevant and needed resources for state leaders, and facilitate connections between Policy Impact Center researchers and state leaders 

• Promote the Policy Impact Center’s work and comparative advantage with state leaders 

• Remain informed about Roadmap-aligned state policy activity across the country to assist in the identification of opportunities for targeted state engagements 

• Identify and secure opportunities for the Center to share its work at events, through presentations and legislative testimony 

• Identify opportunities for, and support the planning of, state visits 

• Contribute to the planning and implementation of Center webinars and events 

• Represent the Center at events and other stakeholder engagement opportunities within states and actively network with state leaders during events to build strong relationships and learn about and actively support their PN-3 priorities 

• Participate in out-of-state travel up to roughly 10 to 20% of normal work time 

 

Supervisory Relationships 

This position does not have supervisory responsibility. This position reports administratively and functionally to the State Relations Manager.  

 

Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree and a minimum of two years of related experience public policy, government relations or public relations experience is necessary

• Expertise in individual state policy ecosystems, and the differences among state contexts 

• Deep understanding of the state legislative process 

• Experience with relationship building and management with state policy leaders inside and outside of government 

• Excellent project management and organizational skills, strong critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, tenacity about details and organization 

• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to summarize complex concepts clearly  

• Able to come up to speed on new topics quickly, multi-task effectively, and produce high-quality work under time constraints; flexible and able to adapt to changing timelines and circumstances when needed 

• Exceptional int