Colorado Nonprofit Association

Director of Communications

Healthier Colorado is seeking a strategic and creative Director of Communications to lead the external communication portfolio for Healthier Colorado, including the communication components of Healthier Colorado’s public policy campaigns, fundraising efforts and brand management. This position reports to the Executive Vice President and will supervise our Digital Communications Specialist (DCS). The Director of Communications, in tandem with the DCS, also provides communications support to our affiliated organizations. This is a salaried position with a hybrid work policy.   

About Healthier Colorado 

Healthier Colorado is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to raising the voices of Coloradans in the public policy process to improve the health of our state’s residents. Healthier Colorado believes every Coloradan should have an equal opportunity to live a healthy life. Healthier Colorado aims to make meaningful changes to improve people’s health throughout our state’s diverse communities.

Healthier Colorado is the flagship, 501(c)(4) nonprofit entity in a family of separately branded organizations. The family includes The Fund for a Healthier Colorado, our 501(c)(3) sister organization; Healthy Air and Water Colorado, dedicated to addressing climate change for the sake of public health; Colorado’s Health Capitol, a collaborative workspace that is home to dozens of mission-aligned organizations; and Open Answer, a non-profit providing direct outreach and field strategy for mission-driven efforts in communities across Colorado and North Carolina.

Healthier Colorado runs both legislative and regulatory campaigns at the local, state, and federal levels of government, and engages in political candidate races at the local and state levels. We are the only health advocacy organization in the country that deploys the full range of political activity-from political giving and lobbying to grassroots organizing and running an in-house canvass to further our mission. Healthier Colorado believes informed voters are powerful participants in our democracy and that public policy is crucial to changing the lives of all Coloradans. Mixing politics and health is uncommon work, but we’re comfortable being different.

For more information, visit healthiercolorado.org. 

Position Description 

The Director of Communications is responsible for leading the external communication portfolio for Healthier Colorado and provides communications support for our affiliated organizations. This position’s duties include:  

• Guiding the work and development of our Digital Communications Specialist in a manner consistent with our model of servant leadership, which involves providing the support necessary for this person’s exceptional performance.
• Developing messaging for our public policy campaigns and deploying that messaging in ways including paid media, earned media, social media and fact sheets. Relatedly, the Director will manage the opinion research efforts that informs this messaging.
• Crafting the content that describes our work, impact, and desired brand projection, with an eye on optimization for our audiences of interest, which include current and prospective donors, volunteers, and elected officials. The platforms for this content include our annual report, our annual event, our annual legislative scorecard, our website, and social media and email networks.
• Developing relationships with reporters in Colorado media markets as well as other relevant national outlets. 
• Working collaboratively with our Development Director on our various efforts to raise funds from individuals and institutions, specifically by composing content and strategy that compels charitable giving.
• Working collaboratively with our policy staff to prepare advocates for participation in our public policy campaigns, such as through media training and composing testimony for state legislative hearings.
• Working collaboratively with our CEO on the production of our podcast and communication with our boards of directors. 
• Serving as a spokesperson in earned media and other public venues as needed. 
• Developing messaging that accessibly describes how our family of organizations fits together and makes our ability to meet our mission stronger, and coordinating the brand presentation for our family of organizations for continuity.
• Providing communications support for our family of organizations beyond Healthier Colorado. Each organization has various levels of their own communications capacity, and the Director and Digital Communications Specialist are not expected to meet every external communications need of these associated organizations, but do provide support on mutually agreed upon basis.  

Qualifications

We are seeking a candidate who possesses an authentic commitment to our mission of providing every Coloradan with the chance to live a healthy life, regardless of race, income, geography, disability status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. While this position has some flexibility in the experience level required, the ideal candidate possesses the following qualifications: 

• At least 5 years of communications experience in successful portfolio/project management within community organizing, electoral, legislative or other advocacy campaigns.
• Proven success in developing creative and compelling social media content.
• Demonstrated success in driving conversions via email, social media and social media for fundraising and activism. 
• Excellent writing skills. Samples will be requested of finalist candidates.
• Demonstrated success in campaign and/or project management and execution.
• Experience managing staff and/or contractors; experience in developing nascent talent a distinct plus.
• Experience building relationships with reporters and executing earned media campaigns.
• Experience in deploying paid ads on social media and other online platforms.
• Experience in health policy is a plus, but not required.
• Experience in or knowledge of the state-level policy making process in Colorado is a plus, but not required. 
• On the record experience is a plus, but not required.