Community Organizer

A community organizer is needed for a minimum of a  two-year period to support  the Village of Love and Resistance (VOLAR) in recruiting and qualifying residents in East Baltimore for its Community Investment Project. The goals for

the organizer will be to: (1) engage in person and via phone with East Baltimore residents to participate in VOLAR’s Financial Political Popular Education Trainings, (2)  support VOLAR’s Financial Political Popular Education Trainings, and (3) increase membership in the Village of Love and Resistance. The Community Organizer will be supervised by a member of VOLAR  and will be responsible for the following tasks:

1. Engaging community members over the course of the project:

• Building and supporting relationships with a range of community groups to ensure broad community engagement.

2. Recruiting participants for the three-part series of Financial Political Popular Education Training (FPPET):

• Design, plan, and implement a recruitment strategy to reach target numbers.
• Design, plan, and implement a retention strategy.
• Build rapport and trust, maintain relationships and active communication with each of the cohorts of FPPET participants after completion of the training.

3. Assisting with data collection activities:

• Administer open-ended qualitative in-depth interviews and questionnaires that collect self-reported information including demographics, health, and social support. and participation in community programs.
• Assist with iterative revision of questionnaires and data collection procedures.

4. Coordinating data entry and cleaning:

• Supporting analysis and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data.
• Develop and implement strategy for sharing preliminary findings with Community Advisory Board and training participants.
• Elicit feedback from Community Advisory Board and training participants on initial results.

5. Support the project in developing and implementing dissemination strategies, including but not limited to written reports and presentations for funders/local stakeholders and training participants, newsletters, social media.

Expected hours are 40 hrs a week.

Required skills and training:

• Self-motivated
• Skilled in working as part of a team
• Experience in community organizing in low-income communities of color.
• Experience in basic data collection,input and analysis.
• Strong computer, internet, social media skills.
• Willingness to engage in honest, constructive, mindful, and compassionate reciprocal critique of self and work of team members with teams and other staff.
• Knowledge of Baltimore communities, history, issues and organizations. [Baltimore residents are strongly encouraged to apply and given strong preference.]
• Must be willing to commit to at least a 2-year involvement in VOLAR Organizing and Curriculum development project.
• Ability to build unity and motivate others to action.
• Willingness and ability to work with diverse community residents, particularly low-income residents, to overcome barriers to developing their strength as community leaders and decision-makers.

Preferred skills and training:          

• Experience working with low-income workers.
• Good public and interpersonal communication skills, written and verbal.
• Ability to see the broad picture and have an eye for detail.
• Creativity and sense of humor.
• Working knowledge of critical race theory/intersectionality as it pertains to diversity, racial, class, and gender equity and inclusion principles and skilled at facilitating conversations.
• Experience in anti-racism/anti-oppression trainings.
• Experience/knowledge in public health and social determinants of health.