American Economic Security Index Senior Director

About GoodnationFounded in 2017, Goodnation directs philanthropic resources toward projects that transform our communities and country. We address the root causes of societal challenges by empowering changemakers and driving meaningful social impact as a trusted fiscal sponsor and innovator. More than $100M has been deployed through Goodnation to help reform systems, protect the vulnerable, and solve our world’s toughest challenges through vetted nonprofit organizations and unique initiatives. At Goodnation, we believe ending poverty in America is possible — and the time to act is now. In 2024 we launched the National Roundtable on Ending Poverty in America (National Roundtable). In 2025, we convened nearly 400 leaders from all 50 states focused on ending poverty in America, and surveyed more than 200 community funders representing over $1B in annual anti-poverty grantmaking. The message was clear: ending poverty will require community funder leadership, a shared strategy, stronger collaboration, and bold federal policy adoption. Since then, we have built a coalition of roughly 1,000 participating foundations across 50 states, a 24-member Planning Team, and an Economic Blueprint of five federal policy priorities. That structure is already producing federal results. The 2026 Housing Sprint helped carry the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act into law on July 11, 2026, the first major federal housing law in three decades. Our focus now is local implementation and building the American Economic Security Index (AESI) into national infrastructure. Goodnation employs a structure termed a contract hybrid, consisting of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called the Goodnation Foundation, a social enterprise called Goodnation Philanthropy Advisors, and a 501(c)(4) called Goodnation Action. About AESIThe AESI is an intuitive 0–100 barometer of the share of workers and families who can afford to live where they live, calculated across all 3,143 U.S. counties and 384 metro areas, with roll-ups to state, congressional district, and national levels. It is being built by Goodnation Foundation in partnership with the Living Wage Institute (LWI). Our ambition is that AESI becomes a standard measure of American economic life. AESI answers the question people are actually asking when they ask how the economy is doing: can families afford their lives here? We intend for the Economic Security Score to be read alongside the unemployment rate — cited by mayors, governors, congressional offices, funders, employers, and reporters as the ordinary way to describe how the economy is working for families in a given place. Closer in, AESI is the North Star metric for the National Roundtable's federal policy agenda across taxes, wages, housing, care, and healthcare costs, and a shared language connecting local affordability conditions to philanthropic strategy, federal advocacy, and place-based action. The Senior Director's job is to carry AESI from a credible new dataset to a measure the country relies on. The RoleGoodnation seeks an AESI Senior Director to build, maintain, and grow the Index into a durable, self-sustaining national institution. The build is underway, financed by initial philanthropic support and executed by our partners at the Living Wage Institute (LWI). The Senior Director will have four main priorities from day one: overseeing the LWI build against scope, schedule, and quality; stewarding existing funder relationships and raising the philanthropic resources needed to complete the build; delivering a successful launch of AESI to the National Roundtable coalition, Congress, state and local governments, and the American public; and defining the earned revenue strategy that sustains and grows AESI beyond it. This is a strategist-builder role: senior enough to set direction alongside the Founder and President, and hands-on enough to do the work in the first year. The AESI Senior Director will report directly to Goodnation's Founder and President and work closely with the Senior Director of National Policy and Coalitions and the Senior Philanthropy Advisor. What You Will OwnThe role has five areas of ownership. They are described as outcomes rather than tactics, because we expect the person in this seat to shape the plan. Sustainability and the Business ModelBuild and steward institutional funder relationships, including national and local funders in close partnership with Goodnation’s Founder and President.Develop the long-term sustainability model, including philanthropic underwriting, licensing, membership dues, and appropriate paid-access uses. Conduct market testing and stakeholder feedback to determine which models strengthen adoption without compromising AESI’s public-interest mission.Protect mission integrity. Set the usage terms and pricing exemptions that keep AESI a public-benefit asset and keep the measure credible with the communities it describes—the headline Economic Security Score stays free and public. Adoption and PartnershipsAssemble the partner set that makes AESI credible and useful: the Living Wage Institute as methodological spine, academic and policy validators, business and civic validators, and early, non-adversarial alignment with existing measures and peer research organizations.Drive diffusion through the Roundtable’s network, including roughly 900 community foundations and 400-plus community health funders, alongside chambers of commerce, government associations, national intermediaries, and research partners.Institutionalize use: Build toolkits, briefings, templates, and training that deepen use.Track evidence of use: Document how AESI changes grantmaking, budgets, and legislation, and feed that evidence back into both the funder case and the sustainability case. National Roundtable IntegrationPartner with the Senior Director of National Policy and Coalitions to embed AESI across the National Roundtable’s Funding, Advocacy & Information, and Regional Leadership work — using the index to connect local affordability conditions to philanthropic strategy, federal policy, member engagement, and place-based action.Position AESI within the National Roundtable’s membership structure in a way that strengthens both, and integrate it into the National Roundtable Working Groups and coalition activity. Data, Methodology, and Partner ManagementServe as Goodnation’s principal on the LWI agreement: Hold LWI to phase scope, delivery deadlines, and update cadence; authorize optional phases; and steward the intellectual property, licensing, and confidentiality terms that make AESI a Goodnation-owned public-benefit asset.Sequence the build: Dataset production, release frequency, demographic and family-type depth, and interactive delivery — matching each phase to secured revenue.Direct the public data platform: The interactive public dashboard and the data environment behind it, managing external development partners against scope, budget, and release schedule.Explain and defend the methodology: Convene technical advisors and academic validators, and publish methodology documentation and codebooks. Answer relevant methodological questions. Public VoiceServe as a visible, credible public voice for AESI with funders at National Roundtable coalition convenings and beyond, policymakers, business audiences, and the press.Manage the communications agency and spokesperson bench that carry the story after launch, and maintain frequent, transparent communication with the Planning Team, partners, coalition members, and funders. Other DutiesDomestic travel (15-25%) to meet with relevant stakeholders including but not limited to coalition members and policymakers throughout the country.Proactively share important updates and engagement opportunities with the core team.Additional related responsibilities may arise, as assigned by the President. Who You AreWe are looking for a bridge-builder with an entrepreneurial temperament — someone who can move credibly among researchers, funders, policymakers, business leaders, local partners, and the press. 12+ years of experience spanning some combination of coalition or field building, public policy, philanthropy, data or research products, and social enterprise or earned-revenue design.Experience building a sustainable revenue model — including institutional philanthropy, licensing, membership, subscription, blended earned and philanthropic, or comparable.Experience bringing a data product, index, dashboard, or research platform from build to adoption, including managing technical vendors or research partners.Comfort with measurement and methodology: you do not need to build the dataset, but you need to understand it well enough to defend it, price it, and explain it.Communication range: you can make AESI understandable to a reporter, a mayor, and a program officer.Deep commitment to sustainable, equitable, systemic change. Salaries, Benefits, Paid Time OffThis full-time position, hired by Goodnation Philanthropy Advisors, is hybrid remote for employees in the NYC area, with every other Wednesday in the Financial District office. This schedule is subject to change. Other employees will be fully remote. Goodnation offers competitive salaries combined with a comprehensive benefits package that supports the well-being and work–life balance of our team: Medical, dental, and vision plans with generous employer contribution and zero waiting periodHealth Advocate, Employee Assistance Program, and a Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account401(k) plan with 4.5% employer match, immediate vesting scheduleStipends and reimbursements: Monthly tech stipend, annual work-from-home stipend, annual bike share membership reimbursementUnlimited PTO, summer Fridays, soft close between Christmas and New Year’s, and 13 company holidays including Juneteenth, Veterans Day, and Indigenous Peoples’ DayFour months paid parental leave