Careers

MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to building and applying reliable evidence about effective education and social policy programs that can improve the well-being of people with low incomes, seeks a Director for the Families & Children policy area. This is a unique opportunity to positively impact family and child well-being through rigorous, evidence-based research. The Director manages a team of 40 professionals, including five direct reports, and oversees a $15-million budget derived from both public and private sources.

This role oversees two critical bodies of work: Family Functioning and Early Childhood Education, both dedicated to enhancing the structures and systems that support families and children’s earliest stages of learning and development. This position offers an exceptional opportunity to lead a team of skilled researchers and shape a research agenda that employs transformative strategies and cutting-edge scientific methods. The Director’s work will drive real-world applications and influence policy decisions, with the goal of creating significant, systemic impact on the lives of children and families. 

The Executive Director of SC First Steps is responsible for the overall direction and management of the agency, balancing the need for consistent external engagement with partners, members of the SC General Assembly, the Governor’s Office, other state agencies, and families served with the need for thoughtful leadership of internal staff to ensure that programs and services delivered are sustainable and impactful.

The ideal candidate will be a visionary leader whose understanding of early childhood education systems and best practices enables inspirational leadership that encourages innovation and creative problem solving amongst staff and the system partners. Political agility and prior experience liaising with lawmakers could further enable success in this position. The ideal candidate will also exhibit excellent communication skills with the ability to effectively engage partners, staff, and stakeholders with diverse experiences and backgrounds around the SC First Steps mission. Additionally, experience in both state or local government as well as within the nonprofit sector would be highly beneficial in navigating this organization’s unique structure as both a state agency and nonprofit 501c(3) organization.

Reporting to FFYF’s Managing Director, Policy & National Partnerships, the Policy & Research Analyst is broadly responsible for conducting policy analysis and research, informing policy solutions, and developing resources to advance FFYF’s comprehensive federal policy agenda.

The Policy Fellow for Mental Health at Texans Care for Children is responsible for advancing policies that improve access to quality mental health services for children and families. To meet this responsibility, the Fellow, in partnership with the Director of Health Policy and members of the health policy team, will undertake policy analysis, draft policy briefs and outreach materials, participate in coalition meetings, and advocate during the 89th Texas legislative session.

Position Type: Full-time, Temporary. This is a two-year fellowship from August 2024 to July 2026.

The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) is seeking an Associate Director of Technical Assistance to co-construct CSCCE’s technical assistance strategy and to lead technical assistance activities to state and local policy leaders, including facilitating learning communities/communities of practice.

This position offers an exciting opportunity to join a team and organization nationally recognized for leadership in early care and education workforce research and policy. 

New America’s Early and Elementary Education Policy program seeks a policy analyst who will work to help ensure that all children have access to a system of high-quality early learning opportunities from birth through third grade that prepare them to thrive in school and in life. The successful candidate will play a central role in advancing priorities and key projects for the Early and Elementary Education Policy program. The policy analyst will conduct research projects to identify policy solutions and effectively communicate those solutions to policymakers, educators, the media, and other key audiences through regularly writing blog posts, policy briefs, and participating in public events.

Through original and rigorous research and analysis, the Research and Evaluation team at the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center builds the evidence base of the most effective policies and strategies for young children and their families, with a focus on implementation factors and equity. The center is looking for several energetic and experienced people for crucial data, research, and evaluation roles.

The Early Childhood Funders Collaborative is a network of national, regional, and local funders supports the healthy development and learning of children prenatal to age eight and their families, particularly low income and at-risk children, in the context of their communities.  ECFC administers the Raising Childcare Fund, a fund that combines resources to re-grant to state-based grassroots organizing to advance more public investment and equity in childcare.  The Associate Director of Philanthropy & Partnerships will work directly with national and local philanthropy, skilled organizers around the country, and national organizations as part of the growing movement to transform childcare. ECFC seeks an Associate Director for Philanthropy and Partnerships to work closely with the Director of the Raising Childcare Fund project to implement and continually improve RCCF strategy, to increase community organizing capacity and foundation commitment to resourcing groups, led by those with lived experience in the childcare system. The Associate Director will organize and facilitate peer learning among foundations to build knowledge of organizing and best practices in resourcing state ecosystems and social movement building. The Associate Director will be responsible, in close consultation with national movement partners, for managing the delivery of intentional and responsive technical assistance and skill-building opportunities matched to state organizations’ self-assessed needs and capacity. As part of a pooled fund that acts as an intermediary, the Associate Director will need to be comfortable with both sides of philanthropy as a grant applicant (fundraising) and a grants manager (issuing grants).

The Strategic Data Project at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University is looking to partner with someone with experience working directly with early education data to support the upcoming early ed working group in the next cohort of the SDP Fellowship. If you are interested in advising fellows working on compelling projects and eager to help realize a compelling curriculum of knowledge sharing, please apply!

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is seeking a Senior Policy Specialist. NAEYC is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research. NAEYC advances a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession and supports all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children.

This position is responsible for providing capacity-building support, resources and policy guidance to key decision-makers and advocacy leaders at the state and federal levels in order to advance the early childhood education profession. It plays a leading role in supporting the Managing Director for Policy and Professional Advancement in implementing NAEYC’s federal and state policy agenda and advancing the profession.

Children First plays a leadership role in setting and advancing local and state policy priorities to create a high quality of system of supports for children under the age of five in Philadelphia and the surrounding Pennsylvania counties.  The organization is seeking a leader with a proven track record of effectively leading stakeholder processes and coalitions to effect public will to improve public policy. Ley duties include leading the development and implementation of advocacy strategies to advance state and local policy priorities that meet the needs of infants, toddlers, and pre-school aged children by developing messaging documents, recruiting community leaders to participate in our advocacy, and creating and expanding broad based coalitions. The policy director will also mobilize people in Children First’s early childhood networks and parents/caregivers to shape health policy through civic engagement

The Early Educator Investment Collaborative (The Collaborative) is a group of national Early Childhood Education (ECE) focused funders who envision a country in which opportunity and achievement gaps no longer exist so that all students, especially children from families with low incomes and children of color, make significant and sustained gains in cognitive, social, and emotional development. The Program Assistant will support the Director with a wide range of administrative and communications support. The Program Assistant will also provide support to The Collaborative’s Steering Committee. This position will be 37.5 hours per week from the employee’s home office.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has an opportunity for a policy professional with comprehensive knowledge of child and family well-being, coupled with specific expertise in early childhood and child care programs, systems, governance, workforce and financing. The organization is looking for someone who excels in policy research, analysis, and writing. The Senior Policy Specialist produces policy-oriented publications, leads the planning and execution of meetings and educational events, and provides direct assistance to state legislators and legislative staff. As a valued member of the Children and Families team, the Senior Policy Specialist plays a significant role in fostering a culture of program innovation and excellence. This position reports to an associate director of the Children and Families Program. No supervisory duties are expected at this time.

Trust for Learning seeks a Director of Policy and ExternalCommunications to manage the organization’s external communications and policy strategies to support, amplify, and promote ideal learning environments for all children. The Director will work collaboratively with a diverse range of stakeholders, including grantee partners, think tanks, and government agencies to support and amplify ideal learning approaches, practices, and policies. In collaboration with the Chief Policy and Strategy Officer, The Director will contribute to the development of Trust for Learning’s proactive policy agenda with specific focus on state and federal early learning programs and issues regarding children, birth to age eight.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families is looking for a team member who will lead their policy work and be responsible for developing and implementing AACF’s policy agenda by providing support and guidance to the policy staff. The policy director will also be responsible for policy issues that are not supported by other policy staff members. AACF’s mission is to ensure all children and their families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize their full potential.