Senior Organizer

Job Announcement

Organization Center for Community Change

Position Title Senior Organizer

Location Flexible (Dependent on Location & Experience)

About the Center for Community Change

The Center for Community Change is a national social justice non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C.  Founded in 1968 to honor the life and values of Robert F. Kennedy, our mission is to build the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to have a significant impact in improving their communities and the policies and institutions that affect their lives.

The Center for Community Change is committed to help build powerful and dynamic movements in diverse communities across America that will be the impetus for creating a society in which everyone has enough to thrive and achieve their full potential.  Inspired by a belief in the dignity of all people, the Center has been instrumental in the fight for comprehensive and fair immigration reform, a push for a bold jobs agenda, and protecting essential retirement security programs. The Center played a major role in recent positive changes to immigration laws that will keep thousands of immigrant families together. Our Housing Trust Fund Project has helped bring affordable housing to millions of people.  For further information please visit our website at: www.communitychange.org.

About the Campaign for Community Change

The mission of the Campaign for Community Change is to increase the profile of policy issues that matter to low-income people and people of color, as well as to educate and empower low-income people and people of color to act on those issues.

In recent years, the Campaign and its partners have won important improvements in the social safety net, protected critical retirement security programs from the chopping block, defeated numerous anti-worker measures and mobilized communities across the country to win historic health care reform.  The Campaign has been widely credited with preventing anti-progressive forces from seizing the U.S. Senate through our work building a “firewall” with Latino, low-income and immigrant voters. Today, the Campaign is training more than 1,000 new activist leaders in swing states as we build a new movement for job creation.  For further information, please visit our website at www.campaignforcommunities.org

Position Description:

The Center for Community Change (CCC) is seeking dynamic, experienced organizers to help launch and build a new movement for economic justice, jobs and to end poverty in America.  The Center seeks skilled organizers to increase the civic engagement of poor people, raise the salience of the issues of poverty and economic injustice in the national debate and win large scale public policy and/or private sector breakthroughs at the local, state and national level. 

By leveraging the combined power of the Center’s grassroots partner organizations across the country, building alliances with state and national organizations and building on relationships with organizations that are part of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), the Center for Community Change (CCC) seeks to build a new movement for economic justice that will robustly address and reduce poverty at a local, state and national level.

The Center seeks skilled organizers to work in different arenas including the building of new low-wage worker organizations, work to organize in communities with a high level of poverty and persistent unemployment and work to build transformative state coalitions able to make an impact on poverty, racial justice and gender justice creating political opening for change.    

Examples of breakthrough wins at the local or state level include improvements in job quality for low-wage workers through policy (e.g., minimum wage) and private sector agreements,  job creation in communities with high unemployment & poverty or removal of barriers and support for re-entry of “returning citizens.” 
Successful applicants will be long-term, skilled organizers with experience in a variety of community, labor, electoral or immigrant rights organizing.    Organizers must have the full range of skills to build relationships, create successful partnerships, engage different types of leaders and organizations and successfully assist local and state partners to win breakthrough campaigns.    

Principal Responsibilities: 

The Senior Organizer’s job responsibilities will include:

• Organizing, training and building local or state coalitions with key existing or new partners to build power to reduce poverty, create jobs and fight for economic justice.
• Helping grassroots organizations to develop strategies for building alliances, partnerships, and coalitions with other organizations to enhance their power and to achieve their goals.  This may include organizational and strategic development work, fundraising, leadership training, and non-partisan electoral work.
• Collaborating with local, regional, and national organizing partners, organized labor, policy organizations and other grassroots partners to build successful local and state organizations. 
• Supporting coordinated national and/or local, state or regional campaigns on specific issues targeting poverty and bringing innovative grassroots strategies such as movement building training, online organizing, electoral organizing, media, research and policy tools designed to help partners maximize the impact of their organizing.
• Training and mentoring both local organizational leaders as well as organizing staff working for CCC.
• This position requires extensive and frequent travel. 

Qualifications:

• Minimum of seven to ten years of experience in community organizing, electoral, labor or immigrant rights organizing and work leading campaigns at the local, state or national policy initiatives on poverty issues.  A mix of experiences in these arenas is ideal.
• Demonstrated experience in organizational assessment and development; ability to provide significant help in organizational and coalition development.
• Familiarity with and openness to different approaches to grassroots organizing and policy work.
• Strong facilitation and coalition building skills.
• Financial expertise and budget management.
• Ability to work democratically and effectively with diverse groups and people.
• Willing to work long, flexible hours and to travel extensively.
• Experience and comfort working as part of a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team and know how to combine assets available to the team in a way that maximizes ability of the team to function at a high level.
• Strong team player, familiar with team dynamics and willing to work in a team environment.
• Strong commitment to social justice and social change.
• Knowledge of key issues that the Center currently works on, such as poverty, criminal justice reform, jobs, economic justice, immigration and/or other issues.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills are a must.
• The ability to produce consistent, quality work in a fast-paced environment is essential.
• Ability to speak a second language a plus. 

Salary & Benefits: CCC offers a competitive salary and an excellent benefits package.

Closing Date of Position: Open Until Filled

How to apply: Please submit resume, a cover letter that includes salary expectations and at least two writing samples to:
    
hrtemp@communitychange.com

(Fax) 202-387-4892