Public Interest Communications Strategist

Birmingham, MI

Erb Family Foundation’s

Date Posted: 9/29/2025

What causes people to care — and act on that care? That’s what we want to know at the Fred and  Barbara Erb Family Foundation. We want to see what the world looks like, in Southeast Michigan  and beyond, when people care deeply, become involved and take action to improve the health of the Great Lakes, strengthen the region’s arts and cultural organizations, advance Alzheimer’s research, promote sustainable business, and protect democracy.  

Since we made our first grants in 2008, we’ve given more than $180 million to improve the quality of life for residents in Southeast Michigan and around the Great Lakes. Recently, we decided to  act even more boldly. We decided to spend down its assets by 2034. This allows us to get funding into communities when the need is most urgent.  

We are guided by our values: to make a lasting transformative difference; embrace possibility; work and learn in partnership; and pursue fairness and respect. We use grant-making and other  supporting work to help us make a greater difference now and future-proof work that will  continue after the Foundation closes its doors. Putting strategic communications to work for  change making—a public interest communications approach—is essential to making a difference, because it taps into what causes people to care and motivates them to act where  they can make a difference. It is our hope to inspire our community to do that long after we’ve  made our last grant.  

We recognize that we cannot achieve this long-term goal without the help of a visionary communicator who shares our passion for these issues and is eager to experiment with bold new  approaches.  

We are hiring for a new role: a public interest communications strategist who will work side  by side with our leadership, learning, and program teams, especially for our Great Lakes  and democracy priorities.  

The Opportunity for a Public Interest Communications Strategist  If you’re a strategic communicator committed to positive change, this could be your moment.  

Changemakers have been practicing public interest communications for centuries, but the field  has only recently adopted this name. If you’re hearing about public interest communications for  the first time, it might show up in your work experience as approaches that: 

  • Develop and implement science- and evidence-based, strategic communications. 

  • Achieve significant change on an issue that transcends the interests of any one  organization.  

  • Recognize what people care about and trust – and tap into those connection points. • Focus eSorts on the audience members with the greatest likelihood of acting and making  change happen. 

  • Activate new ways of thinking, identify what works best and course correct as needed.

  • Work toward solutions that address underlying systems that create a condition.  

The Foundation has just under 10 years to make meaningful, lasting change via our program  areas. A public interest communication strategist will make the most of this time and champion  communication approaches that will help our partners continue their work after we close our  doors. We want to hire someone who’s a systems-level thinker and takes an iterative approach to  the work: thinking strategically and setting priorities while actively trying things out and assessing  what works best. Specifically, we’re seeking: 

  • A team member with experience putting strategic communications to work to achieve  social change, such as positive behavior changes individuals made for improved  environmental conditions or civic engagement.  

  • A colleague who will hear and respect many viewpoints from staS members, board  members and partners and be able to recommend a clear path forward that focuses on  where the Foundation will make the greatest possible diSerence. 

  • A doer who walks on that path, implements approaches, coaches colleagues and  partners to join in, evaluates progress, and course-corrects along the way.

  • A lifelong learner who builds on emerging insights from the developing field of public  interest communications (including insights from psychology, sociology, neuroscience and more) and who accepts feedback and counsel from colleagues.  

  • A champion who will help create a culture of communications by demonstrating its  changemaking power. 

  • A strategist who can look at the big picture and do tactical work.  

Core Duties and Responsibilities for our Incoming Changemaker

We anticipate the public interest communications strategist will craft a strategic  communications plan for the Foundation and review work in the Great Lakes and democracy  programs to identify opportunities for strategic communications to improve progress toward the  programs’ outcomes. These efforts will ensure the Foundation is prioritizing resources,  encouraging learning and providing relevant support to grant partners.  

Based on the strategic communications plan, identified projects within Great Lakes and  democracy, and the strengths of the selected candidate, day-to-day work will likely include: 

  • Leading Foundation communications to ensure the organizational voice is amplifying the  work of grant partners and expressing the values of the Foundation brand.

  • Providing strategic counsel for grantee projects where public interest communications  will improve progress toward our shared goals. This may include providing coaching for grant partners, identifying and engaging partners/consultants to support grantee communications goals, and ongoing collaboration with Foundation program staff to evaluate how public interest communications is supporting progress or where the  approach requires adjustment.  

  • Providing coaching and support for Foundation colleagues as they engage in strategic  communications activities designed to amplify the voices of grant partners, showcase  their thought leadership, validate the importance of specific approaches within their  programs and express the values of the Foundation brand. 

  • Developing opportunities for Foundation colleagues and grant partners to better  understand and activate public interest communications strategies and approaches.

  • Hiring and supervising partners/consultants supporting this work (including budget  and RFP development, evaluation and updating approaches/scopes).  

Qualifications and Skills You’ll Bring to Our Mission-Driven Work

  • Experience putting strategic communications to work to make progress toward social  change the Foundation seeks.  

  • Organizational/brand leadership for establishing organizational voice and an eSective  approach to amplifying partners’ voices.  

  • The ability to listen and maintain openness to new ideas and perspectives from our  partners who may be coming into the work with a range of values and cultural  approaches.  

  • Understanding of the communications and information ecosystems of our focus areas,  including how owned and earned media shapes belief and intent to act, stories resonate  with specific communities, network-building plays a role, and educating policymakers can make a diSerence.  

  • A growth mindset that’s both optimistic and pragmatic — dreaming big while setting clear  priorities. 

  • Collaborative approach that values contribution over credit.  

  • Demonstrated experience of a learning mindset: getting up to speed quickly on multiple  subject areas, developing relevant public interest communications approaches and  activating new insights from the field and colleagues.  

  • Culture-building experience to encourage embrace and activation of public interest  communications approaches.  

  • Management experience coordinating with peers, staff, and partners/consultants. 

  • Experience working with philanthropic funders.  

  • Relationships in southeast Michigan and/or the Great Lakes region.  

  • Ability to maintain the highest levels of integrity, ethics, discernment, diplomacy and  strict confidentiality.  

  • Strong writing, speaking and interpersonal communications.  

  • Proficient with Microsoft 365 including Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, HeyOrca etc. and ability to work in an online grants management system.  

You may have many, but not all, of these qualifications and experiences. We strongly  encourage you to apply if you are passionate about putting public interest communications  to work in service of our mission and meet most of the qualifications, as we value a broad  range of experiences and backgrounds.  

Education and Experience That’s Relevant to the Role 

The public interest communications strategist will have a bachelor’s degree in a  communications field or adjacent discipline (journalism, public relations, advertising, etc.) and  at least eight years of work history using strategic communications in service of the public  interest. At least two years of that experience should include leadership in the form of  supervising staS or consultants and developing and leading strategy. We encourage candidates  with an alternative but comparable level of expertise to apply.  

Work Arrangements, Compensation and Benefits 

The public interest communications strategist will report to the Foundation’s Learning Director  and collaborate with them on Foundation-wide approaches to integrating communications into  our culture.  

Our offices are in Birmingham, Mich. Full-time staff work a hybrid schedule, including three days in person (Wednesday and two flexible days) and two remote days. Work will require attendance at grantee partners’ evening and weekend events and occasional regional travel. 

While performing the duties of the job, the public interest communications strategist is regularly  required to communicate effectively with internal and external partners. They will be frequently required to perform work at a desk and to operate a laptop. They may occasionally need to  position themselves to stoop, kneel, or crouch, and to move up to 20 lbs.  

In the normal course of work, employees operate a laptop, iPad, telephone, cellular telephone,  web conferencing equipment and copier/printer. This position requires the employee to make  decisions in a timely manner and anticipate all the potential ramifications of decisions made.  The employee must be able to read and interpret documents, understand/follow complex written  and oral instructions, be able to express themselves clearly/concisely, perform mathematical  functions, and handle multiple, concurrent tasks. 

The salary for this position begins at $120,000 and may be adjusted according to qualifications  and experience. The Foundation oSers a comprehensive benefits package including employer paid health, dental, and vision insurance and a generous 401K plan. 

Apply for this Changemaking Opportunity  

Please email employment@erbff.org to send a letter outlining your qualifications and describing  why you are interested in the role. This letter can be in the body of your email. Please also send  your resume and three project examples from past work (links to online content or case studies  showing your work) to help us better understand your experience. The Foundation will fill the  position as soon as we identify the right candidate.  

Erb Family Foundation is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive  consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex  (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender  identity, disability, age, citizenship status, and genetic information, or any other characteristic  protected by federal, state, or local law.

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