Senior Advisor

Foster America is transforming the way our nation supports families. Together with communities and local governments, we’re creating a just, equitable alternative to today’s child welfare system – so parents and children stay together with access to the resources they need to thrive. To foster a future where all children and families thrive, we:

Drive Innovation: We are designing solutions alongside our nation’s boldest governments and communities. Together, we demonstrate that bolstering support for families is an effective alternative to referring them for a child welfare investigation that may lead to the separation of families.

Develop Changemakers: We’re building a network of people with the imagination – and determination – to transform the child welfare system. We nurture and connect leaders, growing their skills and amplifying our collective impact.

Disseminate Knowledge: We share what works, so more families and more organizations in more places have the support they need. Our workshops and training allow child welfare practitioners, community leaders, and those who have experienced the foster care system firsthand to learn from our team and one another. 

Foster America cultivates a network and staff team that values and elevates diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise as we shape new ways forward for children and families. 

To learn more about Foster America, please visit https://www.foster-america.org/  

Requirements

Foster America seeks a Senior Advisor for a three-year initiative in partnership with the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families to reduce the need for foster care by expanding access to prevention services that keep families safely together. This role is pivotal in spearheading systemic change through expertise in community co-design, interagency coordination, collective impact methodologies, partnership development, and strategic collaborator alignment.

The Senior Advisor will serve as a key liaison among public- and private-sector entities that administer programs to prevent child abuse and neglect. This involves enhancing collaboration between departments within DCYF as well as strengthening relationships with external partners that serve families — including community organizations, advocacy groups, and service providers — to ensure a coordinated approach to prevention efforts. The Senior Advisor will enhance cooperation among these key collaborators by establishing and supporting governance structures that aim to align statewide child abuse and neglect prevention efforts, including an overarching steering committee and possibly a community-led advisory group. Key initiatives include coordinating efforts between fiscal and child welfare teams to secure additional funding for prevention programs; developing a DCYF prevention steering committee; collecting and analyzing available DCYF data to drive decisions; and refining outcome measures in support of approaches that help families access support earlier, reducing the likelihood of child welfare involvement. The Senior Advisor will ensure racial equity and social justice principles are embedded in every aspect of these efforts.

This includes: 

• Program Management, Strategic Leadership, and Execution:
• Align efforts and initiatives across DCYF departments, ensuring effective project management, resource allocation, and an accurate reflection of community needs.
• Monitor and evaluate progress to ensure projects progress timely and remain within scope.
• Lead teams in designing and scaling innovative solutions that seek to address root causes of child abuse and neglect.
• Establish clear goals, benchmarks, and performance metrics to measure the success of initiatives.
• Leadership and Capacity Building:
• Provide visionary leadership, modeling DCYF’s and Foster America’s values and fostering a culture that reflects them.
• Identify capacity gaps and make recommendations for organizational changes and resource distribution.
• Strengthen DCYF teams by providing training, mentorship, and support to foster a collaborative, innovative, and accountable culture that sustains long-term efforts.
• Interagency Coordination and Partnership Development:
• Establish and maintain relationships with local, state, and federal government agencies, as well as external partners focused on prevention strategies.
• Facilitate cross-departmental and intergovernmental steering committee meetings that promote productive communication and collaboration.
• Represent the government in community and intergovernmental forums to advocate for collaborative approaches and collective-impact initiatives.
• Prevention Framework Oversight and Policy Alignment:
• Support the development of a prevention framework oversight and policy alignment by gathering and analyzing input from key collaborators across the local child welfare ecosystem.
• Ensure initiatives comply with relevant regulations, policies, and guidelines.
• Guide partner organizations in aligning their work to the common agenda.
• Communication, Reporting and Data Management:
• Ensure clear and consistent communication across government departments, external collaborators, and the public regarding progress, challenges, and successes.
• Deliver regular reports, presentations, and updates to senior leadership, policymakers, and other key collaborators.
• Determine success indicators with workgroups and the Steering Committee.
• Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting:
• Design, coordinate, and communicate indicators for success with workgroups and Steering Committee. 
• Co-create and develop twice-annual outcome reports with DCYF detailing progress for the Steering Committee and external audiences. 
• Community Engagement and Lived Expert Integration:
• Seek out and prioritize the perspectives of those who have been impacted by the child welfare system in decision-making processes.
• Engage with the voice of communities and those served to understand and incorporate their needs. At times this may include use of secondary data, information and voice already collected for program purposes.

EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE

• BA/BS; master’s degree preferred.
• 7–10 years of progressively responsible experience in public sector leadership, intergovernmental coordination, or collective impact work, preferably within a government or nonprofit setting.
• Experience leading cross-departmental or multi-agency efforts, managing large-scale projects, and driving collective-impact initiatives.
• Working expertise of applying change management and implementation science principles successfully in public systems and programs.
• Proven track record of managing relationships with diverse collaborators, including government entities, community organizations, and private-sector partners.

REPORTING

This role will report to the Foster America Senior Director of Discovery and Engagement. This role provides dotted-line supervision to Foster America specialists (e.g., data, fiscal, co-design, system-mapping, and equity) assigned to work alongside selected jurisdictions.

START DATE

This position will start in April 2025.

BENEFITS & COMPENSATION

Salary is commensurate with experience in the range of $126,000 - $140,000. Foster America offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, paid vacation, paid parental leave, paid holidays, commuter benefits, participation in a retirement plan, paid sick time, and professional development opportunities.

WORK LOCATION

This is a remote position for candidates based in Washington state or neighboring regions. This position requires frequent in-person/in-office work at a governmental or community nonprofit setting with some time working remotely/from a home office. Up to 40% travel. The candidate will be expected to endure prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working at a computer. 

Foster America is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity in professional and lived experience. Frequently cited statistics show that underrepresented groups apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Foster America encourages you to break that statistic and apply. No one ever meets 100% of the qualifications.

We look forward to reviewing your application.

Foster America is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity,national origin, disability, or veteran status.