Overview
Join us – if you are a policy advocate driven to make a difference; if you enjoy working with people who are passionate about improving the well-being of others; if you are results-driven and enjoy challenging yourself and others to find creative solutions.
Be part of a team that’s bringing innovative leaders together from across the community to lead and ignite a movement to improve well-being on a significant scale – a movement that promises to help your friends, family, and neighbors in Allentown, live better, longer.
Within the policy sector, Blue Zones works with our partners and local governmental staff to change, add, or remove policies and practices in the built environment, food, tobacco, and alcohol arenas. Policies can be regulatory, e.g., modifying parking regulations or updating school nutrition standards, or non-regulatory, e.g., expanding access to recreation assets or enabling more farmer’s markets. Across all policy areas, Blue Zones conducts significant outreach and education to increase understanding of how specific policies may impact well-being. For more information regarding Blue Zones Project please visit bluezones.com
To apply, send your resume and cover letter indicating the position you are interested in to [email protected].
Summary
The Public Policy Lead is responsible for the successful advancement of the Blue Zones Project within the policy sector. This will include adding, changing, or removing policies that span city-wide regulations and standards. The Public Policy Lead will collaborate with policy partners to establish, implement, and communicate policy priorities and projects. Success is achieved when policies are passed, projects are implemented successfully, and the local businesses adopt the recommended changes to improve well-being. Throughout this process the Public Policy Lead will have access to Blue Zones’ best-in-class experts. Changing and implementing policies requires a coalition of invested stakeholders, technical knowledge, and commitment to change. The Public Policy Lead will be responsible for building and managing this coalition.
Essential Job Functions:
- Builds the necessary partnerships to pass and implement identified policies that favor health and well-being.
- Develops and maintains positive working relationships and collaborates with leaders/advocates (government, schools, non-profits, employers and health care organizations) to move policy initiatives.
- Assists in the development and update of the Community Blueprint (action plan) for policy initiatives.
- Identifies and manages policy sector(s) performance/value measures and outcomes data.
- Manages and executes the Blue Zones 4D Policy process (discover, design, develop and deploy) for making policy change and community transformation through implementation with support from national experts and community stakeholders.
- Develops and meets monthly targets to achieve annual Community Blueprint metrics.
- Ensures Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and a focus on health equity in policy initiatives as appropriate to the local community/state.
- Compiles community impact stories.
Specific Skills/Attributes:
- Proven ability to design an advocacy strategy and convene community leaders and volunteers to adopt and implement community policy priorities.
- Strong interpersonal skills with demonstrated ability to work professionally with internal staff, external leaders such as political leaders, city and county staff and any other organizations.
- Ability to communicate best practices in the areas of built environment, tobacco, alcohol, and food policy and the importance of policy in creating sustainable environmental change.
- Understand local policy making process as well as local, state and federal jurisdictions as they relate to identified community policy initiatives.
- Knowledge of existing related local, state and/or federal potential partnerships, policies or projects.
- Understand local, state and/or federal funding mechanisms, cycles and barriers.
- Ability to organize and prioritize meetings and work to meet deadlines.
- Compelling written/oral communication skills as it relates to driving initiatives related to policy within the community
- Excellent computer skills including familiarity with Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint as well as Internet search capabilities. Experience in the use of CRM software is a plus.
- Comfortable working in a team environment.
- Energetic, charismatic, collaborative
- Energized by the Blue Zones Project mission.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree required – public health, public administration, urban design, planning, social policy or health promotion preferred.
- 5+ years of experience as a people leader/manager for a small team of 2-5 professionals
- Position is onsite, not remote.
- 5+ years of experience in coalition building, public policy, food policy, advocacy, city planning, community organizing, and/or planning related fields.
- Resident of Allentown and/or deep local knowledge & engagement within Allentown preferred.