Associate Writer

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 shouldnt 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 were looking for mission-driven teammates to join our team.

LOCATION: Remote

START DATE: September 2026

ROLE TYPE: Salaried W2, Full-Time

COMPENSATION: $60,000 - $80,000 base salary + meaningful equity

ABOUT THE ROLE

Cartwheel is the nations 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.

Were 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.

Were 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. Its a storytelling and persuasion role. Youll take the messy, complicated reality of delivering 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. Your audiences range from state legislators to cabinet secretaries. Your formats range from polished RFP responses to two-page briefings that land on a governors desk.

This is an early-career role on a function thats being built right now. Youll work alongside leadership and the Government Partnerships team. The best candidate for this role may not have a background in government contracting. You're someone who learned to write by writing. 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

• 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

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: Whats working, what were 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 Cartwheels marketing team to ensure government-facing content is consistent with but distinct from our broader brand voice

WHO YOU ARE

Must have…

• 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 dont need deep domain expertise on day one, but you need to care enough to build it quickly
• Open to flexible work arrangements, including hourly, project-based, or fellowship-style

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
• Competitive cash compensation
• 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