Community Organizer - StreetopiaUWS

We are seeking an energetic, driven, mission-aligned person to join our dedicated work on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, supporting StreetopiaUWS. The Community Organizer will be our on-the-ground advocate, spending a significant portion of their time connecting with Upper West Siders, building relationships, understanding how people are connecting to our work, and sharing our campaigns and engagement opportunities with potential advocates. The Organizer will attend Community Board meetings, block association meetings, NYPD Community Council meetings, panel discussions with elected officials and any other number of public events where there are opportunities to learn and share our work. Through this process, the Organizer will understand the issues affecting the UWS community as they relate to public space, streets, transportation and livability.

What We’re Looking For

The ideal candidate has experience working with a variety of communities and conducting community outreach and engagement; has attended Community Board meetings; cares about creating an inclusive community; is a strong communicator with an empathic way of connecting with people; and must be passionate about the need to reduce driving and auto infrastructure in favor of equitably-designed streets and public spaces. Successful candidates must have a flexible schedule and be prepared to join meetings, tabling opportunities and events outside of regular business hours - including some weekends. This role will report directly to our Director of StreetopiaUWS.

Role Overview

• Identify and meet with advocates and potential advocates who care about livability, public spaces, transportation/transit and want to get more involved with improving their neighborhoods; encourage and support people to get more involved in their communities, whether by attending meetings, starting a block association, writing letters, meeting with elected officials, getting involved in their PTA, applying to serve on a Community Board, etc.
• Identify and promote opportunities for advocates to engage in community meetings such as important Community Board meetings, hearings, panel events and more
• Attend and speak at community meetings and events to better understand the landscape of peoples’ needs/experiences and how StreetopiaUWS can support the residents of the Upper West Side and to share StreetopiaUWS campaigns and talking points
• With team, create Calls to Action, petitions, surveys, sign-on letters and other engagement tools and enthusiastically share these with Upper West Siders
• Meet with Community Board members, block associations, block party organizers, and other engaged Upper West Siders to better understand what limits their success and ways they would like to feel supported by our team
• For certain campaigns, conduct intercept surveys, data collection and business outreach to inform our research and recommendations
• Over time, create and distribute information, data, and tools on campaigns related to our work such as infographics on the allocation of public space, crash statistics, talking points and more

Experience & Critical Skills

• Experience in community engagement/organizing
• An understanding of local politics and social issues, particularly in the context of the livable streets movement.
• Extremely organized and meticulously detailed
• Strong time management and organizational skills
• Creative self-starter with a high-level of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills; deep listening skills
• Ability to work well independently, seek support, and escalate when needed
• Excellent written and verbal skills, able to communicate to a variety of audiences
• A passion for livable streets
• Flexible, creative and critical thinking skills that enable you to think of many ways to reach goals
• A team player mentality
• Communication and document creation: Slack and the Google suite (Slides, Docs, Forms, Sheets, etc); proficiency with graphic design tools a plus

Desired Skills

• Spoken Spanish language proficiency a plus, but not required

• Medical, dental, vision coverage
• Optional pre-tax FSA
• 401(k) plan with 4% match in 2026
• 12 weeks paid parental leave
• 15 paid days off per calendar year
• 11 paid holidays annually
• 5 sick/wellness days per calendar year