The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. The NAMI organization operates at the national, state, and local level. At NAMI Washington, we envision a world where all those impacted by mental health conditions know they are not alone and are empowered to live their most fulfilling life.

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Position Summary
NAMI Washington has a field placement with our Public Policy Department. Students in this position will learn how the Washington state legislative system works, analyze behavioral health-related legislation, and take the lead in Lobby Day organizing, including communicating with legislative offices and affiliates for scheduling constituent appointments. Students will also be involved in grassroots advocacy on NAMI Washington’s priority bills, from social media outreach to assisting in creating informational one-pagers.
Areas of Focus:
Learn to navigate the Washington State legislative website, leg.wa.gov
Gain a deep understanding of Washington’s legislative process from how bills are created to passage of legislation
Attend legislative session/hearings as assigned within the field placement schedule for committee days and the 2026 legislative session
Assist Director of Public Policy & Advocacy in bill analysis and positioning, providing analysis memos
Lead in the planning and implementation of Lobby Day (in person or virtually), including updating legislator & LA lists and making appointments for grassroots activists with their legislators.
Assist with written materials on legislative priorities for Lobby Day
Learn electronic Action Alert System (Quorum); create action alerts on priorities as directed
Oversee post-Lobby Day survey
Assist with planning and implementation of policy briefing workshops
Attend relevant coalition and community meetings as assigned and when it fits into the field placement schedule
Attend NAMI Washington Public Policy Committee meetings
Attend NAMI Washington Annual State Conference and Leadership Retreat—both as an attendee and as part of the NAMI Washington staff and leaders
Attend NAMI Washington weekly staff & EDI meetings if they fit into schedule
Opportunity to assist with agency-wide events and other departments as desired
Other organizational/department duties as assigned

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Ability to analyze complex issues and translate the issues into easily digestible bullet points
Incorporation of NAMI Washington's organizational values of respect, community, kindness, empowerment, and
integrity into your everyday life and work that you do.
Comfortable picking up the phone and calling people you have never met, speaking in front of groups, and interacting with people who might be experiencing mental health symptoms.
Commitment and follow-through, in a timely manner, to execute all the mundane details that bring programs and presentations to life.
Extremely organized—even if you’re not naturally detail-oriented—with a system for keeping track of projects.
Passionate about the way mental health intersects with other lived experiences and identities, and you bring an anti-bias and intersectional lens to the work that you do.
Work in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment, respond in a timely manner towards communication with task managers, and meet deadlines for assigned projects.
Some political or legislative experience is preferred but not required.

Please see mezzo.

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Please email Summer Starr at SStarr@namiwa.org