Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Cartwheel is a mental health provider working with K-12 schools to improve youth mental health outcomes. The Associate Writer will create persuasive proposals, policy briefings, impact reports, and other government-facing content, collaborating with cross-functional teams to translate complex data and stories into clear writing for policymakers and school decision-makers. The role will also serve as an editorial quality bar and tailor messaging to local priorities and audiences.
Responsibilities
- Draft the writing on high-stakes proposals and RFP responses for statewide partnerships and large school districts. You’ll structure the narrative, draft content, and ensure the final product is clear, compelling, and responsive to local needs
- Work with Government Partnerships, Sales, School Success, Marketing, and Clinical teams to gather the substance — outcomes data, implementation plans, clinical model details — and translate it into persuasive, clear prose
- Build and maintain a library of reusable proposal content (case studies, outcome narratives, model descriptions) that gets stronger over time
- Distill insights and stories from schools, students, and families into concise, emotionally honest content that can inform policy conversations without reading like marketing
- Develop state-specific impact narratives: What's working, what we're learning, and what the data says, told through the lens of the families and schools we serve
- Write briefings, impact reports, and leave-behinds for legislators, governors' offices, state agencies — the materials that frame how officials understand what Cartwheel does and why it matters
- Serve as an editorial quality bar across government-facing content — reviewing and tightening work from across the team so that everything Cartwheel sends to a public official reflects the seriousness of the work
- Think strategically about message and audience based on local priorities and politics
- Collaborate with Cartwheel's marketing team to ensure government-facing content is consistent with but distinct from our broader brand voice
Skills
- Recent graduate (or about to graduate) of a strong journalism or writing program, or equivalent independent experience — able to commit full-time
- Strong raw writing talent, demonstrated through a portfolio of published writing (student newspaper, campus publication, journalism coursework, internship clips, or independent writing) that shows clear, narrative-driven storytelling for a general audience
- Experience writing for or communicating with audiences that are busy, skeptical, and not experts in your subject area
- Sharp editorial instincts: You can look at a piece of writing and tell what's missing, what's bloated, and what's buried
- Ability to tailor written content by audience and political or institutional context
- Coachable and eager to learn quickly in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment with multiple concurrent deliverables; developing strong self-editing instincts
- Genuine interest in youth mental health, education, or public policy — you don't need deep domain expertise on day one, but you need to care enough to build it quickly
- Experience writing government-facing content: RFP responses, grant proposals, legislative briefings, policy documents, or equivalent
- Familiarity with K–12 education, school-based mental health, or pediatric behavioral health
- Familiarity with state-level Medicaid, RHTP, or education funding mechanisms
- Experience supporting government affairs, public affairs, or policy teams in a growth-stage company
- Experience building or managing a content or asset library for a sales or partnerships team
- Prior work in healthcare technology, edtech, or mission-driven organizations
- Open to flexible work arrangements, including hourly, project-based, or fellowship-style
Benefits
- Mission-oriented and inclusive colleagues who will go to bat for you
- Meaningful equity ownership stake in Cartwheel
- Employer-sponsored PPO medical, vision, dental and orthodontia coverage
- Generous PTO, including company-wide closure the last week of December
- Sick leave
- 401(k) with employer match
- Annual educational stipend
- Macbook
Company Overview