Southern California Regional Community Organizer

Organizational Description
Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice is the nation's leading progressive Jewish organizational voice dedicated to organizing and mobilizing Jewish Americans to find solutions to the most pressing problems in America. Inspired by Jewish values, Bend the Arc is creating justice and opportunity for all through community organizing and investing, leadership development, civic engagement, and progressive political activism. We work beyond religious and institutional boundaries to leverage the Jewish community's historic roots in domestic affairs and civil rights to shape the national conversation and build a more equitable and just America. Bend the Arc's range of programmatic work includes community organizing, leadership development, community investing, political advocacy, and national and local campaigns.

General Statement of Duties

Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice is seeking an experienced Community Organizer for the Los Angeles area. The Community Organizer organizes volunteer activists to participate in campaigns, develop partnerships and campaign strategy, support the development of leaders, and build public support for campaigns in the Jewish community -- all in the context of building a vibrant Jewish social justice movement. The Community Organizer cultivates grassroots engagement and leadership, educates Jewish community about local and national social justice struggles and campaigns, trains volunteers in organizing skills, and builds Bend the Arc's profile as a valuable and accountable community partner. The Community Organizer builds and maintains collaborative relationships with both Jewish communal partners and regional partners, including social justice organizations, broad-based and issue-oriented organizing communities, and labor allies.

Bend the Arc seeks a community organizer who is experienced, strategic, solution-oriented, and collaborative; excels at building relationships within and outside the Jewish community; and is motivated to further Bend the Arc's mission, vision and values. This person will team with the coordinator of our cohort-based leadership development program for young changemakers, while maintaining primary focus on organizing. S/he will also collaborate with organizing staff at partner organizations in other cities, and will often supervise interns.

Responsibilities

• Identifies, oversees and implements campaigns and initiatives, including developing campaign and base-building strategy within a larger movement-building context
• Develops and implements organizing skills trainings for leaders and members
• Cultivates members as leaders and organizers in Bend the Arc's grassroots campaign work in the region; recruits, trains and supervises local organizing lay leaders, staff and interns
• Proactively builds relationships and facilitates collaboration with local and statewide social justice organizations and organizing communities, Jewish institutions, organizations and synagogues, and other key stakeholders
• Tracks information about volunteer attendance and participation to assist in outreach
• Represents the organization in a variety of public forums & community events
• Works with communications staff to create effective messaging and communications about local campaigns
• Collaborates with local and national development staff to support fund development, including sharing stories about the work and integrating grassroots fundraising approaches into organizing
• Works with Regional Director and Jeremiah Fellowship Coordinator to integrate fellows and other lay leaders into campaigns and to integrate organizing into leadership development programming.

Position Requirements:

• At least three years demonstrated success in community organizing, preferably including experience organizing in faith-based or community-based context
• Ability to build and maintain strong one-to-one and institutional relationships with a diverse array of people, including a variety of age groups and Jewish identifications, and with partners from diverse communities
• Ability to identify, develop and mentor volunteer leaders and teams
• Keen political understanding and strategic thinking
• Demonstrated success at keeping multiple projects organized; good short- and long-term planning skills; strong administrative and time-management skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including public speaking skill
• Inquisitive, sense of humor, proactive, solution-oriented, collaborative, conscientious, responsible and efficient with a positive attitude; skilled and effective team player
• Computer literacy required (e.g. Word, Excel)
• Independent means for travel throughout the region for meetings, fundraising, program events, etc. Operation of a motor vehicle requires valid and current California driver's license. Expenses of work-related travel are reimbursed by Bend the Arc.
• Flexible schedule; ability and willingness to work some nights and weekends
• Formal training in organizing

Strongly Preferred:

• Experience with social justice work in a Jewish context
• Knowledge of the regional/statewide Jewish and social justice communal landscapes, as well as the labor movement/landscape.
• Leadership training, service learning and/or Jewish educational experience
• Jewish knowledge/literacy
• Interfaith experience

Applications due: ASAP, interviews conducted on a rolling basis.

Reports to: Southern California Regional Director

Application Procedure:

Please email a thoughtful cover letter and resume (both within a single Word document), outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and why you want to work at Bend the Arc. Address your application to jobs@bendthearc.us with the subject line "Southern California Community Organizer."

Ideal timeframe to start: Immediately. Salary is commensurate with experience.Excellent benefits.

Bend the Arc is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from women, people of color, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.