Vice President, Policy and Advocacy

About this role

THE ORGANIZATION
The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is a leading nonprofit venture philanthropy fund dedicated to identifying the nation’s best public charter schools, investing in their expansion, and helping to increase their impact. Our “portfolio” includes 200+ charter school networks that operate 1,700+ schools and serve more than 800,000 students. We are committed to expanding the impact of schools that are closing achievement and opportunity gaps. CSGF operates with the same strategies, discipline, and focus as a venture capital firm by awarding multi-year grants and loans to talented education entrepreneurs building networks of high-quality charter schools that enroll traditionally underserved students. Our goal is to serve 1,000,000 students by 2030 and 1.4 million by 2035.
This is an exciting time to join the Charter School Growth Fund. We are launching Fund V, our most ambitious fund yet, building on our 20-year track record of success. Fund V will add 250,000 new high-quality seats while helping our portfolio become durable, bedrock institutions in their communities for decades to come. We invest in the strongest charter leaders and networks in the country, and we partner closely with them to sustain excellent outcomes as they grow. Our portfolio continues to serve student populations of roughly 90% students of color and 75% students from low-income backgrounds, and we remain committed to being proximate to the lived experiences of the students and communities we serve.
THE OPPORTUNITY
CSGF is seeking a Vice President, Policy & Advocacy to join our Policy, Communications and Advocacy (PCA) team. Reporting to the Managing Director, PCA, the Vice President, Policy & Advocacy sets the vision for and drives CSGF’s portfolio advocacy strategy across a region of 15+ states. As an embedded expert on a Partner-led regional team, this Vice President serves as the primary advocacy and policy thought partner to portfolio members, regional Relationship Managers, and the Impact team — building durable advocacy capacity in portfolio networks and driving high-impact grassroots, coalition, and policy strategies that advance the charter sector.
This is a Vice President-level individual contributor role with no direct reports. The ideal candidate brings demonstrated expertise in advocacy, policy, and issues-based campaigns, with a proven ability to set a vision and strategy, secure buy-in from others, own outcomes, and influence senior leaders and diverse stakeholders — internal and external — across complex, multi-stakeholder environments. They are actively sought out for their expertise by portfolio members, state and local advocacy partners, and CSGF leadership, and are skilled at translating advocacy strategy into practical capacity-building support for charter school leaders.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Set and Drive Regional Advocacy Strategy (approximately 40%)

• Set the vision for CSGF’s advocacy and policy strategy across a region of 15+ states, secure buy-in from regional and organizational leadership, and drive that strategy while owning outcomes and ensuring alignment with CSGF’s organizational goals and Fund V priorities.

• Lead investment recommendations for advocacy grants and contracts, bringing the analysis and strategic rationale for Managing Director approval and setting clear, ambitious outcome expectations for each investment.

• Set and lead the Policy and Advocacy Community of Practice learning agenda; develop, curate, and disseminate policy and advocacy resources to portfolio members through CSGF’s Seminar platform.

• Identify complex advocacy threats and opportunities across the region before they arise; develop solutions, bring recommendations to the Managing Director and regional Partner, and proactively tackle issues that extend across the broader CSGF portfolio and organization.

• Own the alignment of state-level policy and advocacy efforts with CSGF’s organizational goals, partner engagement strategies, and regional team priorities, and manage upward to ensure the regional team meets ambitious outcomes.

Serve as Advocacy Thought Partner to Regional Teams and Portfolio Members (approximately 40%)

• Act as a primary advocacy and policy subject matter expert on the Partner-led regional team, providing strategic counsel to Partners, Relationship Managers, and the Impact team as they support portfolio members.

• Serve as a trusted thought partner to portfolio member leaders on advocacy strategy, grassroots organizing, and coalition-building — building their capacity to lead effective advocacy efforts independently over time.

• Identify and assess portfolio members’ evolving advocacy needs; maintain strong relationships with portfolio members that position CSGF as an actively sought-out resource at the state and local level.

• Design and implement advocacy training and technical assistance for portfolio members; develop frameworks, tools, and resources that raise the floor of advocacy capability across the regional portfolio.

• Design and lead grassroots and coalition-based advocacy strategies that mobilize portfolio leaders toward meaningful, measurable advocacy action.

Represent CSGF and Build the Regional Advocacy Ecosystem (approximately 20%)

• Build and maintain strong relationships with state and local advocacy partners, coalitions, and policy stakeholders that advance CSGF’s regional strategy.

• Represent CSGF externally in key state and local advocacy settings and with broader key stakeholders; grow CSGF’s credibility and influence with advocacy partners and policymakers in the region and begin to influence external parties to take action.

• Identify, engage, and manage external consultants and advocacy partners as needed; set clear expectations and hold vendors accountable to quality and strategic alignment.

• Contribute to CSGF’s broader PCA team strategy by sharing regional insights, synthesizing lessons learned, and informing organization-wide…