Dogwood Health Trust
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Description
LEARNING & EVALUATION ASSOCIATE
ABOUT DOGWOOD HEALTH TRUST
Dogwood Health Trust (Dogwood) exists to dramatically improve the health and well-being of all people and communities in the 18 counties and Qualla Boundary of Western North Carolina. Dogwood funds projects and collaborations that increase access to housing, education, economic opportunity, and health and wellness. Our policy and advocacy efforts aim to promote equity and opportunity and develop deep community engagement with demonstrated impact.
At our core, we seek to understand before we act, modeling transparency, integrity, and candor to build trust. We work deeply to disrupt factors that perpetuate challenges, making responsive and catalytic investments. Utilizing multiple forms of philanthropic capital, we aim to advance change while balancing impatience and patience. Emphasizing learning and sharing our insights, we actively seek and act on feedback to improve our performance and refine our strategies. We remain hopeful and diligent throughout our efforts and are committed to driving transformation.
SUMMARY
The Learning & Evaluation Associate (“Associate”), reporting to the Vice President of Learning and Evaluation (“Vice President”) and partnering with the Director of Learning and Evaluation (“Director”), will focus on specific research initiatives, synthesize data and findings, provide project management for departmental projects and timelines, and support the Learning, Evaluation, and Data (LED) team in its role to cultivate internal and external learning.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES
General
- While learning, evaluation, and data are specific functions within LED, the team is small and has developed a highly collaborative, integrated work style. The Associate will need to provide administrative support and thought partnership for the LED team in a generalist capacity working across functions. This includes:
- Tracking and reporting on projects and timelines across the team, including logging the specific status of projects, deliverables, and next steps.
- Managing relevant files and assisting with record retention and organization in SharePoint and other repositories of team knowledge.
- Reviewing proposals, contracts, study protocols, progress reports, budgets, and budget justifications.
- Preparing materials for and documenting key discussion points from internal and external meetings.
- Creating and maintaining process documentation to support internal team functions.
- Manage and lead assigned projects, especially those related to research and data.
- Act as a thought partner to the Vice President and Director, as well as other Dogwood teams, consultants, and other parties as needed. This includes participation in cross-team working groups.
- Create and refine MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning) tools and documents to support the development and implementation of LED’s 2025-2030 Measurement Framework.
- Support LED strategy development, including researching best practices and determining approaches.
Learning
- Conduct internal strategic research, including:
- Finding and summarizing literature on specific topics and strategy considerations for foundation initiatives, as necessary.
- Building reports on specific areas of foundation interest.
- Support learning across the foundation generally by assisting other teams in developing learning agendas (e.g., developing agendas, materials, set up for staff, etc.), taking notes during learning discussions, and other activities.
- Assist in the development, refinement, and implementation of LED’s internal learning curriculum and activities to help Dogwood learn from grantmaking and relevant internal or external data.
- Cultivate and maintain positive, productive, and collaborative relationships with staff across Dogwood.
- Support the design and execution of foundation processes that enable shared learning, reflection, strategy improvement, and knowledge management.
Evaluation
- Support the Director in managing evaluation activities.
- Coordinate with external evaluators, consultants, and LED team members to co-develop and implement evaluation plans, studies, and research plans.
Data
- Catalog, collect, clean, organize, manipulate, and visualize internal and external data (both qualitative and quantitative) for LED and other stakeholders within Dogwood in the form of tables, charts, spreadsheets, reports, presentations, maps, or other formats.
- Analyze data to support continual strategic refinement, progress measurement, and learning across Dogwood.
- Play a key role in developing LED’s holistic data approach to support learning and measurement objectives.
QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS
Qualifications are a guiding light and not all encompassing of what Dogwood considers throughout the selection process. We encourage all candidates to include a cover letter to share how their lived experience, education, and work experience combine to support this role.
Education/Certification
- A bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Nonprofit management, Public Administration, Social Science, Statistics, Data Science, or other related fields.
Work Experience
- 4 years of relevant work experience
- Experience within the field of philanthropy is a plus.
Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes
- Project management experience with organizational, time management, and multi-tasking skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365 tools (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, etc.).
- Well-versed in local, state, and federal data landscapes related to the social determinants of health and demographics.
- Dedication to data (both qualitative and quantitative) and zeroing in on the information needed to take the next step in a process or project.
- Data analysis experience or skills, including strong Excel competency, experience with data visualization tools such as Power BI, Tableau, etc., and the ability to learn and use other data tools as needed. Experience with SQL, Python, or other programming languages is a plus.
- Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
- Motivation and commitment to stay proactive, with the ability to exercise independent judgment.
- Experience working with sensitive information while maintaining confidentiality.
- Ability to work effectively and respectfully across diverse communities.
- Lived experience within or pertaining to one of Dogwood’s Strategic Priorities.
- An ability to not take oneself too seriously and to build strong, respectful partnerships with colleagues.
- A strong work ethic, positive attitude, and action mindset.
- Adaptability and ability to pivot when things do not go as expected.
- A willingness to learn, shift perspectives, and come to a timely consensus with colleagues.
WORKING CONDITIONS
- Work in an office environment requires operating standard office equipment. Workspaces are designed to be accessible and inclusive, accommodating various physical needs and promoting a healthy work environment.
- Dogwood utilizes a hybrid work schedule requiring staff to be in the office twice or more each week. While there is some flexibility for hybrid work, this is not a remote position, and candidates should expect to work regularly from the office in Asheville, NC, or from home located in the region we serve.
- Some travel throughout the region is an essential part of the job.
- This position is a full-time, salaried, exempt role
WHAT WE OFFER
Dogwood’s purpose of dramatically improving the health and well-being of all people and communities of Western North Carolina is also evident within our doors. The starting salary is commensurate with experience, which will be vetted through the interview process. All full-time team members can take part in a broad offering of competitive benefits, including:
- 100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision, STD, LTD, Life and AD&D insurance.
- Up to 6% match for 403b retirement contributions.
- Annual PTO (4 weeks) & Sick (2 weeks).
- 10 paid holidays, 5 paid Winter Break days.
Dogwood Health Trust is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work and on our teams. We know that the rich diversity of perspectives and wisdom imperative to our purpose can only come from a wide variety of origins and life experiences. We strongly believe that creating a workplace where all team members thrive is critical to fulfilling our purpose in the communities we serve. We intentionally recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.
Qualified candidates are urged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state, or local protected class.
This position will close on Monday, April 7, 2025, at 8:00 AM. Applications must be submitted before the deadline, as late submissions will not be accepted.
How To Apply
Apply at: https://jobapply.page.link/KWvB7