Staten Island Community Organizer

About the organization 

Citizen Action is a statewide grassroots movement organization that fights for political, social, racial, economic and environmental justice. We work at the grassroots to give people a sense of their own power. We collaborate with organizations and coalitions in communities throughout New York to address critical issues at the local, state and federal levels. 

About the position 

Citizen Action is looking to add a Staten Island Community Organizer to our team. This position will report to the NYC Regional Director. This role is focused on building the base of volunteers who are engaged in the work with a particular focus on the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) on Staten Island and other affordable housing developments where we have a member base, with a two fold purpose: 1) to raise state revenue to invest in New York and win other priority issues campaigns, and 2) work directly with leaders and members to create outreach strategies to engage the community and build the chapter’s political strength. A community organizer must be personable and not afraid to use traditional organizing tactics to build the organization.

We take pride in hiring staff who share our values & characteristics. These include:

• Passionate about issues of social, racial, economic and environmental justice
• Ability to think strategically and creatively to solve problems
• A high degree of professionalism and professional maturity
• Strong ability to lead a team; lead multiple projects; to fruition and success 
• Collaborative work style and demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and with people from a variety of different racial, ethnic, socio-economic, educational, religious, gender and generational backgrounds
• Collaborative work style and demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and with people from a variety of backgrounds

What you’ll do and the impact you'll make

• Chapter Building – Recruit dues pay members and assist in the maintenance of the regional board. Use issues and electoral campaigns as a way to grow the chapter through outreach strategies that grow the dedicated base of volunteers.
• Outreach and Recruitment - Create an outreach and recruitment plan alongside leader builds for chapter meetings, committee meetings, mobilization efforts, and campaign tactics. Use organizing tactics such as phone banking, text banking, and canvassing in order to grow chapter members. Lead weekly outreach events with members.
• Administrative - Work with staff to manage the chapter’s VAN requirements such as updating VAN with weekly one-on-ones, volunteer activities, and volunteer profile. Work with the Data Coordinator to create recruitment phone banks and canvass lists.
• Legislative – Work with the NYC team and member leaders to create outreach strategies based on legislative campaigns during the planning phase and support committee management during legislative sessions.
• Electoral: Recruit members and leaders to be a part of the endorsement committee and assist the Regional Director in coordination. 
• Communications – Assist the Regional Director with creating content for emails, social media, letters to editors, op-eds, and collecting local stories that amplify campaigns.

Skills/Qualifications

• Ability to demonstrate skills, recruit and train volunteers in the core activities of the organization (recruitment, campaign tools/activities, communications, etc). 
• Effectively use the organization’s training methodology - demonstrating the skill (with support), doing shoulder to shoulder work with member leaders, tracking results, analyzing results, and providing effective feedback. 
• Commitment to meet the rigor of ongoing outreach goals (phone banking, 1-1s, canvassing, etc.), the core tactics used to build strong regional chapters here at Citizen Action.
• Demonstrated success and skills in recruiting and leadership development with volunteers/member leaders. Includes, running and supporting volunteers doing phone banks, canvassing, planning events, lobbying, facilitating workshops and meetings.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills - a strong communicator, in person or virtual
• Develops creative approaches to problem-solving, including strong analytic, strategic and planning skills geared to meeting organizations goals.
• Ability to work evenings and weekends to meet member leaders when they are available.

• Strong basic planning skills, both personally and professionally
• Excellent ability to foster and maintain strong relationships.
• Ability to work independently.
• Open mindedness / willingness to take direction
• Motivation and commitment to the work and progressive change
• Has ability to teach and facilitate meetings/lead group/committee/volunteer
• Self-motivated, taking initiative and engaging in thought partnership as needed with your supervisor.
• Excellent interpersonal skills - ability to build trust and maintain relationships with community partners and fellow staff members
• Ability to travel, including having a reliable car and valid driver’s license.
• Strong facilitation skills and able to lead a group of people towards a shared understanding of facilitated content. In particular, able to facilitate and educate NYCHA tenants on RAD, Section 9 and The Preservation Trust Act. Training and resources will be made available to the person in this role. 
• The ability to break complex policies or systems down in an accessible way.

Preferred Attributes

• Able to speak Spanish fluently 
• An ideal candidate will be from Staten Island or have worked on Staten Island with a strong sense of the community and the political landscape on the island. 

Location

This position is based in Staten Island, reporting to our Staten Island and Manhattan offices. In-person participation in meetings and events may be required at different locations. Periodic travel across New York State is required. Travel may be required outside of New York State. Travel may include multiple day trips and over weekends. Relocation stipend is available.

Our Benefits

• Working collaboratively in an organization at the forefront of building power across NYS 
• Competitive salary
• 100% paid employee monthly medical and vision premiums
• Access to mental health and dental plans
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Monthly cell phone stipend
• Generous paid holidays, vacation time, and paid sick leave
• Organization shutdown weeks in July and December, and Summer Fridays

Please note, all benefits are subject to change.

Salary: $64,303

Union Affiliation

Citizen Action is proud to be a unionized workplace in partnership with Worker Action. This position is a bargaining unit position.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Citizen Action of NY and The Public Policy and Education Fund are equal opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law, and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. We are looking for the most passionate people who want to join our team. People of color are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Applicants may be entitled to reasonable accommodations under the terms of the ADA and state/local laws. Please let us know if you need assistance participating in the interview process.