Hogg Policy Academy Director - contract position

The Hogg Policy Academy Director will lead the grant-funded Hogg Foundation Mental Health Policy Academy. In this role, the Hogg Policy Academy Director is responsible for executing the two-year Policy Academy including planning, coordinating, and facilitating Academy programming for the 24-person cohort of policy fellows, peer policy fellows, and their mentors. Academy activities include an orientation, monthly meetings, social events, community site visits, skill-building workshops, and a federal policy experience in Washington D.C.

The ideal candidate will bring lived experience of mental health or substance use, strong project management and facilitation skills, and experience in advocacy, policy development and/or systems-change work in Texas.

This contract position will report to the CEO of Texans Care for Children, and work in partnership with the Director of Policy at the Hogg Foundation to shape programming and the External Relations Associate at Texans Care for Children who will provide event planning and logistics support to the Academy. The work will be concentrated in Austin with occasional overnight travel. Note that monthly Academy meetings will be held in person without a virtual option for the Director.

Texans Care for Children is a statewide, non-profit, non-partisan, multi-issue children’s advocacy organization based in Austin. We develop policy solutions, produce research, and engage Texas community leaders to educate policymakers, the media and the public about what works to improve the well-being of Texas children and families. Texans Care for Children has facilitated the Hogg Foundation Mental Health Policy Academy for over 10 years.

Requirements

Contract Deliverables include:

● In coordination with leadership at Texans Care and the Hogg Foundation, lead the two-year Policy Academy including planning, coordinating, and facilitating Academy programming, including monthly meetings in Austin;

● Maintain current Policy Academy curriculum, or develop new content as needed, including attention to the policy focus of the current cohort (the 2024-26 cohort focus is children, youth and families), including coordinate with outside speakers as content experts;

● Partner with the Texans Care team to coordinate multiple overnight trips including a community site tour in Texas, and a three-day federal policy experience in Washington, D.C.;

● Partner with the Texans Care team to coordinate event planning, as well as budget tracking in line with grant restrictions;

● Provide professional development support to Fellows and Mentors at monthly meetings and other Academy events;

● Ensure voices of recovery and lived experience are centered in Policy Academy programming; and

● Provide Fellows and Mentors with shared learning experiences to build capacity for advocacy, policy, and systemic change.

Preferred Qualifications and Experience:

● Lived experience of mental health or substance use, with a preference to currently be a Certified Peer Support Specialist or Recovery Coach OR previous direct experience working with individuals as a Peer in some capacity;

● Direct mental health or substance use policy experience, including state-level advocacy and policy-making in Texas;

● Strong understanding of mental health and substance use services and systems of Texas;

● Strong project management and facilitation skills, with emphasis on navigating complex topics in large groups;

● Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written;

● Advocacy, policy, and systemic change experience, with a preference for state-level work in Texas; and

● Experience communicating and understanding diverse concerns of people of varied economic, geographic, racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds.

Benefits

Contract and Payment Structure:

● The two-year contract will be established as a retainer payment structure. Monthly retainer for the services described above at $5,000 per month.

● We anticipate the deliverables will average 15-20 hours per week. Additional time for overnight travel will be compensated outside of the monthly retainer.