Application Guide
How to Apply for Program Associate, Impact Purchasing & Place-based Investing
at Healthcare Anchor Network
🏢 About Healthcare Anchor Network
The Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) is a pioneering national collaborative of healthcare systems committed to leveraging their economic power—purchasing, hiring, and investing—to build equitable, inclusive local economies. Unlike traditional healthcare associations, HAN focuses on 'anchor' strategies that directly address social determinants of health by keeping dollars in underserved communities. Working here means joining a mission-driven network at the forefront of community wealth building, where your work helps reshape how healthcare institutions contribute to economic justice.
About This Role
As the Program Associate, you'll split your time equally between two high-impact areas: Impact Purchasing (helping health systems buy from local, diverse suppliers) and Place-based Investing (channeling capital into underinvested communities). You'll provide critical programmatic and organizational support to HAN's member network, ensuring they have the tools, data, and connections to implement equitable economic development strategies. This role is perfect for someone passionate about health equity and community development, offering a unique chance to influence billion-dollar healthcare spending and investment decisions.
💡 A Day in the Life
Your day might start with a virtual check-in with the Senior Manager for Place-based Investing to review progress on a member health system's investment strategy, followed by updating resources for an upcoming impact purchasing webinar. In the afternoon, you could analyze data on local supplier spend for a member, prepare briefing materials for a network call, and coordinate logistics for a peer learning session—all while juggling emails and Slack messages from multiple health system contacts. Expect a mix of research, project coordination, and member support, with flexibility to work from anywhere in the US.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Healthcare Anchor Network Is Looking For
- You have 2-4 years of experience in program coordination, community development, impact investing, or supply chain diversity—ideally within healthcare, nonprofits, or mission-driven organizations.
- You're a proactive self-starter who thrives in a remote, fast-paced environment and can juggle multiple projects with competing deadlines while maintaining meticulous attention to detail.
- You possess strong research and data analysis skills, with the ability to translate complex information into clear, actionable resources for busy healthcare executives.
- You're deeply committed to racial equity, economic justice, and the role of anchor institutions in community wealth building, and you bring a collaborative, service-oriented mindset to supporting member systems.
📝 Tips for Applying to Healthcare Anchor Network
In your resume, highlight any experience with impact purchasing, supplier diversity, or community investment—even if it's from a volunteer or academic project. Use keywords like 'local procurement,' 'community wealth building,' and 'place-based investing' to show alignment.
Tailor your cover letter to HAN's specific model: mention how healthcare anchor strategies can address social determinants of health, and give an example of how you've supported equitable economic development in a previous role.
Demonstrate familiarity with HAN's member organizations and their initiatives by referencing a specific health system's anchor mission in your application. This shows you've done your homework and are genuinely interested in the network.
Since this is a remote role, emphasize your ability to work independently, manage schedules across time zones, and use virtual collaboration tools effectively. Provide concrete examples of successful remote project coordination.
Address the split focus of the role directly: explain why you're excited to support both Impact Purchasing and Place-based Investing, and how your skills apply to each area. Avoid seeming more interested in one over the other.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
['Your understanding of how healthcare systems can use their purchasing and investment power to advance equity, and why this dual approach is critical for community wealth building.', "Specific examples of your programmatic support skills—such as coordinating meetings, developing resources, tracking metrics, or managing communications—and how they will help HAN's member network.", 'Your commitment to racial and economic justice, ideally with a personal or professional anecdote that illustrates your dedication to underserved communities.', 'Your ability to work remotely and collaboratively with senior managers and member organizations, highlighting any experience supporting multiple stakeholders in a virtual environment.']
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Explore HAN's website, especially their 'Anchor Mission' framework, member list, and recent reports or case studies on impact purchasing and place-based investing.
- → Research key healthcare anchor concepts: the Democracy Collaborative's work on anchor institutions, the role of hospitals as economic anchors, and examples like Rush University Medical Center's anchor mission.
- → Learn about current trends in supplier diversity and community investment in healthcare, such as the American Hospital Association's guidance on anchor strategies.
- → Identify HAN's member health systems (e.g., Advocate Aurora, Kaiser Permanente) and review their community benefit reports or anchor mission pages to understand the context you'll be supporting.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Submitting a generic cover letter that doesn't mention HAN, impact purchasing, or place-based investing—this role requires a clear passion for the intersection of healthcare and economic equity.
- Focusing only on one area (e.g., purchasing or investing) and ignoring the other; the role is explicitly split 50/50, so show balanced interest and relevant skills for both.
- Neglecting to demonstrate remote work competency; since the position is fully remote, failing to provide examples of successful remote collaboration or self-management can raise doubts about your fit.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Healthcare Anchor Network!