Director of Strategic Communications and Informed Communities

Gates Family Foundation is seeking a Director of Strategic Communications and Informed Communities.
This position will lead a comprehensive communications strategy aligned with the Foundation's broader goals, support all program teams in leveraging strategic communications to deepen the impact of their work, and oversee the Foundation's grantmaking efforts to ensure widespread access to reliable information and strong civic engagement across the state.
Description The Organization
Gates Family Foundation celebrated its 78th anniversary in 2024.
Since its creation, the Foundation has distributed more than $550 million in grants, with another nearly $60 million committed to impact investments in recent years.
Representing a partnership of family and community representatives, the Foundation maintains a strong commitment through its grantmaking and other strategic efforts to four key areas:

Education:
Expanding access to educational opportunity for all children in Colorado.
Natural Resources:
Supporting land and water conservation, forest and watershed health, and management and protection of Colorado's natural resources.
Community Development:
Addressing the root causes of economic inequality and inequitable community development.
Informed Communities:
Ensuring all Coloradans have access to trustworthy, rigorous, fact-based local news and information about important civic issues.
The Position
The position reports directly to the President, regularly oversees contractors, and joins a team of 11 other staff members across programs, learning and evaluation, finance and grants management.
Job responsibilities of this role include the following:

Job Responsibilities Strategic Communications Leadership:

Provide strategic direction to continually develop, refine and implement a multifaceted strategic communications plan that advances the Foundation's mission, amplifies its initiatives and the work of its grantees and partners, and fosters informed and engaged communities across Colorado.
Work with program teams to develop strategic communications strategies, highlight impact, and amplify success stories in all program areas.
Collaborate with the Director of Learning and Evaluation to help codify and share key learnings from the Foundation's grantmaking and initiatives.
Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of communication strategies, making data-driven adjustments as needed.
Lend strategic thought leadership and hands-on communications support to key high-impact initiatives across program areas.
Oversee all aspects of external communications for the Foundation, including digital strategy, content creation, media relations, and public relations.
Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including community and foundation leaders, strategic partners, and media outlets.
Serve as a spokesperson and representative for the Foundation at public events, conferences, and other engagements.
Support internal communication and learning among the board of trustees and the staff.
Informed Communities Program Leadership:

Provide intellectual leadership to continually develop and refine the Foundation's theory of action and the strategy behind its grantmaking and initiated work for Informed Communities.
Serve as an active partner and key voice on the Executive Committee of the Colorado Media Project.
Build and maintain trusted relationships with grantee and non-grantee partners in the media sector.
Identify strategic grantmaking opportunities, analyze their feasibility, shape specific opportunities, present recommendations internally, and negotiate grant agreements.
Review grant applications, conduct due diligence, and make recommendations on funding.
Identify and track outcomes to evaluate the impact of foundation investments and inform its strategy for Informed Communities.
Qualifications Ideal candidates will bring:

Passion for the Foundation's mission and a deep commitment to fostering a thriving, diverse local news ecosystem accessible to all Colorado citizens.
Leadership experience in communications, with experience developing and executing successful communication strategies that affect positive change at a systems level.
A robust and well-rounded communications skillset, including experience in digital media and multimedia content creation, media relations, public relations, and campaigns.
A track record of leading powerfully through collaborative relationships.
Exceptional storytelling, writing, and oral communication skills.
Experience working in an ambiguous, entrepreneurial context and launching innovative projects or initiatives.
A track record of building trusted relationships across many lines of difference.
Experience working on a small team with a highly collaborative approach.
Familiarity with Colorado's local journalism landscape and trends in the field.
Desired Mindsets and Orientations An entrepreneurial orientation, with experience and comfort in an environment that requires generating new ideas and approaches.
A demonstrated commitment to equity, community-driven change, and disrupting traditional power dynamics.
A bold strategic thinker who achieves impact while maintaining ease, values-alignment, and voice for all stakeholders.
A servant leader who centers listening, humility, and relationships to achieve goals.
A collaborative team player who thrives in a culture of learning, feedback, coaching and reciprocal support among the team.
A commitment to Colorado and a never-ending curiosity regarding the challenges and opportunities the state faces.
A leader who brings new and varied perspectives and experiences to the team that are reflective of Colorado's diverse communities.
Informed Communities Priorities and Strategies Gates Family Foundation is committed to supporting community-based newsrooms and promising new ventures in Colorado that are building a more inclusive, responsive, resilient, and sustainable local news and civic information ecosystem.
To Apply To apply, please complete our online application (hyperlink:

/forms.gle/DodmNoWpbN17eSjc6).
We will accept applications through November 17th, 2024, and we encourage early submissions.
The application asks for a resume and, in place of a cover letter, responses to the following questions in 250 words or less:

What compels you about the work of Gates Family Foundation, and about this position specifically?
What past experiences have best prepared you for this role?
What professional values are most important to you? How have those values shaped your behavior and decisions in your career so far?
Gates Family Foundation believes that diverse teams lead to better solutions, creative thinking, and greater depth in experiences and perspectives.
We strive in our hiring to ensure that our candidate pool is diverse in terms of race, age, gender, sexual orientation, lived experience, socioeconomic background, physical or mental ability, origin, and religion.
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