For a brief video introduction to this position visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shv8jeHyn0E
The DART Organizers Institute is a paid, field school for those wishing to launch a career in community organizing. The Organizers Institute includes a seven-day classroom workshop with veteran organizers from the field and 15-weeks of in-field training with a grassroots community organization. After graduating from the DART Organizers Institute, organizers continue in the field as professional organizers in fulltime, salaried positions working to build the power of low-income communities throughout the country in their struggles for justice and equality.
Essentially, the formula is simple: learn to organize from the best in the business then go onto a fulltime career building power for justice.
Using strategies and techniques taught by the DART Center, organizations throughout the United States have held government and economic systems accountable and won important victories on a broad set of race and poverty issues including:
* Education reform in low-performing public schools,
* Affordable housing
* Access to healthcare
* Youth services
* Environmental protection
* Job training
* Fair immigration policies, and
* Dozens of other issues important to low-income communities.
Our classroom and field training covers such topics as:
* Identifying and training local leaders
* Strategic planning and issue cutting
* Researching and targeting decision makers
* One-on-One relationship building
* Developing and training leaders to take successful Direct Action on issues
* Fund Raising for the long-haul
* Congregation-based coalition building
Locations, Dates, & Benefits : The DART Organizers Institute will begin with a 7-day classroom training in Orlando, Florida on July 17, 2010. Following the classroom training Organizer Trainees will be placed on staff with local DART affiliates for fifteen weeks of training from July 24 - November 5, 2010. Organizer Trainees could potentially be placed with local DART affiliate including organizations in Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky. We will be sending several Organizer Trainees to DART's Ohio organizations for training including: Columbus, Dayton, or Toledo. We will take into account the Organizer Trainees' preferred location, but placements will be determined in order to provide the best training experience possible. Organizer Trainees will learn of their infield training location six weeks before the start of training.
DART will pay for hotel and gas expenses in route to their placement, as well as, provide a stipend of $7,000 over the course of the 15-week training to cover living expenses. DART will also reimburse any work related travel costs incurred during training. After completion of the 15-week in-field training, DART will work to place successful graduates into fulltime, salaried positions with a DART affiliate. Initial salaries start at $32 - 35,000/year, plus benefits including health and paid vacation. They will also be placed onto a two-year advanced training track to ensure ongoing support and professional development.
Responsibilities:
OTs will be provided with an intensive classroom orientation, but most of the training will take place while working to build the power of one of the local DART affiliates. OTs will be expected to create a work plan based on the goals set by the local leadership, execute the techniques and strategies they learn during the classroom training, be accountable to DART and local organizing staff through written weekly reports and check-ins, and should continuously evaluate their own progress toward becoming a skilled professional community organizer.
