The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment serves Coloradans by providing high-quality, cost-effective public health and environmental protection services that promote healthy people in healthy places. Staff members focus on evidence-based best practices in the public health and environmental fields and play a critical role in educating people in Colorado so they can make informed choices. In addition to maintaining and enhancing our core programs, the department continues to identify and respond to emerging issues affecting Colorado’s public and environmental health.

The purpose of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention is to coordinate and promote effective efforts to reduce firearm injuries and related traumas and promote research regarding causes of, and evidence-based responses to, gun violence.

The Position:
The purpose of this position is to provide strategic oversight, leadership, and direction to the Office of Gun Violence Prevention including the coordination and promotion of effective efforts to reduce firearm injury.  This position serves as the firearm injury prevention Senior Authority for the State of Colorado, providing expert consultation to CDPHE leadership, the leadership of other state agencies, the General Assembly, and the Office of the Governor. The department relies on the expertise of this position to support its mission.

This position leads and oversees all key office of gun violence prevention strategies and implementation of programs, including increasing awareness of state and federal laws; conducting public awareness campaigns; providing materials and training resources regarding gun laws and mental health resources; supporting similar work in the department such as safe storage initiatives led by the Office of Suicide Prevention; establishing and administering a community-based gun violence prevention grant program; overseeing the creation and maintenance of a resource bank; identifying and applying for available federal grants and other funding; reporting to the legislature; and collaborating with stakeholders.

This position is responsible for management and leadership related to: the administration of budgets, tracking unit accomplishments and programmatic outcomes, reporting on projects, risk analysis and contract oversight, and professional development of staff. This position is responsible for overseeing an annual $3 million General Fund appropriation from the legislature. This position provides direct supervision to two full-time professional positions.

This position is responsible for decision making at the strategic level; establishing plans, processes, and patterns of staffing and funding that will lead to achieving program, office, and department priorities, as well as priorities of the Governor’s office; adapting or developing public health practice guidelines; working directly with executive-level decision makers and policymakers to provide information on evidence based or promising strategies to prevent gun violence; and negotiating with decision and policymakers to build strategic support for program, office, department, and Governor’s Office priorities. This position performs all duties using a unique level of knowledge and expertise in firearm injury prevention, public health practice, and coalition building.

This position is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with state, community, and national stakeholders in firearm injury prevention, and utilizing and responding to the media to communicate about these issues. This position conducts responsive and culturally appropriate community engagement to ensure that initiatives are inclusive. This position navigates politically sensitive situations, as the office deals with topics that are often political in nature.

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