Athena and ILSR are looking for an organizer to support and develop the leadership of small businesses and consumers to win policy changes that check Amazon’s outsized power and address rising corporate concentration across the economy.

Athena is growing a high-impact field support team, recruiting both Lead Organizers and Online-to-Field Organizers to support the coalition’s mission and its members.

This position is housed at an Athena member, the Institute for Local Self Reliance. The position reports day-to-day to Athena’s campaign director and is focussed on developing the small business organizer program at ILSR, with support and guidance from ILSR staff, and the consumer organizing program at Athena.

This position is national and can be either remote & based anywhere, or (post-Covid) based in one of ILSR’s offices in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, or Portland, Maine.

About Athena — Athena works on delivering democracy by taking on a primary impediment to a democracy that represents us all and an economy that works for everyone: Amazon.com. We are a growing coalition of local, state-wide, and national organizations tackling the corporation’s nefarious size, power, scope and operations, in particular: antimonopoly remedies; local and regional governance; data abuse, especially the racism of surveillance technologies; environmental and climate (in)justices; and working conditions. More about our coalition is at www.athenaforall.org  

About the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) — ILSR is a national research and advocacy organization working to reverse corporate concentration and advance policies to rebuild the economic power and capacity of local communities. Our work illuminates the public policy decisions that have fueled concentration at the expense of local businesses, working people, and communities. It also shows how we can change the rules to create a more equitable, sustainable, and democratic future. We partner closely with a broad range of allies to move these ideas and policies. More at www.ilsr.org

Job Responsibilities: We are seeking an online-to-field organizer focussed in two groups, small business and consumers to:

• Build a broad base and strong leadership of small business owners affected by Amazon and other monopolistic company business practices to accomplish the goals of ILSR, support one another, and advance policy and industry change campaigns through ILSR and Athena. This is an online-to-field organizing model that includes online social media communities, peer to peer texting, and field outreach.
• Coordinate and develop an existing table of leaders of local and national small business organizations.
• Develop and build leadership committees to drive small business public policy campaigns through an inclusive process that develops their organizing and advocacy skills, generates bold actions, moves policymakers and educates the public.
• Build a broad base and strong leadership of people who shop at or are affected by Amazon’s business practices to accomplish the goals of the Athena coalition, to support each other, to enforce their rights, advance policy and industry change campaigns through Athena member organizations and the coalition overall. This is an online-to-field organizing model that includes online social media communities, peer to peer texting, and field outreach.
• Work with ILSR staff and Athena staff to  organize actions, press events, and prepare communications materials such as testimony for public hearings, op-eds, and talking points.
• Develop the leadership of people to share their stories with each other and publicly, with the media and online.
• Participate in strategy development and planning to grow the organizing program and advance campaigns.
• Build meaningful partnerships with community and policy allies to support campaigns, our members, and core organizing work.

Qualifications:   

• Minimum 3 years organizing campaign experience, ideally with in person organizing and using digital strategies.
• Strong writing, research and communication skills.
• Strong listening, persuasion and facilitation skills.
• Ability to relate to and work with diverse groups of people as well as an understanding of the daily challenges faced by low-income communities of color.
• Ability to work independently, navigate obstacles, discern priorities, meet competing deadlines and handle multiple projects.
• Strong database management skills that inform analysis of the base and strategy.
• Familiarity with digital strategies and online to offline organizing is a plus.
• Ability to work varied hours including nights, weekends and holidays.
• Spanish fluency is a plus.

Salary Range: $46,000 to $65,000 annually depending on experience and location.

Position includes 100% employer-paid health plan (family coverage & you pay no premiums); generous vacation, holiday, and parental leave; and a retirement plan with a matching contribution. We are a dynamic and friendly team dedicated to making the world a better place. ILSR takes professional growth seriously.

ILSR is deeply committed to equity and inclusion. We’re an equal opportunity employer, and we strongly encourage people of color, people with disabilities, women, non-binary candidates, and LGBTQIA+ candidates to apply.

APPLY HERE