Job
Description—Oral Health America
Public Affairs
Associate
December 2016
Classification:
Exempt
Status: Full-time
Reports to: Public
Affairs Coordinator
Location: Chicago, IL
Organization
Description
Oral Health America (OHA) is the
nation’s premier independent 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to
connecting communities with resources to drive access to care, increase health
literacy and advocate for policies that improve oral health for all Americans,
especially those most vulnerable. A national organization, founded in 1955, and
based in Chicago, IL, OHA is working to ensure that everyone can have a healthy
mouth, that oral diseases are prioritized along with other chronic diseases and
oral health is understood and valued as critical to overall health and
wellness. Through programs
including the Wisdom Tooth Project®, Smiles Across America® and communication
strategies leveraged through the Campaign for Oral Health Equity, OHA provides
a pathway to oral health care and education so that Americans of all ages can
have a healthy mouth and understand the impact of oral health on overall
health.
For more information, visit www.oralhealthamerica.org.
To be considered for this position, please forward Cover Letter and Resume to Christine.Spencer@oralhealthamerica.org.
No phone calls please.
Position Description
The Public
Affairs Associate (PAA) will support the Public Affairs Coordinator (PAC) to
ensure that Oral Health America’s (OHA) Advocacy goals are realized: to empower
the public, engage policymakers, and elevate partnerships. This new
position will support the OHA Board’s commitment to heighten the Advocacy ‘pillar’
in OHA’s mission, as well as our work with the DentaQuest Foundation’s Oral
Health 2020 initiative. Within this
multi-year systems-change effort to eradicate dental disease in children and
improve oral health across the lifespan, OHA’s specific focus is the inclusion
of a comprehensive adult dental benefit in Medicare by the year 2020.
The PAA and PAC
will be responsible for leveraging the national relationships developed during
2015 and 2016 with oral health, aging and public policy organizations to involvement
by ‘grass middle’ and ‘grass roots’ organizations. Key to OHA and the Oral
Health 2020 Network’s success with this initiative is the participation of
multi-level stakeholders—national, state, and local. The PAC will be responsible for materials development,
tracking of state legislation, database development and upkeep, and fostering
relationships with state, local, and community stakeholders.
Responsibilities
·
Work
with CEO & PAC to develop and implement a strategic plan to realize OHA’s
Advocacy goals and support OHA’s commitment to the Oral Health 2020 goal of
achieving a dental benefit in Medicare by 2020.
·
Identify
and engage new and existing state and community level partners to join the
Medicare Movement.
·
Educate new state and community partners on the purpose of
the Medicare Movement and communicate opportunities for collaboration.
·
Continue
to mobilize existing coalition partners to deepen their involvement.
·
Collaborate
with OHA’s Advancement Team (Development and Communications) to develop
specific materials that can be used by partners to support and advocate for
Medicare at the local level (toolkits).
·
Track
state specific oral health policies and create issue-based letters or updates
to share on multiple communication platforms such as social media, e-newsletters,
blogs, and advocacy alerts etc.
·
Work
with partners to push out state specific ‘Take Action’ materials and/or assist
partners in developing take action materials.
·
Gather
stories from state and community partners to build the case for legislation. Collaborate
with OHA’s Marketing Manager and Web Coordinator to repurpose stories for OHA’s
communication channels and/or to attract media pick up.
·
Create
and maintain a database of partners-- tracking contact information and
activities. Assist in developing appropriate evaluation tools to report
progress.
Qualifications
· BS degree required in either Business,
Political Science, Public Policy, Public Health, Communications or comparable
subject with 1-3 years of experience
· Creative, collaborative thinker, with
enthusiasm and commitment to understanding policy solutions that can positively
impact the health and oral health of all Americans, especially those most
vulnerable
· Previous participation in policy initiatives
or political activities, preferred
· Ability and interest in representing OHA at
state level
· Demonstrated positive outlook and approach to
work
· Demonstrated reliability and trustworthiness
- Demonstrated
passion, experience and ability to manage projects
with multicultural sensitivity
· Understanding of and passion for Oral Health
America’s mission and vision
· Thrives on working collaboratively in a
team-based culture
Skills
- Excellent written and strong verbal communications skills
- Excellent organizational skills, with a focus on planning,
meeting deadlines, prompt follow-up and ability to synthesize and
summarize activity
- Able to think creatively and work independently
· Excellent research skills, including
ability to gather and analyze qualitative and quantitative data from a variety
of sources including people, websites, journals, etc.
· Evidence of ability to learn quickly and put
knowledge to use
- Track record in meeting deadlines, working
collaboratively, independently and creatively
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including
Excel, and email distribution services such as Mail Chimp, Survey Monkey