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Description
Location: Arizona. Remote. Statewide travel may be required to fulfill contract deliverables.
Reporting Relationship: Receives direction from the Executive Committee regarding project goals, priorities, and deliverables.
About Just Schools
Just Schools works to ensure that every student in Arizona can learn in a school that is safe, inclusive, and affirming. We educate, advocate, and organize for inclusive schools where queer and trans students are valued and inspired to reach their full potential. Through training, policy advocacy, and grassroots mobilization, we build the collective power of families, students, educators, and community members to unite for inclusive education.
Position Summary
The Grassroots Community Organizer is a project-based independent contractor who leads statewide community mobilization and engagement for Just Schools. The contractor receives direction from the Executive Committee regarding project goals, priorities, and deliverables. The role focuses on expanding the Hall Monitor Program, a statewide volunteer network that tracks, educates, and responds to school board and policy actions that affect inclusive education.
The ideal contractor is an experienced movement builder who has grown large-scale grassroots participation, led civic engagement initiatives, and advanced deep canvassing strategies that transform public understanding and policy outcomes. This work requires strategic vision combined with hands-on organizing, volunteer leadership development, and community-centered public engagement across Arizona.
Core Responsibilities
Statewide Organizing and Base-Building:
- Lead the strategic expansion of the Hall Monitor volunteer network across Arizona.
- Recruit, train, and mobilize large groups of volunteers and community members to participate in inclusive education advocacy.
- Build authentic relationships with educators, families, youth, and community partners to deepen engagement and sustain community power.
- Maintain a presence at community events, school board meetings, and legislative sessions to advance statewide mobilization.
Campaign Development and Civic Engagement
- Design and implement grassroots campaigns that engage communities in school board and legislative processes.
- Develop and lead deep canvassing strategies that build empathy and shift public narratives.
- Support volunteers in public testimony, local team-building, and rapid-response efforts.
- Collaborate with the Executive and Policy Committees to align mobilization with advocacy goals.
Leadership Development and Training
- Identify, mentor, and support emerging community leaders.
- Facilitate training sessions on inclusive education, organizing practices, and civic participation.
- Build a clear ladder of engagement that moves participants from awareness to long-term action and leadership.
Coalition and Partnership Building
- Strengthen partnerships with allied organizations, coalitions, and advocacy networks.
- Coordinate joint events, trainings, and mobilizations that amplify shared goals.
Tracking, Reporting, and Accountability
- Manage volunteer engagement data, participation metrics, and campaign outcomes using digital tools and CRM systems.
- Provide regular updates to the Executive Committee on progress, impact, and emerging issues.
- Contribute to grant reporting and organizational storytelling by documenting program achievements and community impact.
Key Qualifications
Required
- Minimum 5 years of experience in community organizing, campaign management, or civic engagement with a record of mobilizing large groups around social or educational issues.
- Demonstrated success scaling grassroots participation statewide or across multiple regions.
- Experience leading deep canvassing or values-based conversations that shift public opinion.
- Strong knowledge of grassroots advocacy, community power-building, and LGBTQ+ inclusive or social justice movements.
- Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills across lines of difference.
- Proven success recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers and community leaders.
- High level of organization with the ability to manage multiple projects and timelines.
- Proficiency with digital organizing tools including Google Workspace, social media platforms, and CRMs.
- Willingness to travel regularly within Arizona and work evenings or weekends as needed to meet deliverables.
- Deep commitment to equity, inclusion, and education justice.
- Lived or professional experience navigating anti-LGBTQ+ bias and/or structural inequities related to race, immigration status, or disability.
Preferred
- Bilingual (English/Spanish) strongly preferred.
- Experience organizing in the state of Arizona or similar political contexts.
- Familiarity with K–12 public education and local governance systems.
Benefits
The contractor is not eligible for employee benefits, and is responsible for their own taxes, insurance, equipment, and business expenses.
Level of Language Proficiency
Bilingual (English/Spanish) strongly preferred.
Location
Associated Location
How to Apply
Please submit a cover letter, resume, and three professional references to jobs@justschools.org. In your cover letter, include a brief example of a campaign plan, volunteer training, or turnout strategy you have led. This helps us understand your approach to community power, your organizing experience, and how you would contribute to Just Schools’ statewide work.
