Position is available now and will remain open until filled.
Front and Centered is a statewide, communities of color coalition working to achieve environmental justice by asserting policy solutions that center equity and racial justice. Our members are the leadership of communities first and worst hit by environmental and climate impacts: communities of color and indigenous communities. Together, we are working to build the power and capacity of a statewide movement for racial, economic, and environmental justice. We do this by growing our members’ leadership and power to change laws, reverse destruction of the environment and our communities, rebalance the economy and political power, and build up healthy communities.
We envision a future where our communities and the earth are healed and thriving, our people have dignified work and the building blocks of opportunity and prosperity, and our government values, respects, and represents us. We are working for sovereignty, resilience, and self-sufficiency for our communities so that future generations can thrive. We strive to make racial inequities on all issues a thing of the past, and to ensure that people of color and indigenous people are at the forefront of building equitable, democratic systems and policies that work for their communities.
We believe that fundamental changes are required to achieve environmental justice and healthy, thriving, equitable futures for communities of color and indigenous communities in Washington State. We believe that sustainable, meaningful solutions to environmental and climate issues threatening everyone in Washington State cannot be created without maximizing the wisdom of indigenous communities and communities of color. We believe that our future depends on solutions created by communities who have been historically marginalized and most impacted by environmental and climate hazards.
Front and Centered seeks an experienced Community Action Director to complete the following scope of work:
Scope of Work
● Develop and execute a statewide organizing strategy to support collaboration and greater engagement, action and momentum across the state for environmental justice, including a likely ballot measure in 2018.
● Convene members in statewide gatherings, organize monthly planning meetings and weekly strategic calls with other contractors of Front & Centered and as needed to advance the coalition and specific campaigns.
● Assess and provide strategic recommendations for engaging communities of color in key parts of Washington state, and execute a plan to build the membership of Front & Centered and to increase the overall participation and level of action toward forwarding the priorities of the coalition.
● Understand, communicate, and engage organizations on issues such as energy conservation and clean energy deployment, toxics prevention and recovery, the health of Puget Sound, and more.
Responsibilities
Internal Relationship Building and Engagement (30%)
● Engage F&C members on key issues through appropriate and effective communication and participation tactics.
● Educate and train F&C members on key topics, which can include organizing routine meetings, webinars and calls.
● Foster input and ownership of priorities by coordinating routine Listening Sessions as needed on key topics. Work with F&C members to engage their base. Coordinate with Program Director on content.
External Relationship Building (30%)
● Identify key players with whom we should build a relationship.
● Create power maps to identify who and what influences these key individuals or stakeholders.
● Reach out to and meet individually and/or together with F&C members with key decision makers, including, legislators, the Governor, state agencies heads and relevant staff.
● Keep notes and files relevant to this work, including high points of conversations, in addition to following up with people with expected or necessary content to keep them informed or engaged.
Strategic campaign management (30%)
● Develop and implement strategies to leverage F&C members in coordinated and collective action to move shared policy priorities.
● Support the capacity of lead groups to engage on priority issues, collaboratively strategize with groups on how best to leverage their base.
● Identify key geographic or demographic gaps and how to fill them by finding, meeting with, engaging and suggesting capacity needs for groups on the ground.
Administrative (10%)
● Administer the Front and Centered Steering Committee, including meeting logistics, agenda and supporting documents, participations, meeting notes and follow-up.
● Manage contractors
● Other duties as assigned
Qualifications and Compensation
Minimum qualifications
● A minimum of 3 years full time experience developing and managing campaigns, coalitions, ballot measures, or legislative initiatives to engage the public or grassroots to support public policies, political candidates, or social change efforts
● A minimum of 3 years of experience in community organizing
● Knowledge and expertise in working with diverse communities and building effective and inclusive campaigns, coalitions and efforts
● Strategic understanding of the political process and proven capacity to engage public/voters to shape policy making
● Strong written and verbal communication skills
● BA or equivalent
Desired Skills and Qualifications
● Statewide organizing experience or working across geographies
● Deep knowledge and passion for social movements, environmental justice and racial justice
● Ability to travel and attend meetings on weekends and evenings.
● Highly organized and resourceful with a strong attention to detail
● Experience using digital organizing techniques leveraging social media
● Ability to speak and write in additional language prevalent in Washington State or demonstrated experience working with multilingual communities
● Team player capable of working both collaboratively and independently
Compensation
Compensation highly competitive. High flexibility on schedule. Minimum of 30 hours per week, maximum of full time.
All additional travel and operational costs incurred will be covered by Front and Centered. We are an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourage people of color, women, and LGBTQ individuals to apply. Front and Centered is fiscally sponsored for this work through the Latino Community Fund.
Interested individuals should send an email to [email protected] with a subject line, “Front and Centered Community Action Director” and attach a letter of interest, and resume.
Position is available now and will remain open until filled.
