Vice President, Health Policy Institute
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Overview

Founded in 1970, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (“Joint Center”) is one of the nation’s premier independent research policy institutions, and the only such institution focusing primarily on the concerns of African Americans and other people of color. In the wake of the civil rights era, the Joint Center’s original mission was to build a policy foundation supporting racial equity through activities aimed at expanding black political participation and by supporting the growing number of black elected officials through technical assistance and policy research. Over the years, the Joint Center has seen much success in advancing that agenda, as the number of black elected officials across the country has grown from about 1,500 in the late 1960’s to nearly 10,000 in 2007. The Joint Center has played an important role in creating many key organizations representing black elected and appointed officials, including the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Conference of Black Mayors, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the National Organization of Black County Officials, the National Caucus of Black School Board Members and Blacks in Government.

Today, the Joint Center continues to focus on improving the socio-economic status of African Americans and other minorities through its contributions of high quality research and informed analysis to critical policy debates. Elected and appointed officials at all levels of government, as well as other organizations, look to the Joint Center for its input and advice on a wide range of issues, as well as its assistance in better understanding the black electorate and the concerns of minority citizens. In conducting research and policy analysis and in disseminating the information it produces, the Joint Center employs a nonpartisan approach to building partnerships and coalitions across government and policy development community in order to broaden and strengthen the impact of its work.

For additional information on the Joint Center, please the website at: www.jointcenter.org.

Current Situation

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is governed by a Board of Governors of twenty members composed of a diverse group of professionals from the private, academic, and nonprofit sectors and three members emeriti. The Board elects its Chair and other officers, makes policy and fiscal decisions, and appoints the President. The President leads the day-to-day operations of the Joint Center and manages an executive management team that includes four Vice Presidents and a Vice President/Chief Financial Officer. The staff of the Joint Center consists of thirty-six positions (with 28 positions currently filled) in five administrative areas: Communications, Corporate Relations and Strategic Planning (Development), Finance & Administration, Governance & Economic Analysis, and the Joint Center Health Policy Institute.

In 2007, the Board of Governors hired a President who has undertaken a new vision and strategy, for which the organization seeks support and funding to expand on its historic mission. The Board of Governors approved this Presidential Vision for the creation of three new Institutes. The Joint Center seeks to launch an endowment funding for each of Institute. Under this new Presidential vision, the core Institutes of the Joint Center will be:
 

• Joint Center Health Policy Institute. Founded in 2002, the Health Policy Institute (HPI) was created by an initial $7 million grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, to help African Americans and communities of color identify policy objectives and to engage underserved, racial and ethnic minorities in health policy discussions. HPI has maintained a strategic focus on a number of health-related areas, where it works to improve the health status of African Americans and seeks to expand their participation in health-related public policy areas. HPI’s work has directed the efforts of elected officials and activists to explore and remedy racial disparities that are present in a range of health outcomes. Its growth and impact serves a model for the three emerging Institutes below.

• Joint Center New Media and Community Institute. Through this Institute, the Joint Center will investigate the participation by and portrayal of African Americans and communities of color and analyze these representations in light of their impact on social justice and equality. The Institute will focus on the impact of new technologies and trends, with an eye toward understanding their influence and effectiveness in expanding black participation in public and community affairs. It will serve as center for developing a greater understanding of how black people can have more influence in shaping their destiny through established and emerging media channels.

• Joint Center Civic Engagement and Governance Policy Institute. This Institute will strengthen and sustain the Joint Center’s long tradition of energizing black participation in public affairs and disseminating knowledge of relevant policy debates throughout the African American community. Research will focus on trends in civic engagement among people of color and the ways in which public, private, and nonprofit entities impact the lives of African Americans and other communities of color in the United States and abroad.

• Joint Center Education Policy and Opportunity Institute. With African Americans as a group more likely to suffer higher poverty and unemployment rates and to attend failing schools, the focus on this Institute will be to research, analyze, and disseminate information about education, economic, and workforce issues. The new Institute will work to develop policy prescriptions aimed at promoting equality in the economic and educational realms, as well as to advance substantive initiatives targeted at improving schooling and job prospects, especially for younger African Americans.

The Joint Center Health Policy Institute remains the Joint Center’s flagship Institute and has received over $16 million in funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and other foundations. The mission of HPI is to ignite a “Fair Health” movement that gives people of color the inalienable right to equal opportunity for healthy lives. The goal of HPI is to help African Americans and communities of color identify short- and long-term policy objectives and related activities in the seven key areas: (1) improved health outcomes, recognizing the impact of economics, the environment, and access to health resources; (2) wellness and health promotion, as an effective management and prevention of chronic illness; (3) reducing mortality and improving child and maternal health; (4) supporting healthy behaviors among children and youth; (5) improving mental health and reducing factors that promote violence; (6) optimizing healthcare access and quality; and (7) creating conditions for healthy aging and improving the quality of life for seniors.

In pursuing its mission and goals, HPI has garnered many successes in the national health policy arena. HPI established the 28-member Sullivan Alliance to Transform America’s Health Professions to increase diversity in the health professions in order to help reduce racial and ethnic health disparities, led by Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under former President George H.W. Bush. In November 2006, after eighteen months of study, HPI’s Dellums Commission, headed by Oakland mayor and former Congressman Ronald V. Dellums, released a report and a series of policy recommendations aimed at addressing the many social and institutional obstacles that adversely impact young men of color, outlining many misguided policies that have contributed to numerous obstacles faced by these youth. In view of these achievements, the next Vice President of the Joint Center Health Policy Institute must provide a new vision for the Health Policy Institute that accords with the Joint Center’s new strategic direction, raises the profile of HPI, expands the Institute’s core constituencies and partnerships, and builds the intellectual capital of the Institute through high quality research and publications.

 Specific Role

The Vice President of the Joint Center Health Policy Institute oversees the overall operations of the Institute, implements projects based on the established architecture of the Institute, and plans, develops, and directs programs and initiatives supporting HPI’s mission. The VP reports directly to the President of the Joint Center. This official will be responsible for the development of health research and policy initiatives as well as financial and administrative management of the organization as a whole. The VP manages a budget of $4.5 million and supervises a staff of eight, including a Deputy Director, an Executive Director of the Sullivan Alliance, a Director of Operations and Outreach, a Senior Research Associate, a Policy Assistant, an Assistant to the VP, and two Administrative staff members.

Research/Advocacy
The VP, a well-respected and published expert in health care and health policy arena, leads the development and execution of health policy research of the highest quality, concentrating on seminal research in the areas of health outcomes, wellness promotion, maternal health, children’s health, mental health, healthcare access and quality, and health for seniors, and ensuring that the work is carried out in a timely manner. The VP leads the implementation of a health policy program agenda that translates the social determinants of health into local and national policy practice. The Institute has many elements and engages in many activities, including research and information dissemination; policy workshops, forums, and conferences; technical assistance for community-based organizations; and media relations and outreach to leaders and their organizations. The VP remains current in relevant academic and policy fields, including participation in professional association meetings and in conferences and forums sponsored by other organizations as appropriate.

Fundraising/Fiscal Management
In coordination with the Vice President of Development and other Institute Vice Presidents, fundraising and fiscal management will be a priority duty for the new VP. The incoming VP must possess the ability to innovatively develop HPI’s funding platform in partnership with the Joint Center’s Development staff. Fiscal responsibilities will include securing funding for the organization, including funds from foundations, corporations, major individual gifts, and public matching funds. The VP must have demonstrated experience in managing complex budgets in order to rigorously manage its finances. The VP supervises the preparation and completion of reports to funders on project work undertaken with their support. The VP initiates the development of partnerships with other organizations that will contribute to the funding base of the Institute. The VP works with other Joint Center staff on fundraising and budgetary matters that include HPI components.

Marketing/Outreach
Working closely with the Joint Center and HPI teams, the VP coordinates the Joint Center’s marketing and outreach efforts to support HPI’s mission and goals. The VP oversees the development of policy documents on health outcomes, wellness promotion, maternal health, children’s health, mental health, healthcare access and quality, and health for seniors, for a wide range of audiences, including African American leadership, policy makers, academics, and the media. In this context, the VP also represents the Joint Center in public venues and with the media, explaining policy issues and the effects of the policy on African Americans and others who have been underserved by the existing health system. When appropriate, the VP is responsible for writing analyses and op-eds relating to health policy issues and writing articles for the Joint Center’s FOCUS Magazine. The VP nurtures contacts with policy makers, particularly of the National Policy Alliances, including black and other elected officials and with African American leaders and organizations (e.g., Congressional Black Caucus and Black Leadership Information Exchange) by providing information and analysis and customized products. The VP provides data and analyses (where appropriate) to local, state, and federal legislators and administrators. The VP assists those in HPI’s network with messages for media and policymakers.

Partnerships
The Joint Center Health Policy Institute has ongoing partnerships with a number of key organizations and stakeholders. The Vice President will need to nurture and support existing alliances while generating new opportunities for effective collaborations to support the core focus areas and projects.

Major Objectives  

Personal Characteristics

The following qualifications are required in the new VP:

• Passion and values that align with those of the Joint Center and HPI’s mission;

• Demonstrated excellence through achievement;

• A team-building, collegial approach to work;

• Drive, coupled with energetic, entrepreneurial leadership qualities;

• Superb verbal and written skills;

• Ability to build, strengthen, and maintain both internal and external relationships;

• Healthy respect for colleagues, employees, and superiors;

• Goal-oriented, project-oriented, and achievement-oriented;

• Strong sense of honor and integrity;

• A warm, personal style with a good sense of humor.

Compensation  

The Joint Center offers a competitive compensation package that is commensurate with experience.

Application

 Please forward resumes, a writing sample, and any other appropriate material immediately to:

Patrick Chizeck
The Boulware Group
625 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 422
Chicago IL 60611-3172
Phone: 312-322-0088
Fax: 312-322-0092
 

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Inquiries
The Joint Center requests that all communications regarding this position be directed to the Boulware Group.