JOIN CARTWHEEL TO HELP TACKLE THE STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS.
Kids spend most of their days in the classroom. And teachers and staff, who play
a vital role in their development, are often the first to notice when something
is off. But with 1 in 5 young people struggling with mental health, schools are
getting crushed by a downward spiral in student crises and staff burnout.
With large increases in state and federal funding for healthcare innovation,
schools are reimagining what mental health support can look like for their
students, staff, and families.
Cartwheel is an early-stage startup building technology-enabled mental health
services that put schools at the center. We see our role as supporting both
families and the on-campus school staff who see kids every day. This means:
Earlier intervention
Higher student and family engagement in care
Better coordination among the trusted adults in a student’s life
Kids shouldn't just aspire to get out of bed and drag themselves to class. They
should be able to experience joy. They deserve to envision and build a life
they’re excited to live. If you join Cartwheel, you’ll help make this vision a
reality for millions of students across the country. We’re backed by top
investors including Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, Reach Capital, and A
Street Ventures, and we're looking for mission-driven teammates to join our
team.
LOCATION: Remote
START DATE: September 2026
ROLE TYPE: Salaried W2, Full-Time
COMPENSATION: Competitive cash compensation + meaningful equity
ABOUT THE ROLE
Cartwheel is the nation's largest mental health provider working with K-12
schools — more than 375 districts across 16 states and growing fast. In 2026,
billions of dollars in new state and federal funding will reshape how America
invests in youth mental health, and Cartwheel is at the center of that
conversation.
We're looking for an extraordinary writer to help us make the case — to
governors, legislators, agency leaders, and school district decision-makers —
that Cartwheel is the partner that turns those investments into real outcomes
for kids and families.
This is not a grant writing role. This is a storytelling and persuasion role.
You'll take the messy, complicated reality of what it looks like to deliver
mental health care inside schools — the data, the policy constraints, the
clinical outcomes, the parent who finally got her kid help — and turn it into
writing that moves people to act. The audiences range from state legislators to
cabinet secretaries, and the work ranges from a polished proposal responding to
a statewide RFP to a two-page briefing that lands on a governor's desk.
The best candidate for this role may not have a background in government
contracting. You’re someone who learned to write by writing — as a reporter, a
freelance journalist, or in a role where you had to pitch and persuade, like
running a company or a team. You know how to make complex ideas clear, how to
build a narrative arc, and how to write for an audience that doesn’t share your
vocabulary. You care about the craft and you want to point it at something that
matters.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
WRITE PROPOSALS THAT WIN
Lead 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
Influence state and local policymakers
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
ELEVATE THE QUALITY OF EVERYTHING WE PUT IN FRONT OF GOVERNMENT AUDIENCES
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
WHO YOU ARE
Must have…
5+ years of professional writing experience — as a journalist, freelance
writer, editor, or in a role where writing and persuasion were central (e.g.,
founder, executive, or operator who wrote pitches, investor updates, or
public-facing narratives) — with a strong portfolio that demonstrates clear,
narrative-driven writing for a general audience
Demonstrated ability to take complex, technical, or data-heavy subject matter
and make it accessible and compelling without dumbing it down
Experience writing for or communicating with senior decision-makers who are
busy, skeptical, and not experts in your subject area
Sharp editorial judgment: You can look at a 30-page proposal draft and see
what's missing, what's bloated, and what's buried
Comfort working across a wide range of formats, from a tightly structured
long form piece to a narrative briefing to a one-page leave-behind
Background in journalism, freelance writing, magazine writing, book editing,
or editorial roles at a major publication — or equivalent experience as a
founder, executive, or operator who did significant public-facing writing,
pitching, or storytelling
Ability to tailor written content by audience and political or institutional
context (e.g., conservative vs. progressive, health agencies vs. education
agencies)
Operates well in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments with multiple
concurrent deliverables; strong self-editing without heavy oversight
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
Nice to have…
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
WHY YOU’LL LOVE CARTWHEEL
Our hope is that Cartwheel will be your best career decision. In addition to
tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time, at a company well-positioned
to do so, you’ll have:
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