Communications Manager

Chicago, IL

The Center for Early Learning Funding Equity

Date Posted: 1/20/2025

Who We Are 

The Center for Early Learning Funding Equity (CELFE) supports states’ and municipalities’  initiatives to strengthen their funding structure and strategies for Early Childhood Education and  Care programs for children ages 0-5. At the same time, we conduct and communicate research  and data analysis findings to broad audiences in an effort to improve early care and education  opportunities for all children. 

CELFE draws on decades of expertise in government leadership, program practice, research, and advocacy to partner with public agencies to develop and implement ambitious systems-change initiatives. Based at Northern Illinois University, CELFE’s diverse, nine-person staff advises states and municipalities on funding adequacy and equity issues. CELFE seeks to expand the Center’s scope and impact to reach all states and municipalities pursuing transformation.  

CELFE is led by two prominent early education leaders who integrate their sophisticated grasp of national, state, and local early childhood systems with data and research, while always  prioritizing the needs of children and families. Director Theresa Hawley, Ph.D., spent nearly 30 years as a researcher, practitioner, advocate, and government leader to improve early childhood education and care policies. Hawley was the driving force behind Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s  Commission to overhaul Illinois’ early childhood system, while serving as the state’s First  Assistant Deputy Governor for Education, and was the primary architect of the state’s Quality  Rating and Improvement System for child care under Governor Pat Quinn. She also developed  and oversaw the Educare learning center in West Chicago, Illinois. Deputy Director Sessy  Nyman also brings 30 years of experience in state and national legislative affairs, advocacy, and  community systems-infrastructure design and implementation for early childhood education and  care systems. Nyman also was a member of the leadership team at the Illinois Department of  Human Services, and with Hawley, helped design the state’s COVID-19 relief strategies for the  child care workforce. 

The Opportunity 

Established in 2021, CELFE today has a nine-person staff, but continues to build internal  capacity to meet growing nationwide demand for its services. CELFE seeks help to elevate its  profile nationally and help to build the emerging field of early childhood financing by hiring a  Communications Manager.  

This candidate would work with all staff, and most closely as a thought partner with the  Executive and Deputy Directors. The Communications Manager must have strong graphic design skills to help with the development of reports, presentation decks, newsletters, and social  media content. This person would manage external and internal communications collaboratively,  implement and continue to iterate on CELFE’s communications strategy, and work toward raising CELFE’s profile nationally, particularly among priority audiences.  

The Communications Manager would help CELFE hone its messaging and showcase its expertise and impact, with the aim of securing greater philanthropic funding to support research  initiatives and the development of data tools. The successful candidate will have an exciting  opportunity to expand CELFE’s impact on policy across the early childhood field.  

Expectations of the Communications Manager position:  

• Implement CELFE’s communications strategy;  

• Lead and execute all graphic design activities to produce presentations for  conferences, meetings with prospective clients and funders, reports to state partners,  event invitations, policy briefs, proposals, and more;  

• Produce materials and social media content that communicates the work we do to  help generate new clients and also elevate the field;  

• Grow CELFE’s online presence (goal for LinkedIn followers is 3,000 by the end of  2025) and develop new ways to reach target audiences; 

• Update, maintain, and share CELFE Content Calendar with staff, and work closely  internally to generate new content while meeting deadlines; 

• Produce and distribute bimonthly CELFE newsletter and maintain and grow  CELFE’s mailing list to ensure our message is reaching its intended audiences

• Monitor and help maintain website;  

• Contribute to, and support staff to produce blog items that share CELFE’s  perspective on issues, events, or relevant trends; 

• Plan and manage quarterly webinars to showcase CELFE’s expertise and work;

• Look for other products or opportunities to elevate CELFE’s national profile to  target audiences; 

• Help position CELFE at key conferences; 

• Assist staff to articulate compelling messaging about the work; 

• Manage vendors and product licenses related to CELFE communications; • Stay abreast of early childhood news and developments by monitoring key news  outlets, organizations, and influencers; 

• Other duties as assigned. 

CELFE operates as part of the Division of Outreach, Evaluation & Regional Development at Northern Illinois University, and is based in downtown Chicago. The Center collaborates with academic, data, and research partners across the NIU system, and beyond. 

The Communications Manager would be considered an essential part of the CELFE team, and  will work closely with the organization’s leadership team. CELFE operates in a hybrid work  environment, with an expectation of at least two full days per week in person in its downtown  Chicago office. Currently, this position is structured to be full-time (37.5 hours/week).

Essential skills 

• Strong graphic design and visual storytelling skills, including Power Point presentations, briefs,  reports, invitations, and infographics.  

• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, as well as editing skills.

• Self-starter and problem-solving mindset committed to keep work flowing and maintain  productivity, even in hybrid work environment.  

• Ability to identify and generate content, such as blog perspective pieces. 

• Experience in and/or interest in early childhood or human services issues. 

• Creativity around developing and implementing new strategies to expand CELFE’s  impact.  

• Commitment to social justice, early childhood education and equity.  

Education & Experience 

• Bachelor’s Degree (master’s degree preferred) in Communications, English, Marketing,  Journalism, or related field.  

• Experience and interest in early childhood and/or K-12 education preferred.

• Minimum 3-5 years of direct work experience in design and communications. 

• Bilingual Spanish/English a plus.  

Salary 

Range is $60,000 to $75,000 based on experience. 

Attributes 

• Demonstrated commitment to equity.  

• Passion for social justice, with a focus on early childhood education and care. 

• Comfortable with a start-up environment and flexibility to adapt to uncertainty and  changes in work priorities. 

• Willingness to ask questions, learn from others and share ideas and talents with your  colleagues. 

• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet client-driven deadlines and  needs.  

• Desire to work in a fast-paced ‘start-up’ environment.  

Please submit a resume with 2-3 examples of your design work, along with 1-2 writing samples  to Sessy Nyman at nnyman@niu.edu.