Director, Mental Health Equity Innovation

What started as a small group of families gathered around a kitchen table in 1979 has blossomed into the nation’s leading voice on mental health. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. 

Today, we are an alliance of hundreds of local affiliates, state organizations and a national office that work in communities across the United States to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need. NAMI advocates for all who are affected by mental illness, both the individuals and the people in their lives. We work to address disparities and injustices and to promote dignity and inclusion for all people with mental illness and their families. In addition to being advocates, we educate, we listen, and we lead as evidenced by our public awareness campaigns, the range of programs we provide, and our strong public policy.

We currently have an opening for a Director, Mental Health Equity Innovation. The Director is responsible for leading NAMI’s work in addressing mental health equity in the United States. This work involves leading NAMI’s Community Health Equity Alliance (CHEA) initiative and an expanded organizational focus on advancing mental health equity for people in minoritized communities, initially with a focus on Black/African Ancestry communities. 

The Director is responsible for creating new innovative approaches to eliminating disparities in mental health care delivery for people in minoritized communities. This includes recommending and developing strategic opportunities to work collaboratively across teams within NAMI National and collaborating with NAMI State and Affiliate Organizations on state and community-level solutions to achieve equity. The Director will also closely collaborate with NAMI’s Cross-Cultural Innovation and Engagement (CCIE) Team to coordinate around other key initiatives and programs involved in engaging minoritized communities and key strategic partners.

The Director is expected to demonstrate leadership expertise and collaborate with the Chief Innovation Officer around strategic direction, bringing to the position expertise and demonstrated creativity in effective approaches in achieving mental health equity. 

This position is project dependent, from May 2024 through December 2025, and will be re-evaluated at that time.

This full-time position is based in our Arlington, VA office on a hybrid basis.

Salary Range: $105,000 - $115,000

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Serve in a leadership role in expanding the reach and impact of NAMI’s Community Health Equity Alliance (CHEA) initiative created to improve access to care for people in Black/African Ancestry Communities experiencing mental health conditions.
• Leading the CHEA initiative includes the following project related activity:
  • Working with designated NAMI State Organizations and Affiliates to support their work in raising awareness about mental health conditions, building strategic partnerships, creating and disseminating resources and related work.
  • Leading the NAMI National CHEA team to develop strategies to advance mental health equity in access to mental health care under CHEA and to support the NAMI field in advancing this work.
  • Developing high impact resources and materials to raise mental health awareness, to promote mental health equity, and to focus on promoting mental health and well-being.
  • Lead the expansion of national strategic partnerships around equity to extend NAMI’s reach and positive impact in Black/African ancestry and other minoritized communities. This work will be done in close collaboration with the CCIE team to coordinate activity with national, state and local level strategic partners.
  • Collaborating with the Marketing and Communications Department to amplify work done under the CHEA initiative to ensure broader awareness of the importance of this work.
  • Leading the CHEA project team in planning for virtual meetings, summits and other key events with NAMI field leaders, experts in advancing mental health equity and other strategic partners and collaborators.
  • Continuing to strengthen our partnership with CHEA funders including providing regular updates and quarterly presentations.
  • Representing CHEA and NAMI at partner activities and events.
  • Assisting with developing and tracking project budgets and project activity.
• Represent NAMI National and, when asked, present at key national, state and local meetings on NAMI’s work on equity related issues.
• Collaborate with NAMI’s Government Relations Policy and Advocacy (GRPA) Department in support of their work on policy, advocacy and regulatory issues related to mental health equity.
• In leading the CHEA Project Team, work with the Director of CCIE and the Strategic Alliance and Development Department to propose grants and report on secured grants.
• Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field required; advance degree preferred.
• 8 to 10 years work experience in equity or a related field. 
• Expertise in engagement and/or collaboration with Black/African ancestry communities.
• Experience with forming strategic partnerships with organizations addressing the needs of Black/African ancestry and other minoritized communities.
• A deep understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion principles, including awareness of systemic biases and discrimination.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
• Proven ability to engage effectively with strategic partners working in the equity space.
• Proven ability to develop high impact resources related to equity and supporting minoritized communities.
• Proven ability to effectively manage budgets, operations’ plans, and track goals and outcomes.
• Strong presentation, project management and leadership skills.
• Proven ability to engage with and manage communications between internal and external stakeholders with a high level of accuracy and professionalism.
• Experience working collaboratively within a team environment and across functions/departments to plan and implement programs and initiatives.
• Ability to respond quickly and effectively to challenges, using problem-solving and fact-finding skills. 
• Sound data analysis and research skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite. 
• Ability to research and analyze issue-specific data, historical records, and publicly available information.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced work environment and meet tight deadlines.
• Must pass background check.

NAMI is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce. NAMI prohibits discrimination and harassment against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, genetic information or any other legally protected group status. We also provide reasonable accommodation for candidates with disability.