Job Description
Do your best work here.
Hopelab envisions a future where young people have equitable opportunities to live joyful and purposeful lives. As a researcher, investor, and convener, Hopelab is dedicated to fostering greater mental health and well-being outcomes for Brown, Black, and Queer young people.
Position Overview: Communications & Policy Assistant
The Communications & Policy Assistant is an entry-level role that supports Hopelab’s strategic communications and policy engagement work, including our strategic priority areas: Youth Voice & Power, Foundations for Well-being, and Scaling for Equity. Working closely with the Strategic Communications & Policy team, you’ll help support the production of content (written and visual) that amplifies youth mental health research, supports youth-informed policy initiatives, and elevates diverse innovators. This role offers hands-on experience in nonprofit communications, policy work, and youth-centered approaches to mental health and well-being.
Keeps us organized – creates and administers effective systems and procedures that support our diverse communications and policy activities
Represents our work publicly – effectively and compellingly shares our work to public audiences
Builds and maintains relationships – is a trusted point of contact for our communications and policy activities across the organization
Enthusiastically takes on new challenges – learns quickly and adapts to rapidly evolving work demands
The Communications & Policy Assistant will report to Hopelab’s Vice President, Strategic Communications & Policy, and support the Strategic Communications & Policy department. They will primarily support the Strategic Communications & Policy team, but will also have opportunities to support other strategic functional areas where their skills align with the team’s needs.
Position Responsibilities
- Content Support: Assist with drafting and editing blog posts, partner spotlights, and social media content under senior guidance; support the relaunch of the Instagram account and associated creative content. Support editorial and media advocacy efforts, including fact-checking and copy-editing across all communications materials to ensure accuracy and brand consistency.
- Policy Research and Support: Track and analyze youth mental health legislation and regulations at both state and federal levels; provide research assistance for policy concepts and help create information briefs. Assist with the development of educational briefings and engage with partners on collaborative, policy-related projects.
- Partnership Coordination: Support team members in engaging with portfolio companies, partners, grantees, and young leaders; assist with outreach for collaborative content projects and manage follow-up communications.
- General Communications & Operations: Support newsletter production, website updates, and special projects like research reports or fellowship announcements; maintain organized content archives and project files.
- Event & Meeting Logistics: Assist with logistics for partner convenings and policy events, including scheduling, travel coordination, note-taking, and record-keeping.
- Project Management & Tracking: Help maintain organized tracking systems for projects and partnerships; keep content calendars updated and monitor upcoming project deadlines.
- Represent our work publicly: Present content related to our work through written and verbal professional communication outlets.
Required Education, Experience, and Skills
- A combination of education, relevant work experience, and/or training resulting in demonstrated ability to successfully complete the job tasks
- Typically, a Bachelor’s degree with academic studies in a relevant field (communications, marketing, and/or public policy) is a plus
- Interest in learning about communications strategies and youth mental health and well-being policy.
- Experience with communications concepts and tactics.
- Strong project administration skills, including detailed tracking of project tasks, deliverables, and goals.
- Strong research skills and strong attention to detail.
- Experience and enthusiasm for working in an interdisciplinary environment and learning about approaches from other fields
- Experience and comfort in communicating with diverse audiences, verbally and in writing
- Experience building relationships and partnerships and communicating sensitively with a wide range of stakeholder groups, including young people
- Experience coordinating essential communication with external collaborators
Term
This is a two-year, full-time, term-limited employment opportunity. Applicants must be able to begin in June 2026.
Compensation and Benefits
Hopelab’s compensation is tied to local job market data, so will differ by location. Here are some sample hourly rates for this role, commensurate with training and experience:
- SF Bay Area/NYC: Starting hourly rate ($35.65 – $40.11). Full range ($35.65 – $44.56).
- Los Angeles: Starting hourly rate ($33.87– $38.10). Full range ($33.87– $42.34).
- DC/Seattle: Starting hourly rate ($32.09 – $36.10). Full range ($32.09 – $40.11).
- Denver/Chicago/Sacramento: Starting hourly rate ($30.30 – $34.09). Full range ($30.30 – $37.88).
- Miami/Portland Oregon: Starting hourly rate ($28.52 – $32.09). Full range ($28.52 – $35.65).
Hopelab provides a generous benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision; internet stipends; wellness programs, including 8 therapy and 8 coaching sessions a year for you and dependents; paid time off; 401K contributions exceeding industry standards; all this, plus the opportunity to work with amazing colleagues to create a more equitable world for young people.
In-Person and Travel Expectations
San Francisco Bay Area is the preferred location for this role. This role requires some in-person time to best support collaboration with our internal team. The office and travel expectations are approximately as follows:
- Domestic travel 1-3 times per year for partnerships, conferences, and meetings with stakeholders.
- Quarterly week-long retreats in SF Bay Area (in addition to travel listed above).
- If located in the Bay Area, 1/day week working from our office in downtown San Francisco.
- All business travel is paid for by Hopelab.
The Application
Please apply with a resume and a brief cover letter describing how you’re a match for this role. As the first line of your cover letter, please indicate if you did or did not use AI in the writing of your cover letter and why. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. PT Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
- Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States.
- Applicants may only apply to the Research Assistant position OR the Communications & Policy Assistant position. Applicants who apply to both roles will not be considered.
- To maintain an equitable hiring process, we do not offer informational conversations outside of the interview process. Please refrain from contacting Hopelab staff about this opportunity.
- All applicants will receive a response about their application when we have something to communicate: we will not be able to respond to individual inquiries about your application.
Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Hopelab is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff and encourages people from underrepresented groups to apply. Hopelab is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, ancestry, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Employment offers will be contingent on a background check that is limited in scope and compliant with best practices for Fair Chance Hiring. All inquiries are held in strict confidence.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
