The Urban Justice Center is made up of ten independent projects serving thousands of low-income individuals and families in New York City. The Community Development Project (CDP) at the Urban Justice Center provides legal, technical, research and policy assistance to grassroots community groups engaged in a wide range of organizing efforts throughout New York City.
CDP’s Research and Policy Initiative partners with and provides strategic support to grassroots community organizations to build the power of their organizing and advocacy work. We utilize a “participatory action research” model in which low-income and excluded communities are central to the design and development of research and policy. Our work is guided by the priorities and needs of the community partners with which we work. The Research and Policy Associate would report to the Director of Research and Policy and join a team of three full time staff (including the Associate) and several graduate school interns. You can find more information about our recent work here.
Our work consists of the following:
- Participatory Action Research Reports: From start to finish, we work with our community partners to design, administer, analyze and write participatory action research reports. These reports are used by our partners to educate community members, engage elected officials, garner media attention and advocate for socially just policies. Read our reports here.
- Grassroots Policymaking: With community organizations, we research and develop ground-up policy solutions to problems they identify and document.
- Popular-Education Curriculum Design and Research Training: Our trainings and tools assist communities in designing and conducting their own research. We also conduct trainings on a variety of research topics to build the capacity of our partner organizations. View CDP’s Research for Organizing toolkit here.
- Strategic Campaign Research: We conduct background research and develop fact sheets to provide strategic data in support of organizing campaigns. Our partners use these materials in leadership development and base-building and to educate elected and government officials about specific issues and campaigns
The Research and Policy Associate will do the following type of work:
- Design and planning of participatory action research projects;
- Develop research tools (surveys, focus group guides, interviews, etc.);
- Analyze quantitative and qualitative data;
- Develop databases and do data entry;
- Support community-based organizations (community partners) in collection of data;
- Research and policy training and education for community partner groups;
- Conduct background research and policy analysis related to partner’s campaigns;
- Coordinate and communicate with community groups to carry out participatory research projects;
- Support advocacy efforts of partner groups;
- Support the development and implementation of strategic communications related to research and policy work;
- Write policy-related documents and research reports;
- Create public education materials to support the efforts of community partners.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree and at least 2 years of experience preferred;
- Experience with research design and project management;
- Experience and knowledge of policy analysis and NYC and NYS political landscape;
- Strong writing skills;
- Experience and demonstrated skill in working with diverse populations;
- Experience with group facilitation and public speaking;
- Ability to cultivate relationships with potential partners;
- Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as in a team;
- Experience with data analysis and statistical programs such as SPSS, GIS, Survey monkey and excel is preferred;
- Detail oriented;
- Demonstrated commitment to community organizing and social justice;
- Knowledge of issues affecting low-income communities of color and related to social justice;
- Spanish and/or Chinese language ability is a plus.
Salary and compensation:
Salary is commensurate with experience ($40,000 to $50,000 starting range) and excellent benefits package is available, including generous vacation, personal, and sick time, along with industry leading medical and dental coverage.
The Community Development Project is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from people with diverse backgrounds, including women, people of color, immigrants, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.
Application Instructions:
Please send a cover letter, resume and 2 writing samples (each writing sample should be no longer than 3 pages). The writing samples should exhibit your ability to write about public policy and/or summarize research findings.
Please send the complete application to Alexa Kasdan, Director of Research and Policy at akasdan@urbanjustice.org. Please write “R&P Associate application” in the subject line.
Applications will be accepted until June 19th, 2015
