The Burke Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation based in Princeton, NJ whose mission is to identify, rigorously evaluate, and help scale programs and policies that improve the health and well-being of children and families in New Jersey. We strive to create intergenerational impact by investing in a strong, diverse perinatal workforce and transforming health systems to deliver better care, prevention, and community connections during the First 1,000 Days for babies, mothers, fathers, and families.

We are seeking a highly entrepreneurial, talented, and organized person to join our growing team and skillfully support our portfolio of initiatives. The Program Associate will support the Program Team leadership to advance core strategic initiatives, achieve impact, and network and collaborate with key stakeholders, including policymakers, other funders, and experts in the field. The Program Associate will perform duties that include grants management tasks, due diligence activities, research and analysis, demonstrating measurable impact, and communications support. The selected candidate will report to the Program Officer.

This is a highly collaborative role requiring focus and flexibility. It will be an opportunity to learn about the philanthropic sector and experience growth at a mission-driven organization focused on the health and wellbeing of children and families in New Jersey through an equity lens.

Key Responsibilities
The main responsibilities and requirements of the Program Associate position involve supporting the Burke Foundation’s extensive portfolio of maternal and child heath grants and initiatives, including workforce development, early relational health, healthy births and strong beginnings, and more through the following functions:

Program and organizational administration

• Support the program team in tracking ideas, proposals, and grants as well as ensuring that corresponding records are accurate, up-to-date, and complete in our grants management system.
• Contribute to the due diligence process for new and renewal grant applications in ways that include evaluating proposals, preparing follow-up questions to ask applicants, conducting program due diligence, and drafting project summaries that support making the case to Burke’s leadership team and board of trustees for grant proposals.
• Contribute to core grantmaking processes through such activities as drafting contracts and award letters for review and ensuring that payments are processed.
• Help the Foundation demonstrate measurable impact by supporting the Program Officer with evaluation-related activities, including but not limited to updating program and metric dashboards of selected grants for the board of trustees.
• For convenings and site visits, develop and prepare background research, meeting materials, and minutes/summary reports, as well as assist team as needed with follow-up tasks.
• For regular check-in meetings with core strategic grantees, assist with agenda preparation as needed, produce detailed meeting summaries, identify action items, and assist Program Officer as needed with follow-up tasks.
• Support the team in maintaining an up-to-date internal database of key contacts for the Burke Foundation by adding new connections made during meetings and site visits.
• Miscellaneous administrative and event-coordination duties and responsibilities.

Communication and relationship-building with grantees and partners

• The Program Associate will regularly interact with key stakeholders in maternal and child health in New Jersey and represent the Burke Foundation externally, participating in funder collaboratives, policy initiatives, and meetings or groups focused on maternal and child health and early childhood development.
• Present learnings and funding recommendations to the board of trustees, including development of materials for board meetings.
• Support team as needed with programmatic content for social media and newsletter.

Research, thought partnership, and leadership development

• The Program Associate will participate as an important internal voice on our small staff, offering ideas and insights to help the Foundation strengthen grantmaking and address disparities in maternal and child health in New Jersey.
• Gather, analyze, and synthesize information on timely topics in philanthropy, programmatic areas, and other topics/organizations relevant to our core strategic grants and pipeline development. Research could include reviewing reports, fact sheets, policy briefs, journal articles, blogs, and government databases.
• In collaboration with the Program Team leadership, engage in preliminary informational meetings with stakeholders to deepen the team’s understanding of subject areas and/or expand our partner network to support current or future grantmaking activities.
• Potentially interview stakeholders and summarize learnings across topics and themes in support of various projects relevant to our grant portfolios.
• Attend conferences and association events in support of leadership building and professional development.

Other duties may be assigned as the needs of the Foundation evolve.

Qualifications

• Strong commitment to the mission and values of the Burke Foundation; passion for eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in maternal and child health.
• 3-5 years of experience in community-based, policy, government, philanthropic, research, or advocacy organizations focused on public health/maternal child health, early childhood, social services, health care, or related field.
• Master’s degree in public health, public policy, social work, or related health, behavioral health, or social sciences field.
• Ability to research, analyze, synthesize, and present information in a professional, practical, and compelling manner. Experience with data collection and analysis to demonstrate impact is a plus.
• Adept at developing collaborative and positive relationships with team members, grantees, consultants, peer funders, grantee prospects, and other partners using a customer-service mindset.
• Exceptional attention to detail and organizational skills with a commitment to accountability and excellence with capacity to multi-task, prioritize, and follow through to successfully complete multiple projects with tight deadlines.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion and diplomacy.
• Flexibility and experience working as a collaborative and resourceful team member; comfortable working as a member of a small team and being nimble as priorities and needs may shift.
• Energized by attending site visits, stakeholder meetings, and knowledge-building events; willing to travel throughout New Jersey.
• Strong technical skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint) and Zoom.

Compensation and Benefits
This is an exempt, salaried position with a range of $70,000-$80,000 a year commensurate with experience. Employee benefits include 401k match, platinum-level health benefits, dental and vision insurance, generous paid time off, paid parental leave (including for adopted children), company holidays (including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day), and half-day summer Fridays.

Application Process
Please send resume and thoughtful cover letter as a single PDF attachment (filename: LastName_FirstName.pdf), addressed to Sandy Moskovitz at sandra@burkefoundation.org with the email subject “Program Associate.”

We are currently working in a hybrid setting because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which requires being in our Princeton, New Jersey office at least 1-2 days per week. Occasional evening and weekend events may be required, as well as off-site visits and meetings throughout the week. During certain times of the year, a heavier workload may be required. Proof of vaccination against COVID-19 is required.

Applications will be accepted until March 10, 2023; qualified candidates will be contacted for an interview in late March. Estimated start date for the position is late May/June 2023.

The Burke Foundation celebrates the diversity of our nation and community, and we seek to build a team that reflects that diversity. We welcome and encourage all qualified applicants who share that vision, and we want to engage all those who can contribute to our work and the mission. We encourage any individual to apply for this position, and we do not discriminate based on ethical, racial, gender, socioeconomic background, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law. The Foundation abides by all applicable rules and regulations in its recruiting and employment practices, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and state disability laws.

About the Burke Foundation
The Burke Foundation is a leading philanthropic institution in New Jersey, with a long history of supporting programs that create equal opportunities for all families and children. The Burke Foundation was established in Princeton, New Jersey in 1989 by the late Jim E. Burke and his wife Diane (“Didi”) Burke. During his 37 years with Johnson & Johnson, Jim Burke built a legacy of visionary leadership and served as Chairman and CEO for the last 13 years of his tenure. Jim received the highest civilian honor in the nation in 2000, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was named one of history’s greatest CEOs by Fortune magazine.

In 2017, the Foundation reimaged our grantmaking focus and strategy, identifying prenatal health and childhood development as areas where our investments can achieve the greatest positive impact for New Jersey children and their communities.

Today, we partner with nonprofits to identify, rigorously evaluate, and help scale programs and policies that foster the healthy development of children and families in New Jersey. Using an entrepreneurial, data-driven approach, we identify and support changemakers whose early-childhood initiatives are transforming their communities and improving health and achievement outcomes for children and families. Our grantmaking focuses on supporting healthy pregnancies and births, healthy parent-child relationships, and high-quality early care and education. We are committed to effecting systems-level change; to accomplish this, we partner on shared priorities with peer foundations and government at the state and local levels. Our funding supports statewide initiatives and place-based projects in Camden, Newark, Trenton, and other communities.

To learn more about our history and work, please visit our website, https://burkefoundation.org/