Organizer, Southern California

Job Title: Organizer, Southern California

Reports To: Senior Organizing Manager

Location: Los Angeles-based with local travel

Status: Full-Time, Hybrid role, 40 hours/week, Exempt

Company Overview

Golden State Opportunity is a nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty by providing all Californians with the tools to build financial wellbeing and thrive. GSO is led by doers who educate, engage, and empower working families. Our groundbreaking, culturally relevant work in thirteen languages reaches millions of low-income Californians and connects them with the financial resources they need to survive and then thrive.

We get things done through grassroots advocacy and partnerships with community-based organizations, and what we learn from this on-the-ground work informs our policy advocacy. GSO began with a legislative victory led by and for low-income workers and families. Since then, we have fought to expand access to the CalEITC, federal EITC, higher wage jobs, and other anti-poverty solutions.

Job Summary

Organizers at Golden State Opportunity (GSO) are movement builders. They anchor GSO’s community-based organizing, coalition development, and on-the-ground campaign work in their region. This role builds long-term power through our Community Connect partners—GSO’s grantees who provide free tax preparation, education, outreach, ITIN support, financial empowerment, and crucial anti-poverty services in their neighborhoods.

The Organizer cultivates a powerful, recognized network of grassroots leaders, institutional partners, and greentops committed to eliminating poverty in California. They advance GSO’s CalEITC+ program, expand public awareness of tax credits and ITIN benefits, and connect families with trusted free tax preparation services. Organizers are the bridge between the community and GSO’s internal teams—lifting up community insights, flagging pain points, and identifying emerging needs so GSO’s program, policy, communications, and advocacy strategies stay grounded in real experiences from the field.

Organizers represent GSO across coalitions, community events, public meetings, and advocacy spaces—moving people into action, strengthening organizational capacity, and helping build a statewide anti-poverty infrastructure rooted in equity.

Geographic Scope & Community

This role serves communities across Los Angeles County, Ventura County, and Santa Barbara County, working with diverse neighborhoods, immigrant communities, coastal and inland cities, and both urban and suburban regions. Consistent presence and culturally grounded relationship-building are essential to supporting free tax preparation and ITIN access across this broad geography.

Key Responsibilities

Community Based Organizing

• Identify, train, and develop community leaders, volunteers, and organizational partners in core organizing practices to strengthen GSO’s CalEITC+, ITIN, and free tax preparation ecosystem.
• Build deep, trust-based relationships with a broad base of neighborhood and institutional partners (faith leaders, public agencies, CBOs, libraries, elected offices, activists) to grow awareness of financial resources and build commitment to long-term, systemic change.
• Provide direct mentorship and capacity-building support to Community Connect grantees to help them expand outreach, improve impact, and deepen their organizing and programmatic footprint.
• Strengthen the regional coalition by expanding GSO’s network of aligned organizations and identify new partners capable of becoming future VITA sites, ITIN resources, or community anchor organizations.

Listening, Engagement, and Community Mobilization

• Conduct weekly one-to-one conversations with leaders and community members to understand local needs, barriers, and opportunities and move them into action.
• Spend at least 40% of time in the field—showing up consistently at community events, partner meetings, and outreach locations to strengthen on-the-ground relationships and build trust.
• Coordinate, plan, and execute impactful public events and large-scale outreach activations (Tacos & Taxes, CalEITC Bus campaign, community forums, town halls, and media opportunities).

Campaign Leadership

• Run priority programs and campaigns in partnership with leadership (mobilizing partners, coalition members, and community residents to increase tax credit uptake, expand ITIN education, and amplify GSO’s anti-poverty work).
• Serve as a trusted organizational representative—presenting clearly and persuasively about GSO’s programs and policy positions.
• With leadership approval, work with local media and act as a community-facing spokesperson for GSO.

Volunteer & Fellow Development

• Build a scalable volunteer pipeline to support existing and future VITA partners and regional tax prep expansion, including GSO anti-poverty campaigns, as well as build, support and train organizing fellows aligned with GSO’s strategic goals.

Field Operations & Data

• Build and maintain GSO’s database of key contacts, coalition partners, field interactions, and organizational relationships.
• Track progress toward regional goals, document impact, input new partner contacts into GSO’s database, surface needs, and consistently report field learnings.

Remote & In-Person Work Expectations

• Remote work includes planning, coordination, virtual meetings, reporting, and administrative tasks.
• In-person work includes outreach, tabling, education, partner meetings, trainings, coalition gatherings, and major events such as Tacos & Taxes and It’s Not Too Late to File bus campaign, etc.
• Applicants must be able to shift between remote and field work based on program needs and seasonal demands.

Other

• Perform all other organizing duties as assigned in service of GSO’s mission to eliminate poverty in California.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Proven ability to build trust and strong relationships across diverse, low-income, immigrant, and multilingual communities
• Experience organizing in low-income communities, communities of color, or multiracial coalitions
• Strong strategic thinking, planning, and adaptability
• Clear and accessible communication skills
• Collaborative, flexible team player
• Demonstrated commitment to racial, economic, and social justice, including applying equity and inclusion principles
• Strong time management, organization, and self-direction; able to manage multiple priorities independently
• Proficiency with Google Workspace
• Willingness to work evenings/weekends during peak outreach seasons

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years of experience in grassroots or community organizing, with ability to implement effective field strategies

Preferred Qualifications

• Bilingual or multilingual skills (Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Russian, or Hmong strongly preferred)
• Lived experience in low-income communities or with tax credit programs, public benefits, or immigrant-serving services
• Salesforce or other CRM experience

• Employer sponsored medical, dental and vision coverage for employee and family
• 401k plan
• Flexible time off
• 10 days of sick time
• 20 paid holidays per year

Bilingual or multilingual skills (Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Russian, or Hmong strongly preferred)