Colorado (multiple locations)

The Organization
The Colorado Trust (The Trust) is a private grantmaking foundation dedicated to achieving health equity for all Coloradans. Partnering with individuals, groups and communities across the state, The Colorado Trust’s vision is that all Coloradans have fair and equal opportunities to lead healthy, productive lives regardless of race, ethnicity, income or where we live. We define health equity as ending inequalities that affect racial, ethnic, low-income and other vulnerable populations, so that everyone will have fair and equal opportunities to achieve good health.

The Trust strives to maintain a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

Position Overview

General Position Description
Through the Community Partnerships for Health Equity (Community Partnerships) funding strategy, The Trust invests in creating opportunities for people across Colorado to develop and implement community-led initiatives that lead to healthier communities. Senior regional managers will be part of a small statewide management team rooted in communities across the state and working with the executive director of Community Partnerships to manage towards both regional and statewide goals. The responsibility of the regional teams is to build and support the capacity for community-driven organizing and resident-led grantmaking that advances health equity.

This staffing model and approach is a reflection of the organizing model described in the Community Partnerships Organizing Cycle, which The Trust began implementing in late 2020. The Community Partnerships Organizing Cycle model builds on more than 6 years of learning about how to best achieve the impact goals of our Community Partnerships funding strategy. The Community Partnerships strategy provides grant funding and other resources to support communities in developing action plans and realizing community-driven approaches that build community power to advance health equity.

This role will manage a regional team of community organizers and administrative staff who work in close partnership with local resident teams and community leaders. The senior regional manager will work across multiple regions to collaborate and supervise staff who work with people directly impacted by systemic inequality. The Trust’s approach requires that team members prioritize work in communities where multiple generations have faced structural barriers and exclusion from decision-making power.

Successful candidates will have at least 7 years of management experience working with staff with diverse backgrounds and social identities. Candidates with 5 years of experience or less must demonstrate a significant level of success in previous supervisory roles. Candidates should be able to demonstrate a track record of honoring the experience and leadership of communities, and a history of success building long-lasting relationships that build power for systemic change. The senior regional manager has an essential role building multiple teams; holding a team culture across regions and departments that ensures the voices of those who are directly impacted by injustices (especially people of color and people experiencing economic injustice) are centered in our work; and coaching both staff and community leaders to work productively across differences.

The senior regional manager position requires both the skill set and leadership aptitude to provide strong staff management and support to community organizers and project administrators that comprise the staff team. The Trust seeks candidates who have on-the-ground knowledge of the region in which they live and work. Team members will be required to build strong relationships that enable them to work as an effective and credible leader with a diverse set of stakeholders and community-based leaders.

Location and Travel Requirements
Conditions and COVID-19 precautions permitting, senior regional managers are required to travel up to 50% of the time and are expected to be regionally based. The Trust especially seeks candidates who live in the north/northwest part of Colorado, as well as south or southwest of the Denver metro area. Appropriate accommodations will be considered for staff with health-related needs or care-giving responsibilities.

Responsibilities and Deliverables
Program Management

• Work across multiple regions to manage the Community Partnerships Organizing Cycle activities as well as the four strategic objectives of the Community Partnerships strategy. These activities and objectives need to be advanced simultaneously (and often asynchronously) among multiple communities and resident teams within the assigned regions
• In collaboration with the executive director of Community Partnerships as well as others in the Grants department and organization, oversee the implementation and support the iteration of the Community Partnerships Organizing Cycle as part of the Community Partnerships funding strategy
• Work collaboratively with the Community Partnerships strategy team to develop goals, parameters, curriculum, materials and capacity-building trainings, and conduct strategic learning activities
• Contribute to the integration of other Trust funding strategies, such as Building and Bridging Power, Health Equity Learning Series and Community Leaders in Health Equity
• Maintain knowledge and support for all foundation program areas, including current issues, key resource people and organizations.

Community Support, Capacity Building and Resource Development

• Build a high level of trust, credibility and partnership with members of the multiple regional community organizing teams and community residents of all demographics and backgrounds
• Utilize strong knowledge of and experience with facilitation, coaching, sharing of personal and lived experience, staff development and grantmaking techniques to support resident-driven actions and activities designed to build power, accomplish health equity goals and achieve long-term systemic change
• Develop leaders, both internally at The Trust and externally, to enable community members to deepen their understanding of health equity, including their understanding of how health is affected by the complex interplay of systemic racism, classism, patriarchy, sexism and hetero-normativity; as well as by a wide range of structural barriers that stem from current and historically inequitable systems
• Develop work plans and facilitate process steps, activities, training and capacity-building opportunities that are adaptable to local communities while also facilitative and aligned with cross-region and strategy-wide timelines, processes and goals
• Strengthen and support community efforts to coalesce and form strategic alliances to address social, political and economic inequities
• Coach, train and collaborate on the preparation of internal and/or external grant proposals and project reports.

Staff Supervision and Project Management

• Provide oversight, supervision and leverage the talents of the following team members towards The Trust’s mission:
•     After the initial probationary period, senior regional managers may take on some management for supervisory responsibilities of regional managers
•     3-6 regional organizers, and in some cases senior organizers
•     Highly valued and experienced regional support staff with diverse skills and expertise
• Co-manage hiring processes, recruiting for qualified diverse staff and facilitating inclusive hiring committees
• Support staffing models for fiscal-sponsor partnership organizations, and provide support and strategic leadership for such partnerships
• Train others to ensure staff activities and team operations, processes and guidelines are consistent with department and organizational expectations, priorities, timelines and policies
• Ensure that foundation databases and information sharing platforms are accurate, updated in a timely manner and effectively utilized
• Provide coaching and development for individual team members, including regular performance reviews in alignment with The Trust’s internal process
• Use existing tools, resources and in-house expertise to help staff and community teams to envision, plan, execute and evaluate regional and community-level projects and actions
• In collaboration with the executive director of Community Partnerships and the head of evaluation & learning for community change, develop 1-2 case studies per year to be shared across regions and with potential external stakeholders
• Develop systems to manage workload that ensures sufficient time is allotted to knowledge acquisition and to achieve mastery of department, team and strategy processes and technology.

Budgets, Contracts and Grants Management

• Manage multiple complex budgets, both region- and community-specific, over phases of the work
• Manage contractors to ensure accountability to contract deliverables and timelines, and ensure resources resulting from engagement with consultants contribute to organizational learning, with deliverables and opportunities shared in inclusive, equitable and strategic ways
• Oversee the coordination between fiscal sponsors and grant-supported communities to develop budgets, skills and staffing in alignment with requirements and guidelines
• Model, mediate and ensure effective collaboration with Finance & Operations Department staff and appropriate use of systems and protocols to manage payments to grantees, community leaders and others
• Support internal grant-management processes and assist in the budget reconciliation process for place-based projects
• Review, analyze and make recommendations on grant proposals and sponsorship requests
• Monitor grant investments and maintain ongoing communications with grantees and facilitate other roles and capacities of The Trust to engage and communicate effectively with grantees, leaders and stakeholders in the communities and region in which the senior regional manager works.

Research and Evaluation

• Work in partnership with the Research, Evaluation & Strategic Learning Department on the development and implementation of strategic learning and evaluations tied to the strategy
• Use research and evaluation processes and products to guide strategies and inform resident-driven grantmaking processes
• In collaboration with the executive director of Community Partnerships, head of evaluation & learning for community change, project administrators and others, ensure that research and evaluation is engaged by appropriate staff and stakeholders in the region
• Collaborate effectively with Research, Evaluation & Strategic Learning Department staff to ensure learning and evaluation are properly woven into regional activities, management and processes.

Communications

• Prepare and coach team members to communicate effectively and appropriately with a diverse range of stakeholders about The Trust’s mission, vision and strategies
• Collaborate effectively with the Communications Department, including:
•     Proactive sharing about actions, events and opportunities
•     Producing content for internal newsletters and collaborating on content creation for external communications as requested by Communications Department staff
• Implement systems and processes to leverage the communications capacities and platforms of The Trust to support power-building and narrative change work connected to Community Partnerships and other funding strategies.

Cross-departmental and Cross-organizational Collaboration and Integration

• Identify and pursue opportunities for internal integration of work across strategies and departments, to make connections and leverage the strengths and efforts of The Trust
• Partner with the executive director of Community Partnerships to collaborate with other funders and health equity field partners to support needs and vision of partner communities
• Develop and maintain cooperative relationships with colleagues, external stakeholders and community members.

Supervisor Relationship
Senior regional managers report to the executive director of Community Partnerships.

Qualifications for Senior Regional Managers

• Seven or more years in a staff management position within a multidisciplinary and impact-focused organization; or 5 years with ability to demonstrate exceptional success with supporting direct reports
• At least 2 years of experience supervising managers (staff who are themselves managers of other staff) is strongly preferred
• Three or more years of experience working in philanthropy or outside of the nonprofit sector is preferred
• Seven or more years of experience with demonstrated success working for a mission-driven organization doing community organizing, civic engagement, nonprofit management, public-sector partnership or outreach work
• Preference for candidates with previous experience managing a diverse team, inclusive of differences in race, sexuality, religious preference, gender, abilities, age and/or other variables
• Understanding and appreciation of the social determinants of health and how they affect people’s lives
• Strong understanding of (or the ability to learn) the social and cultural histories of communities in specific regions of Colorado
• Awareness of and respect for cultural differences across populations, communities and geographic areas
• A track record of utilizing a diversity, equity and inclusion-informed approach to managing and improving group dynamics, including previous success as a peer or organizational leader who has developed solutions to problematic dynamics of power and privilege in a multi-stakeholder setting
• Experience with conflict management and attunement to social, structural and positional power dynamics and political agendas in communities
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; ability to make presentations and communicate effectively with communities, partners and other stakeholders
• Ability to confidently and proudly represent The Trust’s funding strategies, approaches and values behind our theory of change, and effectively build the capacity of other staff and the institution to do the same
• A staff management style that utilizes highly effective direct feedback and previous success coaching staff to embrace, accept and give direct feedback across differences, roles and levels of positional authority
• Solutions-oriented approach and strong ability to manage competing priorities, troubleshoot, prioritize projects, meet deadlines and manage workflow
• Demonstrable good judgement and a high level of integrity regarding maintaining confidentiality with respect to the business and affairs of The Trust and those with whom it has relationships
• Proficiency with technology, including Microsoft applications (e.g., Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint, SharePoint), the internet, mobile devices, and willingness to follow organizational policies and team norms with respect to remote communication platforms (e.g., Zoom, Skype, Google Hangout), data and project management
• Proficiency in English is required for this role (but not for all roles at The Trust); proficiency in Spanish is strongly desired, and proficiency in other languages is a strong asset to our work and team. Previous experience working in a multilingual environment, or in an environment where your first language was not the dominant language, is strongly preferred
• A valid Colorado driver’s license is expected on the start date of employment unless special accommodations are necessary.

Personal Attributes

The Trust strongly encourages applicants who meet the qualifications above and can demonstrate the following personal attributes:

• Commitment to The Trust’s health equity vision and its mission of advancing the health and well-being of the people of Colorado
• Passion and energy for community-led growth and change, and willingness to engage in debate and differing opinions and beliefs
• Personal and professional commitment to the values of diversity, equity, integrity and fairness, including ability to demonstrate how commitment to these values drives decisions and informs approaches to leadership development and staff supervision
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, including a willingness to be accountable for advancing decisions within position responsibilities while remaining committed to collaborative decision-making processes that require communication with a wide range of diverse stakeholders
• Enthusiasm for being part of a learning organization with a personal and professional commitment to reflecting on and improving skills, and acquiring knowledge
• Strong and authentic interpersonal skills that foster an inclusive, positive and appreciative team culture
• Experience with survivor-led and or trauma-informed community, policy and/or services work
• Knowing when you need help, and feeling comfortable asking for help
• Advanced competencies working with organizational leaders, staff and community leaders across differences, including cultural, racial and class differences
• Excellent interpersonal and listening skills.

Salary
$134,000 annually. The Colorado Trust offers its employees a comprehensive and competitive benefits package, including medical and dental coverage, retirement plan, group life insurance and paid time off.

How To Apply

Please apply via The Colorado Trust’s online application system. Registration is not necessary to use this system. Document uploads maybe required. The application system is currently only available in English; applicants who prefer to apply in Spanish may apply via email if needed. All other applications must be received via the online application system. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

The deadline to apply for this position is 5 p.m. MST on Monday, Nov. 29, 2021.

The Colorado Trust seeks talented, team-oriented individuals, dedicated to our goal of advancing the health and well-being of the people of Colorado. Additionally, as an Equal Opportunity Employer, we welcome a diversity of perspectives and experiences among our staff. For more information, please visit www.coloradotrust.org.