VOCAL-NY is a grassroots, membership-led organization dedicated to building a movement of low-income people fighting to end AIDS, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and homelessness. We do this through community organizing, leadership development, direct services, policy advocacy and direct action and with the firm belief that true social change must come from the bottom up and be led by those most directly impacted.

Position Description

VOCAL-NY is seeking a talented individual interested in creating grassroots political power as part of a dynamic team. The community organizer will support leadership development and civic engagement among low-income people who are impacted by our core issues areas of mass incarceration, homelessness, drug use, and HIV/ AIDS. Examples of active campaigns include:

• Winning rental assistance programs for the homeless and low-income people living with HIV
• Eliminating money bail and dramatically reducing the pretrial population
• Expanding access to drug treatment inside prisons and jails.

To get a better sense of what we’re up to check our Twitter: @vocalnewyork

Job activities are varied and may include: community outreach; mobilization; leadership development; base-building; event coordination; grassroots lobbying; monitoring the implementation of legislation; data collection and analysis; communications and media outreach; and creating public education and advocacy materials. Some administrative tasks (e.g. phone calls, data entry) are assigned as needed.

Job Responsibilities

• Membership recruitment: Conduct base building activities, like street based outreach and teach-ins, to achieve targeted membership recruitment goals.
• Leadership development: Conduct trainings and facilitate meetings that build the knowledge and skills of people who are impacted by mass incarceration to participate in planning and policy making that affects their lives.
• Issue ID and campaign coordination: Assist members in identifying advocacy issues, developing advocacy strategy and implementation.
• Mobilization: Turn out large numbers of members to rallies, meetings and other events through mass phone banking and relationship-building.
• Phone-banking: In addition to directly phone-banking, the position will coordinate phone-banking for members.
• Membership meetings: Convene regular membership meetings and smaller campaign/committee meetings.
• Support: Although the position will focus on a few campaigns, you will also be expected to provide support for all community organizing and campaigns within VOCAL-NY as needed. We have a highly collaborative office environment where staff members provide regular support for each other’s campaigns, which is in part a function of our limited resources and ambitious scope of work.

Requirements / Qualifications

The ideal candidate will be an energetic, self-motivated individual who has strong interpersonal, public speaking, writing, and problem solving skills. Candidates must demonstrate interest in our core issue areas and a willingness to approach these issues through a racial justice analysis. Candidates must have at least two years of experience in community organizing and/or related fields. Advocacy campaign experience, significant community organizing experience, and Spanish fluency are pluses. Interest in working as a member of a team and in a fast-paced, dynamic environment is essential. Occasional evening and weekend work is required. Basic computer skills, including ability to use the internet, email, word processing (e.g. Microsoft Word) and spreadsheets (e.g. Excel) programs are required.

Details at a glance

• On-site Location
• Full Time Schedule

Benefits

VOCAL-NY offers a generous benefits package of twenty days of paid vacation, 100% employer-covered health, vision, and dental insurance plan, and 403(b) retirement plan.

How To Apply

Please send a cover letter and résumé to jobs@vocal-ny.org.   In the subject line, please put “Community Organizer [Your Name]”. No phone calls please.

VOCAL-NY is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, people of color, people who are LGBTQ and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. We are particularly interested in hiring those who have been adversely affected by the criminal justice system and the war on drugs.

The position will remain open until filled.

Note: Only those candidates under consideration will be contacted

Location: 80A Fourth Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217