Community Organizer, POWER

Posted by Philadelphians Organized to Witness Empower & Rebuild on March 13, 2017

Community Organizer, Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower & Rebuild (POWER)

Position Overview:

The Community Organizer has the responsibility for cultivating relationships with members of diverse faith congregations across the city, teaching them community-organizing skills and supporting them to conduct successful issue campaigns on the local, state and potentially national levels.

Specifically, the Community Organizer will be responsible for maximizing the involvement of members of a set of congregations that belong to POWER through ongoing relationship building, leadership training, coaching and mobilization for meetings, events and actions. The Community Organizer will – at the direction of the Director of Organizing – work towards specific goals for getting his/her assigned congregations to play active roles in POWER’s main campaigns: school funding equity, living wage/minimum wage increase, criminal justice reform, voter turnout – as well as other potential or related campaigns that POWER is involved with.

POWER has a strong learning culture and places a high priority on personal learning, racial awareness and analysis, and relationship building. The ideal candidate would have a passion for justice, strong relational skills, a strong sense of their own faith values, a capacity to build bridges across multiple cultures, awareness of personal and societal racism, and demonstrable experience in bringing people together to win campaign victories. Strong written and verbal skills are required; fluency in Spanish is a plus.

About POWER

We are Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower & Rebuild (POWER). We are 50 congregations in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties, intentionally bringing people together across the lines of race, faith, income level and neighborhood — lines which have historically kept Philadelphians divided. We are people of faith committed to the work of bringing about racial and economic justice here and now, in our city and our region. By strengthening and mobilizing our networks of relationships, we seek to exercise power in the public arena so that the needs and priorities of all Philadelphians are reflected in the systems and policies that shape our city. More recently, POWER has expanded beyond Philadelphia to build POWER Metro, a network of congregations in Montgomery and Delaware Counties as well as POWER Center State, an effort to bring together faith leaders in York, Lancaster, Dauphin and Lebanon Counties.

POWER is a proud affiliate of the PICO National Network (http://www.piconetwork.org), the largest and fastest growing faith-based community organizing effort in the country. At PICO we are lifting a new vision for America that is rooted in our shared moral values and democratic traditions. POWER is also a member of the Partnership for Working Families (http://www.forworkingfamilies.org).

For more information on POWER visit our website at http://www.powerinterfaith.org.

This position is full time with significant evening and weekend work. Starting salary is competitive, depending on experience; benefits include excellent health plan and retirement plan.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Conduct 15-20 one-on-one meetings each week with new or established POWER leaders, clergy, and influential external leaders on a consistent and regular basis
• Prepare written weekly reports on progress and outcomes of her/his work.
• Provide regular organizing training for POWER leaders and community members in the principles and strategies of congregation-based community organizing
• Support POWER congregational teams in outreach, research, and strategic planning leading to large community action meetings that impact systemic change
• Provide support and strategic guidance to Strategy Teams (groups of POWER members that lead each issue campaign)
• Attend professional development sessions
• Meet on a regular basis with the Director of Organizing to shadow, plan and evaluate work progress

SKILLS:

• Ability and experience working cross-culturally
• Solid understanding of one’s own faith journey
• Strong relational skills and ability to connect, engage, and inspire community members across multiple cultures including: religion, race, gender, age, language, class and experiences
• Capacity to think strategically and analytically about social, economic, cultural, and political issues affecting a community.
• Desire to learn and openness to challenge
• Ability to work as part of a strong staff team as well as independently
• Relevant previous organizing experience (Community, Labor, Voter) a plus
• Demonstrable experience working with faith communities and/or in a faith-based environment required
• Ability to design and implement trainings, using popular education and other teaching methods.
• Highly organized, ability to handle multiple tasks, manage a busy schedule of many face to face meetings and document both progress and outcomes.
• Experience using Microsoft Office suite of programs, the Voter Activation Network (VAN), and CRM/databases are highly desired.

Salary & Benefits:

• Starting Salary $47,500, depending on years of experience and demonstrated successes.
• Health care plan for employee after 90 days of employment (POWER pays 70% of premium) including dental and vision. Retirement plan (matching plan by employer) after one year of employment.

Application Procedure:

To apply:
Email the following documents to info@powerphiladelphia.org with the subject line “Community Organizer Position”

1. Resume
2. Letter (2 pages MAX) describing your background, interest in, and qualifications for this position
3. List of three professional references

http://powerinterfaith.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CommunityOrganizerJobDescription3-1-17.docx.pdf