Community Engagement Specialist
Full Time
Portland, OR 97239
Posted
Job description
Department Overview:
The Center staff members work closely with state and federal policymakers to research existing policies, programs, and develop policy options. The Center actively seeks staff partners who share its commitment to evidence, integrity, innovation, tangible results, and products that are independent, high quality, evidence-based, and effective in meeting the needs of decision makers. The Center actively recruits and retains the highest quality personnel who are committed and passionate about achieving its mission. The Center strives to be a healthy and thriving work environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work. We are committed to an inclusive workplace that celebrates and values diversity of age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, and perspective. We are dedicated to continuous improvement that enables inclusive collaboration among staff with diverse skills and perspectives with the goal of enhancing quality and accessibility of our work for our clients. The Center promotes leadership that inspires innovation, motivates people to perform at their highest levels, and makes the Center a great place to work.
The Oregon Child Integrated Dataset (OCID) project brings together data from disparate public programs and services from 5 state agencies. The goal is to assist state and community leaders in ground their decisions in the best available data to improve outcomes for Oregon children and families. OCID is guided by a 3-part advisory structure: 1) the Governance Committee includes Oregon legislators from both chambers and both parties, a representative from the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet, and directors of state agencies contributing data to OCID; 2) the OCID State Analyst Forum brings state policy and program leaders and analysts together to collaborate on state data efforts, and share experience and expertise; and 3) OCID’s Community Forum is under development in 2022. The aim of the community forum is to engage community members and build an understanding of how data-to-policy efforts such as OCID can effectively incorporate and reflect community voice.
The Community Engagement Specialist (CES) will join the OCID project to develop and lead the OCID Community Forum in an effort to provide context, narratives, and stories to OCID original analyses, dashboard and interactive displays.
The CES has a dual communication role:
The CES has strong working understanding of data and research to support the policy making process, presentation experience, and project management capabilities. They are able to contextualize findings from research and analysis and understand the potential significance and application to community settings.
The CES works well in a team-oriented environment that builds collaborative work products with other team members. The CES understands, and is able to succeed with, work that is iterative, and they are willing to revise work products to address policy and pragmatic circumstances as they arise.
The CES may also assist the Center’s policy analysts and research associates, technical assistance teams, and other staff to develop reports, implementation tools, and other efforts to synthesize information in a way that can be understood and utilized by a diverse range of community partners. As with all Center staff, the CES maintains excellent relationships with all clients and participates in new business development.
Experience working with or in diverse community settings is required. Additional experience with government-administered health and or human service program administration, policy design, or data research is strongly preferred. Function/Duties of Position:
As an organization devoted to the health and well-being of people in Oregon and beyond, OHSU requires its employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Center for Evidence-based Policy (Center) is a national leader in evidence-based decision-making and policy design. The Center works with state policymakers in more than 25 states to use high-quality evidence to guide decisions, maximize resources, and improve health outcomes. The Center is objective and non-partisan, working in states across the country to support evidence-based decision-making. The Center does not lobby, and does not accept funding from industry, advocates, or trade associations. Though embedded within OHSU, the Center is entirely self-supporting.
The Center staff members work closely with state and federal policymakers to research existing policies, programs, and develop policy options. The Center actively seeks staff partners who share its commitment to evidence, integrity, innovation, tangible results, and products that are independent, high quality, evidence-based, and effective in meeting the needs of decision makers. The Center actively recruits and retains the highest quality personnel who are committed and passionate about achieving its mission. The Center strives to be a healthy and thriving work environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work. We are committed to an inclusive workplace that celebrates and values diversity of age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, and perspective. We are dedicated to continuous improvement that enables inclusive collaboration among staff with diverse skills and perspectives with the goal of enhancing quality and accessibility of our work for our clients. The Center promotes leadership that inspires innovation, motivates people to perform at their highest levels, and makes the Center a great place to work.
The Oregon Child Integrated Dataset (OCID) project brings together data from disparate public programs and services from 5 state agencies. The goal is to assist state and community leaders in ground their decisions in the best available data to improve outcomes for Oregon children and families. OCID is guided by a 3-part advisory structure: 1) the Governance Committee includes Oregon legislators from both chambers and both parties, a representative from the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet, and directors of state agencies contributing data to OCID; 2) the OCID State Analyst Forum brings state policy and program leaders and analysts together to collaborate on state data efforts, and share experience and expertise; and 3) OCID’s Community Forum is under development in 2022. The aim of the community forum is to engage community members and build an understanding of how data-to-policy efforts such as OCID can effectively incorporate and reflect community voice.
The Community Engagement Specialist (CES) will join the OCID project to develop and lead the OCID Community Forum in an effort to provide context, narratives, and stories to OCID original analyses, dashboard and interactive displays.
The CES has a dual communication role:
- Build relationships with state, local and regional organizations and stakeholders for the OCID project. The CES will interact with and bring together coalitions of diverse community groups and stakeholders from around the state with lived experience in the topics analyzed by the OCID project, with the goal of increasing understanding of the circumstances surrounding the data so that it can be placed in context. This position will lead the day-to-day communications with community members, partners, including communicating progress, updates on projects, and opportunities for community feedback.
- Translate OCID data and policy research using communication approaches that can be meaningfully understood, utilized, and shaped by diverse community groups and stakeholders. This position will present findings from data analyses to community partners through both in-person and virtual presentations at meetings, on webinars and through conference calls, and to do so in a manner that is meaningful and understandable in a range of community contexts or settings, and to a diverse range of community organizations and stakeholders.
The CES has strong working understanding of data and research to support the policy making process, presentation experience, and project management capabilities. They are able to contextualize findings from research and analysis and understand the potential significance and application to community settings.
The CES works well in a team-oriented environment that builds collaborative work products with other team members. The CES understands, and is able to succeed with, work that is iterative, and they are willing to revise work products to address policy and pragmatic circumstances as they arise.
The CES may also assist the Center’s policy analysts and research associates, technical assistance teams, and other staff to develop reports, implementation tools, and other efforts to synthesize information in a way that can be understood and utilized by a diverse range of community partners. As with all Center staff, the CES maintains excellent relationships with all clients and participates in new business development.
Experience working with or in diverse community settings is required. Additional experience with government-administered health and or human service program administration, policy design, or data research is strongly preferred.
Community Engagement:
- Build relationships with state, local and regional organizations and stakeholders for the OCID project. The CES will interact with and bring together coalitions of diverse community groups and stakeholders from around the state with lived experience in the topics analyzed by the OCID project, with the goal of increasing understanding of the circumstances surrounding the data so that it can be placed in context.
- Serve as a connection to the community for OCID, conducting targeted outreach and ensuring accurate, effective information exchange about the program.
- Perform executive level communication, by serving as the primary contact for community stakeholders and assisting in coordinating activities and communication with OCID project staff and other stakeholders.
Communication and Messaging:
- Create and implement in partnership with the OCID project team and Center leadership a communication and messaging strategy for the project. Assist with efforts to ensure effective OCID website presence, social media, email marketing, special alerts, and other mechanisms, focused on a diverse array of community partners.
- Translate data and policy research using communications mechanisms that increase the understanding of diverse community groups and stakeholders about the findings of specific analyses.
- Assist with preparation of reports, tools and other methods to present or explain findings in meaningful ways for a diverse range of community organizations and stakeholders.
- Create and deliver culturally sensitive outreach materials and messages, working with a range of partners to identify relevance to their experiences and communities.
- Present findings from data analyses to community partners through both in-person and virtual presentations at meetings, on webinars and through conference calls.
- Develop and implement a plan for collecting feedback and metrics on the communications, messaging, and engagement work under OCID.
- Adhere to Center style guidelines, research methodologies, maintaining transparency and excellent record documentation.
Group Facilitation and Staffing:
- Facilitate and lead external community engagement processes, including:
- Establishing bi-directional communication and feedback processes.
- Lead consensus building efforts, focus groups, and strategic planning sessions.
- Providing meeting planning, effective facilitation, and staffing support for the OCID Community Forum, ensuring meetings of the Community Forum are coordinated and consistent with other elements of OCID governance process
Additional Center Support:
- Assist the Center’s policy analysts and research associates, technical assistance teams, and other staff in developing reports, implementation tools, and other efforts to synthesize information in a way that can be understood and utilized by a diverse range of community partners.
- Advise Center researchers and policy analysts regarding communication techniques that are understood by a diverse range of community partners.
- Represent the Center at selected national and state-level conferences, meetings and other events, preparing materials for distribution and making presentations that effectively communicate the Center’s project goals and mission.
- Degree in Public Administration, Public Relations, Communications, Social Sciences, or related field.
- Minimum of 5 years’ experience in health and/or human services communications, community engagement, and/or research translation. Two years’ experience managing complex or high profile community engagement and communication programs or projects. Consideration for personal or other related professional experience demonstrating knowledge and familiarity with diverse cultures and communities will also be considered.
- Experience working directly with people from diverse, racial, ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Clear and effective oral communication, writing and presentation style, including the ability to express ideas, thoughts and concepts clearly and concisely in a non-academic, public-sector setting, including to multiple cultural environments.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and ability to present research, data and evidence to diverse audiences, specifically racially, ethnically, geographic and socioeconomically diverse communities.
- Ability to represent and incorporate the context and experience of diverse communities, specifically racially, ethnically, geographic and socioeconomically diverse communities to researchers and policy leaders.
- Understanding of the concepts of institutional and structural racism and bias and their impact on underserved and underrepresented communities.
- Demonstrated ability to translate complex information into digestible and actionable written report products, oral presentations, and other instruments.
- Ability to think strategically and creatively, adjust to changing circumstances, remain attentive to details and identify resources for projects.
- Approach research, written products, and presentations with a non-partisan perspective.
- Ability to exercise discretion when dealing with issues of a sensitive nature, and to maintain confidentiality at all times.
- Ability to deliver presentations for large and diverse audiences, both in person and using webinar and conference call technologies.
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills.
- Demonstrated time and project-management skills, including an ability to meet multiple deadlines by maintaining a high level of organization.
- Excellent grammatical skills, including ability to write in defined styles and adhere to style guidelines.
- Excellent ability to respond constructively to written and other product review, edits, and comments.
- Proficiency in MS Office applications (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
- Demonstrate fluency in using social media networks
- A track record for translating strategic thinking into action, with a reputation for inspiring creative thinking and fostering problem solving
- Confidence and rapport to gain credibility, trust, and respect of community partners
- Proven track record of building professional relationships and passion for connecting people to the organization’s and project mission.
- Must be able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without accommodation.
- Master’s degree in Public Administration, Public Relations, Communications, Social Sciences, or related field.
- Relevant work experience in a state government, health policy, social justice, education or other public sector setting strongly preferred.
- Marketing, communications, public relations, or equivalent experience.
- Experience and understanding of complex data and research in a policy setting.
- Experience being highly accountable to external customers, public officials, and diverse stakeholders.
- Experience working with a diverse array of clients, including policy makers, practitioners and agency leaders.
- Experience in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
As an organization devoted to the health and well-being of people in Oregon and beyond, OHSU requires its employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
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