Immigrant Rights Community Advocate

About Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA)

Chinese for Affirmative Action was founded in 1969 to protect the civil and political rights of Chinese Americans and to advance multiracial democracy in the United States. Today, CAA is a progressive voice in and on behalf of the broader Asian American and Pacific Islander community. We advocate for systemic change that protects immigrant rights, promotes language diversity, and remedies racial and social injustice.

At the grassroots level, our community building work nurtures the ability of immigrants to participate fully in civic life. These activities include direct services, leadership development, and civic engagement with limited-English proficient newcomers and immigrants on issues that impact our community. At the systemic level, CAA leads advocacy, communications, and movement building work to improve public policy and shape public discourse. We produce community-based research, publish policy analyses and recommendations, influence opinion through media, organize to engage elected and government officials, and nurture a range of progressive coalitions.

In 2014, CAA helped to launch the Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE) network that focuses on long-term movement building, capacity infrastructure, and leadership support for Asian Americans committed to social justice. Including CAA, there are currently 11 partnering member groups with unique strengths. Fiscal sponsorship, administrative, and operational support is provided centrally for all of these groups so they can focus on their core programs.

In 2020, CAA was one of the founding organizations of Stop AAPI Hate (SAH), a U.S.-based coalition dedicated to ending racism and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAs & PIs). SAH strives to advance the multiracial movement for equity and justice by building power for our communities, working in solidarity with other communities of color, and advocating for comprehensive solutions that tackle the root causes of race-based hate.

Position Overview

The Immigrant Rights (IR) Community Advocate is an integral part of the Immigrant Rights team which has a multi-prong approach to immigrant rights that includes direct legal and case management services, civic engagement, community education, and policy advocacy. The Community Advocate provides in-language and culturally relevant individual immigration pre-screenings and direct services under the supervision of Department of Justice partially accredited staff and works across CAA teams and with outreach specialists to coordinate, implement, and deliver direct services, community education workshops, and campaigns.

Key Responsibilities

Direct Services

• Work with clients as their primary legal advocate on a limited caseload comprised of, but not limited to, naturalization, lawful permanent resident card renewal, lawful permanent conditionality removal, DACA, adjustment of status and preliminary investigation matters (FOIA & criminal record requests) (If the community advocate becomes a DOJ partially accredited legal representative)
• Coordinate and provide direct services in immigration including pre-screenings, form-filling, and client follow-up
• Provide case management to ensure immigrants have access to legal services, are aware of local public services and available community resources, and make referrals as needed
• Maintain complete and accurate client files and track and report activities and deliverables for funder and internal reporting purposes while ensuring the safe handling of sensitive and confidential information
• Organize and prepare clients for participation in opportunities for direct advocacy such as public comment forums

Community Outreach

• Coordinate and conduct, in-person and virtual, outreach, and community education on CAA core issues areas such as immigration, language access, non-citizen voting, economic justice, education equity, and racial equity
• Develop linguistically and culturally accessible outreach informational materials and resources and community education content in print/video/audio/digital formats on relevant programs and updates to immigration policies and law in alignment with the IR team
• Build and maintain relationships with immigrant serving community organizations and citywide institutions including through active participation in community coalitions to expand CAA’s reach for community education, outreach and immigration service-provision
• Monitor trends and concerns on immigration within low-income, monolingual and LEP Chinese immigrant communities to share and inform community education curriculum and CAA’s policy priorities and advocacy efforts
• Participate in planning, coordination, and staffing of CAA program and organization events, including clinics and other activities which may take place on evenings and weekends

Fund Development and Grants

• Support administration of contracts including accurate data entry, creating and maintaining client files and assisting with the preparation of reports for compliance purposes
• Contribute to fundraising and development activities for the organization as needed

Organizational Support

• Support the planning, coordination, and staffing of CAA events, cross-program and organization-wide, such as community workshops, outreach opportunities, leadership development training meetings, and CAA-wide events
• Perform administrative duties as required for position
• Perform other duties as assigned to support the overall mission of the organization
• Contribute to positive work environment in alignment with organizational values

Qualifications

• Oral fluency in Cantonese required, Chinese literacy, and Mandarin fluency, a plus
• Bachelor’s degree in Migration Studies, Asian American studies, Political Science, or other related fields desired
• Experience with conducting one-on-one direct services, and community outreach and education
• Strong commitment to the mission and values of Chinese for Affirmative Action, including a commitment to social justice, equity, and civic engagement
• Commitment to the organization’s mission, values, and aspirations, and ability to render these values into practice
• Based in the San Francisco Bay Area and able to work in person for meetings, trainings, events, or to support clients, as needed
• Ability to work at CAA’s San Francisco office at least two days a week, and on occasional evenings and weekends

Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application.

Other Details

Location: San Francisco office, eligible for hybrid work

Hours: Full-time at 40 hours per week

Schedule: Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm (at least 2 days/week in office)

FLSA status: Non-exempt, eligible for overtime

Reports to: CAA Immigrant Rights Program Manager

Union Classification: Union position

Deadline: August 12, 2025 deadline. Applications reviewed on a rolling basis, and early submissions encouraged.

To Apply

Apply using this link https://bit.ly/IRAdvocateJob2025 by uploading a resume, cover letter, and previous work sample. Examples of work samples (submit one):

• Agenda for a community presentation (in-language preferably)
• Power point for a community presentation (in-language preferably)

Submit your cover letter and work sample as one PDF document.

CAA shares fiscal sponsorship with Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE). Staff hired by CAA will be employees of AACRE.

AACRE is dedicated to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable work environment where everyone is valued and discrimination has no place. We are committed to serving the rich diversity of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, and strongly encourage women, trans and gender expansive individuals, people of color, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with conviction or arrest records, and those living with disabilities to apply.

AACRE is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). We consider all qualified candidates for employment regardless of age, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status.

Please visit https://caasf.org/jobs for more information.