Job Opportunities at Advocates for Youth
Advocates for Youth is dedicated to creating programs and promoting policies that help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health. Since 1980, Advocates has provided information, training, and advocacy to youth, youth-serving organizations, policy-makers, and the media in the U.S. and internationally.
Advocates
for Youth relies on dedicated staff to accomplish its mission.
Below are current job openings.
Managing Editor, Youth Activist Web site
Program Description:
The Initiative for Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization is a three-year project designed to mobilize a strong and vocal youth constituency in support of honest sex education and other sexual health services at the national and state levels. The project is composed of three interrelated objectives: 1) to use new media strategies and youth activism to propel sex education and other sexual health needs of young people onto the progressive political agenda (cultural advocacy); 2) to assist state coalitions to advocate for the elimination of abstinence-only funding and to promote comprehensive sex education policy; and 3) to build a strong and vocal youth activist constituency that will safeguard sex education and other adolescent sexual health services in five target states and at the federal level.
Position Description:
The Editor will be responsible for all daily operations of a new state-of-the-art activist community website and action center. The successful candidate will manage front page and feature content for the site, monitor and grow site activities, and work with youth activists and Advocates’ staff to coordinate a variety of advocacy campaigns. Under the supervision of the Associate Director, E-Campaign Strategies, the Editor will build an online community of youth activists and progressive allies to embolden a new youth movement in support of the sexual and reproductive health rights of young people. The Editor will also work with other Departments to coordinate all work related to the website.
Working with the Associate Director, E-Campaign Strategies, the Editor will represent the organization’s youth activist’s website in the public arena, especially with the online progressive community, colleague organizations and other youth activist networks.
Responsibilities:
- Responsible for the daily operations of Advocates for Youth’s youth activist website.
- Manages all featured content for the website including: authoring diaries related to current events; updating Advocates’ online campaigns; monitoring youth politics and advocacy; and scheduling and posting diaries from guest bloggers and Advocates’ staff.
- Recruits, trains and supervises a group of 8-10 youth front page bloggers; including editing and posting their blogs, monitoring state flash points and assigning blog topics as needed.
- Recruits and trains bloggers from current Advocates youth activist groups and assistas them in drafting blogs.
- Develops a network of regular guest bloggers among relevant partner organizations, blogs, and online communities.
- Edits blogs, web entries, and publications written by guest bloggers and youth activists.
- Cross posts relevant front page and diary content on Facebook, MySpace, other blogs and online communities, and Advocates for Youth’s Web site as appropriate.
- Manages community building aspects of the site including: identifying and organizing and directing traffic to specific campaigns or areas of the site; overseeing outreach opportunities; and emailing invitations to the site and developing relationships with site users.
- Monitors site activities and content, enforces terms of use, assists users with site operations and technical issues, and accepts ongoing site feedback.
- Monitors the blogosphere, including opposition blogs, for breaking and relevant current events and distributes tips to website writers accordingly.
- Writes online blogs highlighting flash points in the culture and demonstrating the hypocrisy of society related to youth, politics, the media, and sex.
- Researches and validates user-created action alert submissions and coordinates potential supporting diaries.
- Works with the Manager, Internet Services to coordinate content on the youth activist website with Advocates for Youth’s other websites, including the main website, YouthResource and MySistahs.
- Works with the Associate Director, E-Campaign Strategies and outside consultants to implement an annual marketing and netroots outreach plan, including objectives, time lines, activities, and budgets.
- Coordinates with the Director of Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization and the Associate Director, E-Campaign Strategies to implement national advocacy campaigns and evaluate their effectiveness in growing a youth activist movement.
- Works with the Director of Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization and the State Strategies Managers to implement online components of the cultural advocacy initiative within the five target states, including the creation of individual state web pages, state-wide youth activist databases, cross posting of activities on FaceBook and MySpace and with other online communities.
- Works with the Development Director and Manager of Individual Giving to implement online fundraising components for the site.
- Works with the Director of the Media Project to create content and link to on-line entertainment sites with large youth audiences.
- Compiles and maintains a list of key netroots contacts.
- Conducts other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
Bachelor’s Degree in communications, political science or related field. Experience in web design preferred. At least three years experience in online community building, blogging, and grassroots organizing. Demonstrated commitment to youth activism and social justice issues. Ability to coordinate and track multiple, and often simultaneous, national and state-wide online campaigns. Excellent writing skills a must.
Salary Range:
Commensurate with experience.
To Apply:
Interested parties should send the following items via email to afyhr@advocatesforyouth.org or via fax to (202) 419-1448, attn: Human Resources:
- Cover letter with salary history and requirements
- Resume
- 3 reference
- 3 writing samples (at least 2 should be published blogs)
No phone calls, please
Director of Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization
Program Description:
The Initiative for Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization is a three-year project designed to mobilize a strong and vocal youth constituency in support of honest sex education and other sexual health services at the national and state levels. The project is composed of three interrelated objectives: 1) to use new media strategies and youth activism to propel sex education and other sexual health needs of young people onto the progressive political agenda (cultural advocacy); 2) to assist state coalitions to advocate for the elimination of abstinence-only funding and to promote comprehensive sex education policy; and 3) to build a strong and vocal youth activist constituency that will safeguard sex education and other adolescent sexual health services in five states and at the federal level.
Position Description:
The Director of Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization will be responsible for the strategic vision, implementation, and evaluation of the Initiative for Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization. The successful candidate will manage 3.5 department staff, including: two state strategy managers, a manager of social networking and mobilization, and 50 percent of a manager for new media and marketing. Under the supervision of the Vice President for Policy, Communications, and Marketing, the Director of Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization will build a team of professionals to embolden a new youth movement in support of the sexual health rights of young people. Strategies to conduct this work will include, but are not limited to: the use of new media technology, including a new state-of-the-art social networking Web site with Facebook synchronization, a take action center, and a large blog roll; national, state and campus-wide advocacy campaigns; the provision of technical assistance and training for state advocacy organizations working on sex education; the conduct of youth activists institutes in five states and at the national level; and the conduct of an annual state summit for state advocacy organizations. The Director will also be responsible for coordinating the work of the department with the rest of Advocates’ initiatives, including its Youth Activist Network Campus Project and communications and policy departments.
With the Vice President of Policy, Communications, and Marketing, the Director of Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization will act as the organization’s voice on this initiative in the public arena, including with colleague organizations and the media, and will oversee Advocates’ grassroots mobilization functions.
Responsibilities:
- Develops project strategy, including an organizational vision for the implementation, expansion, and evaluation of the initiative.
- Formulates an annual operational plan, including project work plans, objectives, time lines, activities, and budgets.
- Works with the Manager of Cultural Advocacy and Mobilization and the New Media and Marketing Manager to design, implement, and evaluate national advocacy campaigns to grow a youth activist movement.
- Directs the creation, marketing, and expansion of a new social networking Web site for youth activists.
- Oversees the implementation, expansion, and evaluation of Advocates’ “Great American Condom Campaign.”
- Writes a weekly blog highlighting flash points in the culture and demonstrating the hypocrisy of society related to youth and sex.
- Edits blogs, web entries, and publications written by department staff and youth activists.
- Works with the State Strategies Managers to development, implement, and evaluate plans to build large, strong youth activists networks in five states and to help these youth engage in activism to support sex education and other sexual health services at the state and federal levels.
- Works with the State Strategies Managers to coordinate their work with that of other national organizations working on state policy and/or youth activism, including but not limited to Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Ms Foundation, SIECUS, and Choice USA.
- Works with the State Strategies Managers to develop, implement, and evaluate plans to provide training and technical assistance for state advocacy coalitions to build their capacity to advocate for comprehensive sex education policy at the state and local levels.
- Assists department staff to connect the initiative to the larger progressive movement.
- Develops funding proposals and written reports detailing success and challenges relevant to the initiative.
- Manages department staff, including the provision of daily guidance, the creation and implementation of staff development plans, the conduct of weekly staff meetings, and the conduct of annual employee evaluations.
- Reports on program progress, opportunities, and barriers in both routine written reports and in-person meetings to appropriate Advocates’ staff and Board of Directors.
- Conducts evaluation of department activities.
- Assists Advocates’ President in securing funding to support project activities, including identifying funding sources and meeting with funders, as appropriate. Develops proposals, reports, and meeting summaries related to funding needs and requirements.
- Conducts other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
Master Degree and three to five years experience or Bachelor’s Degree with five to eight years of experience in national/state political campaigns or state ballot initiative campaigns. Experience in grassroots mobilization and/or social justice movements a plus. Knowledge of adolescent reproductive and sexual heath issues a must. Demonstrated commitment to youth activism. Working knowledge of and facility with new media strategies. Ability to develop “big picture” strategy while keeping track of details. Excellent writing skills. Commitment to Advocates for Youth’s mission and goals.
To Apply:
Interested parties should send the following items via email to marcela@advocatesforyouth.org or via fax to (202) 419-1448, attention: Vice President, Policy, Communications, and Marketing:
- Cover letter with salary history
- Resume
- 3 references
- 2-3 page policy writing sample
No phone calls, please.
Press Secretary
Program Description:
The goals of Advocates’ communications strategy are to enhance the visibility of the organization with sexual and reproductive health professionals, youth activists, policy makers, funders, and the general public; to promote the Rights.Respect.Responsibility.® (3Rs) vision; and to reframe the media and public debate on adolescent reproductive and sexual health issues.
General Description:
As part of Advocates for Youth’s communications strategy, the Press Secretary provides day-to-day media outreach and response, with an emphasis on print, broadcast, and online media coverage. Working with the Vice President, Policy, Communications, and Marketing, the Press Secretary will implement strategies to enhance the visibility of the organization at the national and state levels on a variety of adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues.
Responsibilities:
- Work with the Vice President, Policy, Communications, and Marketing to develop effective vehicles for the dissemination of Advocates’ message, including op-eds, press statements, briefings, editorial board meetings, internet strategies, etc.
- Work closely with the Vice President, Policy, Communications, and Marketing to place positive stories and manage negative news coverage in national and state media outlets.
- Serve as primary media contact for incoming media inquiries from newspapers, television, radio, and blogs.
- Conduct daily media searches to identify articles related to Advocates’ issues in state news outlets with particular focus on Advocates’ current targeted states.
- Each morning, research, assemble, and distribute “Today’s News” - a compilation of all the daily media coverage on adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues.
- Track media coverage on adolescent sexual health issues at the state and national levels to determine developing trends.
- Assist the Vice President, Policy, Communications, and Marketing to identify strategies to respond effectively to trends identified through the analysis, including helping to craft appropriate talking points and identify appropriate messengers.
- Update and maintain Advocates’ talking points and organizational collateral for media events and outreach.
- Manage, expand, and maintain certain Communications Department systems, including a national and state-by-state media databases within the organization that will allow Advocates to raise its profile with the media.
- Maintain media clips file for dissemination to Board members, funders, and colleague organizations.
- Help write and issue press releases, media advisories, blog entries, and other external communications, sometimes in “rapid response” to breaking news.
- Pitch story ideas to select reporters, columnists, assignment editors, and editorial writers.
- Assist in the media training of colleagues and youth activists to respond to media inquiries.
- Identify and maintain appropriate Advocates’ materials to send to journalists and columnists in response to articles and editorials they have written.
- Produce monthly reports on media coverage, including media inquiries, outreach, and coverage as needed to support grant writing and reporting.
Qualifications:
Bachelors Degree in Communications or related field and at least three years of communications or public relations experience is required. Must have good writing skills, including knowledge of AP style. Exceptional ability to handle multiple tasks while demonstrating attention to detail a must. Ability to work in a team environment with minimal supervision. Knowledge of and experience with reproductive health issues desirable.
Salary Range:
Commensurate with experience.
To Apply:
Interested parties should send the following items via email to marcela@advocatesforyouth.org or via fax to (202) 419-1448, attention: Vice President, Policy, Communications, and Marketing.
- Cover letter with salary history and requirements
- Resume
- 2 writing samples
- 3 references
No phone calls please.
Advocates for Youth values the opportunity for interns to be a part of its work. The goal of Advocates' internship program is to provide undergraduate/graduate students with a successful and meaningful opportunity to learn about Advocates' mission and programs, contribute to the work of the organization during a limited time period, and gain meaningful professional experience.
Stipend: Advocates offers a limited number
of paid internships. Compensation will be based on the
District of Columbia's minimum wage for each hour worked.
Unpaid internships are also available to students who receive
credit for their work.
Unpaid interns will receive an expense stipend of $200 per month to cover
expenses related to their working at Advocates.
Application Procedure: Interested students should submit a resume with a cover letter via email or postal mail to the Director of Internships, Advocates for Youth, 2000 M Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20036.
No phone calls, please.
These are ongoing positions and applications are accepted year-round. Please specify the internship period—Summer (approximately June to August), Fall (approximately September to December), and Spring (approximately January to May)—as well as the program/project in which you are interested in your cover letter. Also, please do not cut and paste language directly from our Web site into your cover letter.
Advocates for Youth seeks an intern to work 20 hours per week in its development department. As the development intern, the individual will provide support to the Director of Development, with a primary focus on foundation prospect research and assisting with writing initial letters of inquiry. Assistance with general office administration will be also required, including organizing files, processing thank you letters, and packaging and sending grant reports and proposals. The individual should enjoy and have strong skills in Internet research and writing, be highly detail oriented, and have the ability to work on multiple projects independently.
This is an excellent opportunity for someone who wants to learn more about fundraising and has a general interest in adolescent reproductive and sexual health issues. Advocates is highly committed to youth development, and therefore provides its interns with a flexible and supportive work environment in which each intern can find ways to pursue his or her own interests while here.
Duties:
- Prospect research, with a primary focus on foundations. Includes helping to research, summarize, and organize current foundation prospect guidelines.
- Assistance with grant writing.
- Administrative duties—including organizing files, processing thank you letters, etc.—as needed.
Qualifications:
- Desire to learn more about fundraising and grant writing, in addition to some interest in adolescent reproductive and sexual health issues.
- High level of attention to detail, solid organizational skills.
- Good to excellent writing skills.
- Some familiarity with Internet research.
- Ability to work independently.
- Sense of humor.
Application Procedure: Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and three references to the Director of Development, Advocates for Youth, 2000 M Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20036. No phone calls, please. This is an ongoing position and applications are accepted year-round. Please specify the internship period—Summer (June to August), Fall (September to December), and Spring (January to May)—in the cover letter.
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