Job Announcement

MergerWatch Outreach and Engagement Coordinator

Join an innovative team working to defend and improve health coverage and access for women, LGBTQ people and families!

MergerWatch is seeking an Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for our work on women’s health and LGBT health coverage and access. An ideal candidate will enjoy engaging with diverse groups of people, be skilled at using social media and community organizing to spur advocacy and have good oral and written communication skills.  Prior knowledge of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the organization of the U.S. health system is desirable. Spanish-speaking ability would be a plus.

ABOUT US: MergerWatch is a 20-year-old non-profit project created to protect patients’ rights and community access to care when hospitals merge, downsize or close. In 2007, MergerWatch added advocacy for expanded health coverage to our portfolio as co-founders of a national initiative called Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need (RWV). We work nationally and on the ground in New York, where we serve on the steering committee of Health Care for All New York.

ABOUT THE POSITION: The Coordinator will work closely with the MergerWatch Director and key staff to conduct outreach and engagement for ongoing projects designed to:

Defend health coverage and access gains for diverse women, LGBT people and their families that our Raising Women’s Voices initiative has helped win through passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  We are using social media and on-the-ground actions in New York to fight efforts in Congress to repeal the ACA and drastically cut Medicaid.

• Help women and LGBTQ people navigate the changing health system, including learning how to apply for and effectively use health coverage options made available by the Affordable Care Act but threatened by actions of the Trump administration and Congress.

Improve the adequacy of health plan provider networks, so as to ensure that women and LGBTQ people can find and get appointments with qualified providers in their networks.

Address emerging threats to women’s health and LGBT health access from hospital consolidation and other health industry trends.

This is a full-time position, with a generous benefit package, located at our office in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood, near the Columbia University campus.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and enhance our social media outreach and engagement of women’s health and LGBT health advocates through postings for Raising Women’s Voices, Raising Women’s Voices-NY and MergerWatch. Develop social media campaigns, strategies, messages and hashtags, work with our consulting graphic artist to develop campaign images, prepare memos to the field describing how they can participate in the campaign.
• Serve as lead organizer for New York-based community engagement activities, such as ACA defense rallies and marches, participation in health fairs and LGBTQ events, and provision of health insurance literacy trainings using our literacy guides.
• Participate in state and national coalition calls and meetings to develop shared strategies.
• Prepare fact sheets and other handouts for use at outreach sessions.
• Create, manage, conduct and prepare summaries of “listening sessions,” health insurance literacy trainings and other outreach activities of MergerWatch’s programmatic areas, including planned sessions to:

o  Learn about network adequacy problems being experienced by women and LGBT New Yorkers.

o  Gather women’s ideas about how to transform the health system to deliver patient-centered care to women and our families and “the right care, at the right time, in the right place.”

o  Improve consumer engagement in New York State’s regulatory oversight of proposed hospital mergers.

o  Provide health insurance literacy education to grassroots women and train-the-trainer sessions for leaders of organizations providing women’s health services and/or insurance enrollment.

• Track our outreach and engagement work for grant reporting purposes.
• Carry out other research and administrative work to support our programmatic initiatives, as needed, and as assigned by the Director.

 

Qualifications

• Commitment to social justice, including as it incorporates reproductive and LGBT health justice and racial justice.
• “People person” who likes to build working relationships.
• Good written and oral communication skills.
• Detail-oriented and able to handle multiple tasks and deadlines.
• “Can do” attitude and comfort working within a small office where everyone pitches in.
• Knowledge of the Affordable Care Act and implementation issues is preferred.
• Strong computer skills including expert use of Microsoft Office, web, database experience.
• Excellent follow-up and follow-through skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.
• Ability to work with diverse groups of people.
• Bachelor’s Degree, plus 2 years of experience, or Master’s Degree in a field such as public affairs, public policy, public health, women’s studies, health advocacy or social work.
• Spanish-speaking ability would be a plus.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to Lois Uttley at lois@mergerwatch.org