About Advocates for Youth
What is Advocates for Youth?
Advocates for Youth is a US nonprofit founded in 1980 (DB-confirmed) that partners with young people and their adult allies "to champion youth rights to bodily autonomy and build power to transform policies, programs and systems to secure sexual health and equity for all youth" (verbatim Mission). The organization's Rights, Respect, Responsibility® philosophy underpins all of its work — three verbatim values: youth's inalienable rights to honest sex education, confidential health services, and economic/political/social agency; respect for youth as leaders of equity and justice; and society's responsibility to dismantle systems of oppression. Federal EIN 52-1173590.
Advocates also runs AMAZE.org, a sister program that for "nearly 10 years … has produced fun, animated videos to provide young people the answers they actually want to know about puberty, sex, their bodies, and healthy relationships" — with "more than 300 videos across the globe, with nearly 2,000 global adaptations in 70+ languages and dialects" (verbatim Home page).
Where will I work?
Headquarters: Washington, D.C. ("based at Advocates headquarters office located in the District of Columbia" — verbatim Senior Associate, Finance Operations JD). Phone 202-419-3420. Current openings require hybrid presence: "Candidates for this position will be required to work two days in the office each week" (verbatim JD). Staff are based across the US but coordinate around East Coast working hours given the DC anchor.
What is the Advocates for Youth team like?
The team is "a vibrant and diverse team of youth-serving professionals and youth activists" (verbatim Our Team), with 40+ named staff disclosed publicly. Leadership includes President Debra Hauser, Executive Vice President Jennifer Augustine, VP of Policy/Partnerships/Organizing Diana Thu-Thao Rhodes, VP of Finance and Administration Kathleen Farrell, Senior Executive of Operations Trey Jackson, Director of People and Culture NyRe Taylor, Ph.D, Comptroller Han Vu, and Head of Brand Impact and Communications Emily Bridges. Programmatic leadership spans LGBTQ Health & Rights (Louie Ortiz-Fonseca), International Youth Health (Nicole Cheetham, also AMAZE International Director), Sex Education and Training (Brittany McBride + Nora Gelperin), Adolescent Sexual Health Services (Laura Davis), Abortion Access (Tamara Marzouk), and many more. Staff come from public health, law, social work, political science, international affairs, sociology, finance/administration and research backgrounds.
Work-Life Balance
A full-time role at Advocates for Youth is 32 hours per week, four-day workweek (verbatim from a current Idealist JD posting). The hybrid policy requires two days in the office for DC-based positions. Generous paid time off and flexible working accommodate the demanding nature of policy and advocacy work.
Perks and Benefits
- 32-hour, four-day workweek (full-time)
- Health and dental benefits
- Life and short- and long-term disability insurance
- 403(b) retirement plan
- Student loan paydown benefit
- Generous paid time off + paid parental leave
- Hybrid work arrangement — 2 days/week in DC office for DC-based roles
- Professional development funds for training and conferences