Policy & Organizing Coordinator

CSAJ works at the intersection of gender-based violence, poverty, and social inequality. Given CSAJ’s mission and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, we strongly encourage Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities to apply. 

About CSAJ

The Center for Survivor Agency and Justice is a national organization dedicated to enhancing advocacy for survivors of intimate partner violence.

CSAJ develops and promotes transformative advocacy approaches that remove systemic barriers, enhance organizational responses, and improve professional practices to meet the self-defined needs of domestic and sexual violence survivors. We steer this towards our vision: a world where all people have equal access to physical safety, economic security, and human dignity.

CSAJ is composed of a small team of diverse and cross-discipline advocates who are wholly committed to creative and justice-minded social change work for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV).

About the Position

The Policy & Organizing Coordinator will be a core member of the Mapping & Advancing Equity (MAE) Project team, reporting to the Policy Manager and working closely with the Director of Research & Programs. The Policy & Organizing Coordinator is a driving force behind MAE’s goal of building the capacity of gender-based violence advocates to engage in policy and systems change for economic equity. And will do this by leading organizing and coalition-building with survivors, survivor-advocates and other impacted communities, by supporting State & National policy-research and advocacy, and via general project coordination to carry-out project work in alignment with team values and project goals. 

Our ideal candidate is a facilitator, researcher, systems-change advocate, and organizer - particularly with survivors of GBV or similarly impacted populations. And they bring a desire and unique approach to our values of people, process, and policy, and want to contribute to the culture and survivor-centered practice of our small, but growing, organization.

Key Roles 

• Lead the organizing & coalition building for policy and systems change with GBV survivors, survivor-advocates, and other impacted communities.
• Support national & state-level policy advocacy and policy-research initiatives for survivor economic equity.
• Project coordinate a national, multi-year, survivor-advocate driven project to build field capacity for systems and policy change.

Specific Responsibilities

• Convene & facilitate a Survivor-Advocate Advisory Board (SAAB) to guide all project initiatives. Requires monthly or quarterly meetings, regular email or other individual communication, and occasional evenings or weekends (1-2x per month).
• Organize and co-host quarterly Policy & Organizing Calls (P&O Calls) with the SAAB, statewide domestic violence/sexual assault coalitions and other advocacy stakeholders to support & coordinate state, regional, and national advocacy efforts in three policy priorities: Coerced Debt Relief, Thriving Wages for Advocates in the GBV Sector, and Direct Cash / Flexible Funding.
• Via P&O Calls and the SAAB, support the Research Director and Policy Manager to set policy advocacy goals, then define and conduct research to contribute to the Survivor Economic Equity Data (SEED) Dashboard. Is consulted on current and future scope and function of SEED Dashboard.
• Document process and practice of the SAAB and P&O Calls, contributing to the drafting and dissemination of written reports and guides aimed at building capacity for systems change advocacy, such as upcoming guides: Coalition-Building Roadmap, and a Strategic Policy Implementation & Evaluation Plan.
• Support the Policy Manager in managing and responding to requests for training and technical assistance on the National Policy Platform For Survivor Economic Equity, coalition building, or other policy/systems advocacy with operational and substantive expertise. 
• Provides general project coordination to the Policy Manager, including setting and maintaining work plans, coordinating events and activities, program learning and grant reporting, advising or executing external communications, monitoring and communicating budgets, and informing project development based on project success.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience

Required:

• Strong facilitation and engagement skills in virtual settings/meetings. Ability to be creative with virtual engagement strategies and use of tools while being survivor centered and empathic. 
• Documented experience in coalition & partnership building toward systems change, including: Talking/meeting with survivors of GBV, people in the GBV field, with lived experiences, and with other policy advocates or initiatives to align efforts.
• Familiar with and uses political and popular education as part of coalition-building, organizing efforts, and policy advocacy. Ranging from engaging in dialogue about the struggles of individuals’ lives, to participatory decision making, policy education, and co-creating change strategies. 
• Ability to support policy-research efforts, including storytelling, policy mapping, policy tracking/monitoring, policy training/education, narrative development, or other traditional or non-traditional research and evaluation methods.
• Can steer and sync multiple workflows, help set and refine project objectives, and execute program plans in alignment with project and individual goals.

Preferred:

• Substantive expertise in GBV and/or economic policy issues, preferably in coerced debt, wage/labor, direct cash / flexible funding or other areas of the National Platform.

Additionally, we’re looking for someone with the following values and approaches:

• Collaborative, curious, & process-oriented.
• Survivor-centered, trauma-informed, & empathic.
• Develops advocacy partnerships/leaders (ie. SAAB, P&O Calls, Coalitions), and builds trust across power and difference.
• Ability to lean on established personal and professional support systems / care models. 
• Desire to contribute to building team culture (with the SAAB, in the project, and the whole organization), and can balance autonomous, individual work with collective commitments.
• Oriented toward diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging with the ability to bring your own experience and contribute to overall organizational culture.
• Aligned with the organization’s commitment to gender, economic, and racial equity and justice and who has come from and/or worked with diverse communities and understands current conditions (and their roots) facing communities. 

Compensation & Position Details

Salary: $65,000 annual salary

Benefits: CSAJ staff receive generous benefits, including 100% paid health, vision, and dental insurance, retirement benefits that include employer match contributions, long-term disability benefits, remote work, and flexible leave policy.  

Office: CSAJ is a fully-remote organization. CSAJ staff can work from anywhere in the US, with the expectation that work schedules are coordinated amongst teams.

Hours: This is full-time, 40 hours per week, salaried position. Hours are fixed within regular business hours (9-5 or 10-6), with an expectation to flex schedule to evenings or other odd hours 1-2 times per month for SAAB and/or partner meetings, whose members have other jobs and often need to meet after hours.

Travel: Expected travel for meetings or conferences 2-4 times per year to support project and organizational goals.

To Apply

This position is for immediate hire. Applicants will be considered on a rolling basis. Due to CSAJ’s mission and the nature of our work, we strongly encourage candidates with diverse identities, backgrounds, and lived experiences to apply. 

Please click the following link to complete and submit the application packet. You'll be asked to submit a resume and a cover letter. In the cover letter, please describe what interests you about the position and how your previous experiences can be leveraged in this work. If you feel comfortable, please feel free to lift up any lived experiences or identities that you feel are relevant to the role. 

If you have any questions or trouble submitting the application packet, please contact us at admin@csaj.org. Due to the number of applications we receive, we may only be able to respond to those applicants selected for an interview.