Lead Community Organizer

Overview

LA Voice is seeking to hire a full-time Lead Community Organizer to support and develop spiritually-centered/faith-based grassroots leadership and power in Los Angeles County. The ideal candidate will have significant experience and training in community organizing, ideally as a Lead Organizer or other management role; effective communication and time management skills; emotional intelligence; comfort or fluency in multiple ethnic and religious communities; a passion for people’s leadership and growth; a track record of developing other people’s leadership; and clarity that undoing racism is central to the struggle for our shared future.

This is an amazing opportunity to be a part of a diverse and growing team that is creating positive, systemic change in Los Angeles and California. We are currently hiring for multiple organizing positions, with a focus on expanding our regional presence in Long Beach, South LA, and the San Fernando Valley.

An LA Voice Lead Organizer:                

• Provides strategic leadership on a collaborative team with fellow lead organizers, the clergy and formation lead, and the Executive Director, co-creating and implementing long term plans for building county-wide power for racial and economic justice in alignment with LA Voice’s organization-wide strategy.
• Demonstrates a disciplined focus on intentional leadership development through 1:1 conversation, identifying interest, inviting grassroots leaders into roles in the public arena and engaging them in opportunities to learn and grow.
• Recruits, develops, and supports grassroots leaders to exercise power for social change through identifying issues, training leaders, and organizing actions with policy-makers and decision makers at local, countywide, and state levels.
• Builds intentional relationships with clergy and religious/spiritual leaders: identifying interests and challenges in congregations, inviting clergy into strategic leadership exploring how LA Voice membership meets congregational needs and constructing strategies for congregational development.
• Manages at least one Community Organizer and invests in their growth and development

Responsibilities and Duties:

Essential Functions (to include, but not limited to):

• Build 1:1 relationships with congregational leaders across a wide geography
• Organize up to twelve local organizing committees at member congregations
• Recruit new congregations to LA Voice
• Develop and conduct training on effective community organizing: research meetings, team building, mobilization, power analysis, voter engagement, coalitions, structural racism, storytelling, one-to-ones, etc.
• Develop others’ ability to teach the aforementioned skills to fellow volunteers.
• Train and support grassroots leaders in LA Voice collective campaign work, including strategic goal setting, preparing leaders for visits to advocate with elected officials, 100% voting congregations, and bringing their community members into action, press conferences, voter work, etc.
• Lead work with partner organizations and coalitions toward shared goals
• Manage, train, and develop at least one Community Organizer on the team
• Lead grassroots members in developing a long-term agenda and plan including the development and execution of campaigns

Qualifications Required:

• Minimum five years experience in community organizing
• Driven, self-disciplined and flexible
• Group leadership skills; track record that includes nurturing, managing, and guiding teams of people successfully toward shared goals
• Facility working with clergy and people of faith from different communities
• Effective interpersonal and relational skills; self-reflective and hungry for growth
• Experience effectively managing and developing skills of past staff team members
• Demonstrated success developing and leading organizing campaigns to win tangible benefits for the community.
• Commitment and track record of bridging across differences–including race, faith, and life experience–in order to nurture a staff team, an organization, and a county of belonging.

Other Possible Qualifications:

• Knowledge of and experience organizing in Los Angeles County
• More than six years of impactful community organizing
• Experience organizing in Long Beach, South LA, or the San Fernando Valley
• Experience organizing within African-American churches
• Fluency in Spanish Mandarin Chinese or other Asian languages
• Experience doing integrated voter engagement work, including canvassing, phone banking, and/or using PDI
• Experience organizing with people who have been incarcerated, people without immigration documents, or people experiencing homelessness/housing displacement/severe rent burden
• Life experience with incarceration, being without immigration documents, or homelessness/housing displacement/severe rent burden
• Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, or other advanced coursework

Compensation and Benefits:

• A full-time, exempt position.
• The job includes regular evening work and some weekend work.
• Salary is competitive for the region and based on experience and demonstrated capacities, in a range from $65,000- $87,000
• Benefits include a comprehensive health plan, generous personal days, a matching retirement account, and a monthly wellness stipend.
  LA Voice is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against otherwise qualified applicants on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, national origin, disability or handicap, or veteran status.

Application Procedure:

All applicants must apply for this position online, click here to apply for this position. Please have the following two (2) documents ready to upload to your online application:

• An electronic file of your resume (preferably a PDF)
• A cover letter stating why this is a fit for you and for LA Voice;

Application/Hiring Deadline:

Applications and interviews will occur on a rolling basis.