Pennsylvania Coalition Manager

(Remote in Pennsylvania; Harrisburg, PA, preferred)

What You’ll Do

Reporting to the Pennsylvania Executive Director, you will play a lead role in Teach Plus PA’s policy and advocacy coalition work, all in service to improving outcomes for students and communities across PA. Specifically, you will both represent the organization within coalitions we participate in and take the lead in launching, expanding, directing, and/or managing coalitions that Teach Plus leads or co-leads. You will also help determine and execute on Teach Plus PA’s larger policy priorities and strategies, represent Teach Plus PA externally and through strategic relationships with policymakers and media, and serve as a liaison and source of policy/political expertise for Teach Plus PA staff and fellows.

The Coalition Manager will be responsible for the following:

Coalition Leadership

The Coalition Manager will be responsible for ensuring that the coalitions in which Teach Plus PA plays a leading role operate strategically, efficiently, and effectively in order to build political power and ultimately achieve policy wins that increase opportunity for students in Pennsylvania:

• Launch a new statewide coalition focused on early literacy policy and advancing the science of reading; this will include planning and implementing a summit or other event by January 2025 to kick off the coalition, recruiting coalition partners, making decisions about coalition structure and governance, setting short-term and longer-term policy goals and strategies, supporting fundraising efforts, and building the coalition’s brand, size, and credibility in its first year and beyond.
• Manage the literacy coalition on an ongoing basis and serve as the primary representative of the coalition with external audiences. This will include leading committee meetings, developing meeting agendas, tracking and following up on coalition next steps (not only for Teach Plus PA staff but other coalition partners), supporting the planning and facilitation of coalition meetings, engaging coalition members in advocacy activities (such as Hill days, sign-on letters, email and phone campaigns, op-ed campaigns, press conferences, legislative meetings, and other events), recruiting new coalition members, drafting communications, tracking bills and political intelligence, meeting with policymakers and other power brokers, engaging with members of the press, and managing the day-to-day operations and tactics of the coalition to ensure achievement of its policy goals.
• Support the Pennsylvania Executive Director in management of the #PANeedsTeachers coalition, which Teach Plus PA co-founded and co-leads. This will involve similar tasks as for the literacy coalition, but with more division of labor across the Coalition Manager, the PA Executive Director, our partners at NCEE, and several coalition consultants.
• Support the Pennsylvania Executive Director in leadership of the PA Schools Work coalition, where Teach Plus PA leads the government relations committee. This will involve participating in committee meetings; supporting the PA Executive Director in preparing for, facilitating, and following up on government relations committee meetings; and potentially taking over leadership of the government relations committee in the future.
• As possible and in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Executive Director, represent Teach Plus PA in other coalitions aligned with our policy priorities, including the Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Consortium, PA WInS (Pennsylvanians for Welcoming and Inclusive Schools), the Pennsylvania Department of Education Committee for Educator Talent Recruitment, the Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition, Early Learning PA campaigns (Start Strong PA and Pre-K for PA) and other existing or new coalitions in which we participate.

Policy, Advocacy, and Strategic Positioning

The Coalition Manager will collaborate with the Pennsylvania Executive Director and Policy Manager on Teach Plus Pennsylvania policy strategy and leverage relationships that enable Teach Plus PA to have an impact on critical policy issues by:

• In partnership with the PA Executive Director and Policy Manager, identify key policy areas, goals, and priorities that advance Teach Plus PA’s mission and strategic goals based on deep knowledge of the policy and political landscape, education research, and the aspirations of the communities we serve; develop and implement advocacy strategies and tactics to advance these policy priorities.
• In partnership with the Teach Plus PA team, national Communications team, and national Policy & Resarch team, develop effective and compelling research and messaging documents to elevate and advance our policy priorities, including reports, policy briefs, fact sheets, op-eds, etc.
• Proactively build and maintain relationships with policymakers, district leaders, education organizations, journalists, and other key power brokers in Harrisburg and across the state; strategically spot and seize opportunities to build your personal network in a way that furthers Teach Plus’ goals and positions you as a go-to for policymakers and others.
• Demonstrate credibility and agency as a policy leader in order to both build Teach Plus PA’s profile and influence as well as to open doors for our coalitions (and our teachers) to have impact and authentic audiences for their stories and policy recommendations. This will involve proactively identifying policy issues you need to build expertise on and proactively pursuing learning on these issues in a self-directed way by seeking out reports, experts, and other resources; staying up-to-date on political updates and progress on relevant bills and committees; writing and speaking about policy issues publicly (at press conferences, in op-eds, in reports, in testimony, etc.) in ways that will lead to opportunities for yourself and our coalitions.
• Utilize deep knowledge and understanding of the political landscape and process to proactively identify windows of opportunity for policy change and support coalition members in developing effective strategy and tactics for achieving policy goals.
• Develop, draft, and/or provide feedback on legislation related to our policy goals.
• Craft strategy, tactics, and messaging to advance our policy goals independently and collaboratively.

Subject Matter Expert and Liaison to Teach Plus PA Staff, Teacher Leaders, and Policy Fellows

The Coalition Manager will join a growing Teach Plus PA team (nine team members by fall 2024) working across both policy and practice to advance strategic goals, including making Pennsylvania the fastest-improving state in the country in early literacy in the next decade. As our team grows and our desired impact becomes more ambitious, the ability to share information and expertise will be critical. The Coalition Manager will serve as a subject matter expert on the policy issues of their focus coalitions (particularly early literacy/ the science of reading and educator workforce) across our Teach Plus PA programs and will be a go-to source of up-to-date policy and political intelligence for Teach Plus PA staff and teacher leaders. This will include:

• Attending PA Policy Fellowship meetings and events and supporting with facilitation periodically (as needed).
• Providing strategic coaching, support, and updates to the Science of Reading, Expanding and Diversifying the Teacher Pipeline, and Reimagining Teacher Preparation working groups, either via the PA Policy Manager or senior fellows of those working groups.
• Serving as a guest speaker and/or subject matter expert for other Teach Plus PA programs as needed.
• Developing extremely strong communications systems with the PA team (especially the PA Executive Director and Policy Manager) to ensure relevant policy and political updates/decisions/intel from coalitions, lawmaker meetings, and other sources are shared in a timely manner that maximizes the team’s time and allows staff and fellows to make fully informed decisions based on the best thinking and most up-to-date information of the collective. This will require a strong ability to summarize, synthesize, and prioritize in a fast-paced and information-rich environment, as well as a commitment to breaking down silos and avoiding information hoarding.

Who You Are

Ideal Qualifications, Expertise, and Past Experience:

• Experience and successful track record in policy, government relations, political strategy, communications, advocacy, and/or community organizing, preferably with specific experience related to education policy or advocacy.
• Experience working as part of a coalition, ideally in a leadership role.
• Experience leading large projects and/or teams is strongly preferred.
• Expertise in at least one of the following education policy issues is strongly preferred: the science of reading, teacher workforce, teacher preparation, school finance/funding.
• Prior experience working with or within the Pennsylvania General Assembly or Pennsylvania Department of Education is a significant plus but not required.
• Previous teaching experience and/or participation in the PA Policy Fellowship is a significant plus but not required.