Tenant Organizer

FLSA Classification: Full-time, Exempt - Hybrid

Reports to: Executive Director

Objective: To take collective action in buildings and communities to shift power from landlords to renters and build citywide tenant power. To work in partnership with Community Voices Heard (CVH), Met Council Action, and various housing coalitions.

Essential Functions:

1. Organize tenants on a building-wide level to address housing-related issues, including maintenance & repairs, overcharges, harassment, and discrimination
   1. Research and Identify potential organizing targets - Buildings of at least 25 units where a majority of renters are low-income owned by corporate landlords with a track record of serious neglect, overleveraging their properties, etc.
   2. Conduct research on landlords and identify potential points of leverage (i.e. agreements with the city, CONH pilot program, etc.)
   3. Conduct outreach in buildings to identify leaders & form leadership teams
   4. Support tenants in forming tenant associations and developing organizing campaigns that result in concrete improvements
   5. Hold monthly leadership team meetings and monthly general meetings
   6. Conduct regular one on one meetings and trainings with leaders
   7. Organizers are expected to work with 4-5 active buildings at a time and 8-10 per year. In each building organizers should strive for the following level of involvement:
      1. Have contact information for 75% of the households
      2. Have regular participation from 30 - 50% of the households
      3. Have a leadership team made up of one floor captain per floor
      4. Conduct 1-1s with everyone active in the TA
   8. Organize powerful actions which put pressure on the landlord and help tenants win their demands
   9. Record activities and tasks in our database and collect deliverables for our grants and contracts.
   10. Continue organizing in buildings with established tenant associations.
2. Bring tenants together on a portfolio wide/ neighborhood level to work on policy campaigns
   1. Bring tenants together across buildings owned by the same landlord to develop a portfolio-wide campaign
   2. Educate community residents on tenants’ rights, gentrification and anti-displacement strategies
   3. Attend meetings with coalition partners, lawyers and other housing organizations
3. Engage tenants in advocacy and political work with Met Council on Housing and Met Council Action
   1. Goal of 50% of TA members participating in at least one action event or meeting with Met Council on Housing or Met Council Action per year.
   2. Goal of 10-25% of TA members participating on a regular basis in Met Council meetings and actions
   3. Goal of recruiting 2 leaders per building to participate in Tenant Council
   4. Conduct political education about NYC and NYS government and electoral races
   5. Assist in the facilitation of our leadership training program, the Bess Stevenson Leadership Academy
   6. Participate, do turn out, and help lead member meetings and leadership groups
   7. Play a support role to the Director of Programs and Advocacy on at least one campaign that tenant leaders are engaged in such as the RGB
4. Share responsibility for Org-wide Tasks:
   1. Help write, edit or translate weekly email blasts
   2. Contribute to social media by posting about Tenant Association meetings and actions
   3. Contribute content ideas to Met Council’s Media channels - Tenant/ Inquilino and Radio Show “Housing Notebook”
   4. Plug tenant leaders into opportunities such as speaking engagements, media interviews, public testimony, board service, etc.
   5. Facilitate and contribute ideas at weekly staff meetings
   6. Participate actively in creating shared organizational goals at staff meetings and quarterly staff retreats
   7. Help create and run phone banks
   8. Update database
   9. Fundraise from both tenant associations, general membership, and foundations
   10. Assist at organizational wide events such as fundraisers and outreach events

Schedule Requirements

• The Met Council on Housing’s office is open from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
• Organizers are expected to work:
  • Up to 2 evenings per week, and
  • Up to 2 weekend days per month (Saturday or Sunday)

Required Education & Experience:

• Must have 2+ years of organizing and leadership development experience in the field of Housing, Homelessness or Tenant Rights
• Bilingual (English/ Spanish)
• Demonstrated commitment to social justice
• Experience recruiting and managing volunteers
• Familiarity & experience working in Harlem, West Harlem, East Harlem, Washington Heights or Inwood a plus.
• Familiarity with conducting trainings, teaching and/or public speaking
• Demonstrated Computer literacy and proficiency, including word processing, spreadsheets, and databases.

Skills

• Interpersonal – Strong verbal and written communication; able to engage respectfully with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Cultural Competency - Strong interest in working in low-income and culturally diverse communities.
• Presentation and Teaching - Able to motivate and inspire others.
• General Management - Detail oriented, systematic & organized.
• Multitasking and Collaboration - Able to work independently and efficiently on multiple tasks as well as work collaboratively in a team-oriented environment.
• Strategic Thinking - Resourceful, with a talent for problem-solving.
• Persistence & Determination – Committed to follow-through and resilience in the face of challenges.
• Supervision – Experience in guiding or managing others is a plus.
• Graphic Design - Web design, and flyer creation experience is a plus

Travel required: Occasional travel to Albany

Physical Requirements & Work Environment:

• Organizers are expected to visit tenants in their homes, conduct outreach in buildings (including without elevators), and attend events outside the office.
• Work will be conducted at our main office (470 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY), and occasionally outdoors.
• This role requires sitting, bending, standing, ongoing phone usage, and computer usage.

Other Duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.