The Democracy at Work Institute seeks an experienced, self-directed, and collaborative person to join our dynamic national organization supporting the field of worker cooperative development. The Local Initiatives Organizer will support efforts to mobilize policies and resources, as well as build capacity for scaled cooperative development at the local level in cities across the country.
Essential Duties
Assessment, Strategy Development and Relationship-Building
• Conduct a listening and assessment project to understand the strengths, needs and gaps of various local organizing efforts to promote worker ownership in cities across the country.
• Distill and share with our staff lessons learned from cities where the Institute is playing an active support role.
• Play an ear-to-the ground role in local organizing efforts: maintain regular communication with local contacts and stay up to date on all the local cooperative development initiatives, city interest, and possibilities across the country.
• Identify and build relationships with key actors supporting worker cooperative development at the local and national level.
• Work with Institute staff, local actors, and local and national partner organizations to develop and refine place-based strategies for supporting scaled worker cooperative development.
Policy strategy
• Work with our staff and outside consultant to support the creation and replication of model resolutions and policies.
• Manage on-line dissemination of sample and model policies and resolutions, as well as tools for collective impact.
Capacity-Building
• Work with the Institute team to develop trainings and provide technical assistance to help build the capacity of local cooperative developers and other partner organizations.
• Support the creation of tools, curriculum and outreach materials specific to policy development, organizing, power mapping, equity and accessibility, ecosystem analysis, collective impact.
Ecosystem Development
• Present or coordinate presentations to a variety of partners on various cooperative development models and strategies.
• Build and maintain relationships with other organizations in the support ecosystem for worker cooperatives: business advisors, capital providers, government agencies, and technical assistance providers, etc.
• Participate in meetings, work groups, and projects of local worker cooperative groups and coalition(s), actively supporting a collaborative, strategic approach.
Outreach, Public Relations
• Do outreach, attend events and give presentations to cooperative developers, economic development officials, small business support centers, and other stakeholder groups.
• Recruit, train and supervise an “organizing corps” in 2-3 cities to do basic education and awareness-raising about worker cooperatives as a community wealth building strategy.
• Communicate lessons learned from local organizing initiatives to the field through a variety of means such as writings and conference presentations.
• Respond to inquiries and requests for information.
Qualifications
• Organizing: Experience in community or labor organizing, power mapping, grassroots
mobilization, and/or participatory community needs assessment is required.
• Worker cooperatives: Interest in worker cooperatives and other democratic employee ownership structures is required; experience with these business models is strongly preferred. You must be willing to become fluent in the basics of cooperative business functions (business planning and feasibility, equity and capital structures, governance and management functions, etc.) in order to communicate about them knowledgably to a variety of audiences.
• Community economic development: Background in economic development, community economic development, urban planning, and municipal policy is strongly preferred.
• Communication and training: Excellent written and verbal communication skills are required, including presentation and training skills, and familiarity with participatory and popular education. Strong phone skills and ability to build relationships remotely are key to success in this position.
• Diplomacy and discretion: Strong diplomatic skills and judgment are required in this position. You need to be able to both see possibility and ask hard questions with respect and discretion.
• Equity lens and cultural competency: You must be able to communicate with a broad range of people and institutions confidently and effectively, with a critical analysis of power, privilege, race, class and gender.
• Bilingual: The ability to speak both English and Spanish proficiently is required.
• Self-management: Our staff is highly autonomous. You should be a self-starter, comfortable taking initiative, scoping projects, managing priorities and time, and holding yourself accountable to realistic goals, with the support of co-workers committed to your success.
Commitment: This is a full-time job, based in either our Oakland or New York City Offices. A substantial amount of travel is expected, averaging one trip per month.
Compensation: Compensation depends on experience and will be commensurate with other positions in the field. The Democracy at Work Institute offers competitive compensation, full health benefits coverage, a generous time-off policy, and a highly participatory, mutually supportive workplace. We are committed to the personal and professional growth of all staff.
How to Apply:
• Applications are due August 11, 2015. The position is open until filled.
• Email a cover letter, indicating why you are interested in this specific position and what skills,
qualities and relationships you will bring to the organization, along with a resume to hiring@institute.usworker.coop. Include the subject line “Application for _____________ position.”
• If you are applying for multiple positions, send multiple emails.
• No phone or email inquiries.
About Democracy at Work Institute
The Democracy at Work Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit movement-based think-and-do tank that expands the promise of cooperative business ownership to communities most directly affected by social and economic inequality. We do research and advocacy; we develop tools and strategy; and we build cooperative development capacity to ensure that further growth in the worker cooperative movement is rooted in worker cooperatives themselves and reaches out to new communities of worker-owners, particularly low-income people, people of color and recent immigrants.
We come out of and retain close ties to the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, the national grassroots membership organization. All Institute programs integrate USFWC member input and foreground the experience of worker cooperatives. Although our formal entity is new, we have long institutional history and relationships and a strong reputation for effectiveness. We are building a strategy for scaled, sustainable worker cooperative development that brings together a wide array of field actors around a shared purpose. We are currently a staff of seven people. Our annual budget is ~ $850,000 and growing.
About Being on Staff
• The Institute is a startup organization. All staffers are expected to help build organizational capacity, including strategizing around program development, developing documentation, supporting communications and fundraising, and taking professional development opportunities.
• We have the capacity and commitment to support remote staffing, with staff around the country. A certain amount of travel for all staffers will be expected and supported. Ability and willingness to learn the technological tools for remote working is also expected.
• We aim to build a multiracial and class-diverse staff that reflects the future of worker cooperatives. Women, people of color and others who may be underrepresented at senior levels of the nonprofit workforce are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Full-time staff are eligible for membership in the organization after 6 months of employment. Members are eligible to serve on the Board of Directors, and elect two Director seats.
• We offer competitive compensation, full health benefits coverage and a generous time-off policy.
• We strive for a highly participatory, mutually supportive workplace that creates excellent work and allows us to have fun doing it. We are committed to the personal and professional growth of all staff.
