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CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance (ISLG): Overview

ISLG is an institute within the City University of New York. The Institute’s mission is to assist current and future leaders in government, non-profit organizations and the private sector, in the U.S. and internationally, by offering research, technical assistance, and education and training, to help achieve improvements in the financing, delivery and measurement of critical public services. The Institute’s director, Michael Jacobson, previously served as NYC’s Probation and Correction Commissioner and president of the Vera Institute of Justice.

The Institute is hiring a Policy Associate to assist in work with the New York County District Attorney’s Office (“DANY”) on their Criminal Justice Investment Initiative (CJII), which aims to reduce crime and improve fairness and efficiency in the criminal justice system. This work spans many projects distributed among four portfolios: a) Youth, Families, and Communities, b) Victims of Crime, c) Diversion and Reentry Support, and d) Enhancing Effectiveness Across Systems. In this work, ISLG provides technical assistance to DANY and oversees the CJII on behalf of DANY. The Policy Associate will oversee the NYC Open Referral pilot within the Enhancing Effectiveness Across Systems portfolio. The Policy Associate will also support two other projects: the Access to Services for Survivors of Crime initiative (“Survivor Access”) funder under the Victims of Crime portfolio; and the Community Navigators initiative funder under the Enhancing Effectiveness Across Systems portfolio. For more information about ISLG and CJII, please visit www.islg.cuny.edu and www.cjii.org

The Institute for State and Local Governance is hiring a Policy Analyst to work very closely with the ISLG Policy Director in overseeing and supporting the Manhattan District Attorney’s Criminal Justice Investment Initiative (CJII). CJII is a comprehensive strategy and portfolio of investments designed to support projects that will enhance public safety, prevent crime, and promote a fair and efficient criminal justice system. Established by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (DANY), CJII focuses on projects in a variety of areas, including supporting young people, families, and communities to help prevent crime; enhancing and developing new approaches for serving victims of crime; increasing diversion and improving service delivery options for individuals who are involved in the criminal justice system; and enhancing efforts that cut across systems to improve public safety. As the technical assistance consultant on this project, ISLG is providing guidance to DANY and grantees throughout the lifetime of the initiative, and performing oversight and performance measurement for each of the investments. For more information about CJII, visit www.cjii.org.

Position Description

This position, which will be central to the organization and operations of CJII, will provide deep support to the ISLG Policy Director, who manages CJII. It will consist of a mix of coordination, administrative, and policy work that supports a number of CJII investments and grants management work. This is an excellent position for candidates who are eager for deeper understanding of government policymaking, grants management, and the social service sector and work of community-based organizations across New York City.

Reporting to the ISLG Policy Director, the Policy Analyst will be responsible for the following:

Support and assistance to the Policy Director

The ISLG Policy Director takes a hands-on management approach across all of CJII, and the Policy Analyst will work very closely with her across all CJII initiatives. The Policy Analyst will:

• Support the ISLG Policy Director in the day-to-day management of CJII, including tracking timelines and deadlines for key processes and deliverables, preparing materials and taking notes at meetings, editing documents, and other organizational and administrative tasks
• Coordinate events and meetings with key, high-level stakeholders around the city, and accompany the ISLG Policy Director, where appropriate, at meetings and events with high-level stakeholders
• Take the lead on special projects as assigned by the ISLG Policy Director. This may include, but is not limited to:
  • Conducting background research on early-stage strategic initiatives
  • Conducting background research to develop policy briefs and blogs
• Liaise with the Senior Communications Associate to support efforts to share information about ISLG’s work and the work of grantees as part of the Criminal Justice Investment Initiative

Grants management

• Serve as point person for online grants management system (FluidReview), including:
  • Build out and test application and proposal evaluation forms in the system
  • Create FluidReview instructions/how-to guide for reviewers
  • Manage application deadlines, reminders, and other processes on the back-end of the system
  • Develop reports and summary dashboards to show how applications were scored
• Work closely with the Policy Director and CJII team to support the management of grantees including:
  • Manage grantee reporting, timelines, and deliverables (e.g., monitor adherence to contract requirements, review quarterly reports)
  • Develop communication documents for grantees
  • Work closely with the Policy Director and CJII team to schedule and coordinate logistics of proposal evaluation meetings with reviewers, grantee meetings, convenings, and site visits
  • Take accurate, detailed minutes during review committee meetings and grantee meetings, as necessary
  • Monitor timelines and communicate deadlines to staff
  • Complete daily tasks required to manage multiple grantees

This is a full-time position with an annual salary range from $45,000 to $55,000, commensurate with experience, and excellent benefits.