The Organization – Point Source Youth
About Point Source Youth
Founded in 2015, Point Source Youth is a nonprofit organization working nationally to prevent and end homelessness. They help advocate for, implement, and evaluate proven, scalable, and replicable youth homelessness interventions to increase housing options for youth. The organization’s liberation-focused model trusts young people as experts in their lives and well-being.
Point Source Youth believes society is morally obligated to amass ample resources to end youth homelessness collectively. To that end, they work alongside communities and partners to uplift the power of young people, especially historically marginalized youth, including BIPOC and Queer youth.
They partner with service providers, funders, policymakers, government officials, and youth advocates nationwide to advance meaningful and affirming solutions to end youth homelessness. Their youth-centered solutions empower young people to make vital decisions that positively impact their lives. Programs and services include:
• Direct Cash Transfers: Point Source Youth provides direct cash transfers with youth-determined support to homeless youth so that they can afford necessities such as food, housing, and transportation. Point Source Youth also supports Direct Cash Transfers as Prevention, which provides youth with cash and support to prevent them from experiencing homelessness in the first place.
• Housing: The organization supports housing for homeless youth, including rapid re-housing and youth-determined host homes.
• Advocacy: Point Source Youth advocates for policies and programs that support homeless youth at the local, state, and federal levels.
• Youth Leadership: Point Source Youth works to ensure that young people with lived experience create and lead programs that end youth homelessness locally and nationally.
Point Source Youth also supports research and evaluation, partnering with leading researchers nationwide to evaluate the interventions it supports. Rooted in their belief in the power of local change, their team of regional training and technical assistance experts empower communities on the ground, working to end youth homelessness. In further support of their collective and regional approach to ending the national youth homelessness crisis, Point Source Youth convenes a National Symposium and an Innovation Summit, reaching over 1,450 registrants.
The Mission
Point Source Youth envisions a world where all young people can enjoy the right to safety, stability, and joy. They believe that youth should be trusted to direct their own lives and that leadership by and advancement of the young people most impacted by the homelessness crisis is paramount.
Organizational Highlights
Founded in: 2015
Budget: $8.4 million
Board of Directors: 11
Staff: 30
Headquarters: New York, NY
The Position
Reporting to the Executive Director, the SVP, Government Affairs will design and lead an ambitious effort to develop public policy that ends youth homelessness. The main objective of the leader who takes on this new role will be to codify direct cash transfers with youth-determined supports as a scalable approach to ending youth homelessness on the federal and state levels. As the organization’s leading public affairs professional, the SVP will be responsible for cultivating authentic and meaningful relationships with key funders, legislators, staffers, and government agencies at the city, state, and federal levels. The SVP will also advance a grassroots movement that galvanizes the ecosystem of advocates who support direct cash transfers as well as host homes, and upstream prevention initiatives. The position will also help to fund the expansion of the Policy and Government Affairs Department. Essential responsibilities include:
Public Affairs
• Establish and implement legislative strategies and field operations to advance PSY’s mission to end youth homelessness.
• Develop both narrative and storytelling tactics and strategies to galvanize support for PSY’s interventions.
• Collaborate with public officials and agencies concerned with youth homelessness to prioritize and support PSY’s policy agenda.
• Identify and secure new funding streams to support the expansion of direct cash transfers, host homes, and upstream prevention initiatives.
• Create and expand national and local funding mandates for direct cash transfer programs for youth experiencing homelessness.
• Develop federal, state, and local relationships that translate into budget appropriations, earmarks, and commitments for direct cash transfers to unhoused youth.
Policy Development
• Establish short- and long-term strategies that ensure wins on federal legislation that supports direct cash transfers, such as the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, and HUD appropriations, that provide more resources for unhoused youth.
• Understand the national landscape and develop strategies to get bills passed, particularly in cities and states that have made advancements in direct cash transfers, basic income, and related policies.
• In partnership with the VP, Strategic Partnerships, collaborate closely and expand work with HUD Youth Homeless Demonstration Sites and relationships with their Technical Assistance Providers.
• Work to obtain additional funding streams from Medicaid and other federal sources that can better pay for and support innovations in funding interventions such as direct cash transfers.
• Create a roadmap that includes outlining policy pillars to support communication of PSY’s policy agenda.
• In collaboration with the VP, Strategic Partnerships, expand the HUD-funded Continuum of Care (CoC) rapid re-housing program to further meet the needs of youth experiencing homelessness.
• Conceive and drive the successful launch of the organization’s policy and government affairs shop, including the development of budgets and staffing plans.
• Rapidly expand Direct Cash Transfer funding in communities that have existing or are open to establishing DCT programs. States and cities of focus include California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Washington, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, New York City, Portland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
• Lead and create policies that also support Point Source Youth’s Technical Assistance (TA) and partner revenue goals.
Engagement and Organizing
• Collaborate with the Executive Director to promote PSY’s policy goals to organizational partners, stakeholders, funders, and the public.
• Design and implement all policy, advocacy, organizing, and campaigns to garner the resources needed to end youth homelessness and place power and resources in the hands of young people.
• Lead the organization’s external communications on policy including publishing op-eds and serving as a key spokesperson at legislative sessions, hearings, and in the media.
• Design and execute a digital engagement strategy that includes traditional, social, and online campaigns as well as more innovative applications for real-time, rapid-response communication.
• Be an ambassador for community-based solutions and power-building strategies to strengthen policies and funding for rapid re-housing, direct cash transfers, host homes, and family strengthening programs.
• Engage the PSY Youth Advisory Council (YAC) to develop policy goals and meet with key city, state, and federal stakeholders.
• Join and lead coalitions interested in expanding direct cash transfers as a solution to ending the youth homelessness crisis.
The Opportunity
This is an exceptional opportunity for a passionate housing advocate and tenacious lobbyist to push legislation and unlock federal funding to increase the impact of a radically transformative organization working to end youth homelessness.
Position Overview
The Position: Senior Vice President, Government Affairs
Reports to: Executive Director
Staff and budget management: The SVP will help to create and fund the budget for the Government Affairs and Policy Department
Lives: Ideally, in the Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD metro region.
Professional Requirements
The new SVP, Government Affairs will be responsible for launching a dynamic public policy agenda and external engagement strategy that advances movement-building, legislative change, and revenue generation in alignment with PSY’s mission and programs. Success in this role depends on the new SVP’s ability to leverage relationships and data and build public sector consensus. The ideal candidate will have:
• At least seven years of professional experience on Capitol Hill as a staffer, lobbyist, association leader, or advocate. A registered lobbyist is a plus.
• Deep knowledge of the legislative process, including prior experience drafting bills and proven success in unlocking federal funds through earmarks and appropriations.
• Knowledge of HUD, CoC, and healthcare (HHS, Medicaid) funding models and experience shaping revenue-generating federal policies and securing contracts.
• Experience in housing, housing policy, youth homelessness, and allied justice movement spaces, with relevant lived experience prioritized.
• Deep understanding of direct cash transfers, guaranteed income, and/or universal basic income policy as solutions to both prevent and end youth homelessness.
• Broad and deep networks with leaders in progressive housing policy and homeless services nationally, regionally, and locally.
• Demonstrated ability to apply an intersectional and anti-racist lens to all work that lifts up and centers Black, Indigenous, People of Color, non-binary, trans youth, and LGBTQ+ youth.
• Proven experience building and mobilizing coalitions.
• Exceptional communication skills including experience writing and speaking publicly to persuade public opinion.
Essential Qualities
The Senior Vice President, Government Affairs will passionately believe that all people have the unconditional right to housing. And they will be unwavering in their trust of young people as experts to make choices and decisions that positively impact their lives.
Personal Characteristics
The SVP, Government Affairs will have exceptional relationship-building skills and the ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders including elected officials and youth with lived experiences of homelessness. They will be a collaborative leader who is equally comfortable working independently and within and across teams. The ideal candidate will bring the following qualities:
• Passion for Point Source Youth’s mission of putting power and resources in the hands of young people.
• Excellent problem-solving, critical thinking, follow-up, and time management skills.
• Commitment to social justice frameworks, including race, gender, and economic justice.
• A firm but flexible leadership style that is adaptable to different personalities and comfortable providing direct feedback.
• Enthusiasm for working collaboratively with the Youth Advisory Council to ensure that authentic youth engagement is at the forefront of all of PSY’s work.
• Ability to travel and work evenings, weekends, and irregular hours.
• Social and emotional intelligence to work effectively in a variety of geographic, political, and cultural settings.
• Fundraising skills and passion for building a department from the ground up.
Compensation
The targeted annual salary for this position is $170,000 – $195,000 commensurate with the lived and professional experience and qualifications of the selected candidate. Point Source Youth provides an excellent benefits package including 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance and a fully funded Healthcare Spending Account equal to the annual deductible. Point Source Youth also provides a 401(k) with a 4% match, and a $300 monthly allowance for a home office and self-care. In addition to a generous PTO policy and holiday schedule, the Point Source Youth offices are closed for two weeks in July and three weeks in December.
Location
Ideally, the SVP, Government Affairs will live in the Washington, DC/Baltimore, MD metro region.
Contact
Please submit a résumé and original cover letter that describes your interest in the organization’s mission and qualifications through the application portal on our website at https://apptrkr.com/5185191.
Bryan Epps, Search Consultant
McCormack + Kristel
1740 Broadway, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212.531.5003 | Fax: 212.203.9599
Email: search@mccormackkristel.com
Website: www.mccormackkristel.com
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. This position will remain open until filled. All inquiries will be held in strict confidence.
Individuals who are LGBTQ+, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, disabled, system-impacted, immigrants, and anyone who has experienced systemic oppression and/or gender-based violence are encouraged to apply.
EOE Statement
McCormack + Kristel works only with equal-opportunity employers. Point Source Youth does not discriminate in any of its employment policies or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex, disability, age, marital status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other personal characteristic protected by applicable law.