North Suburban Organizer

ICIRR is a 40‐year‐old coalition composed of 130 member

organizations and allies working together to build power and advance a justice agenda at the local, state and federal level. Membership is broad based and includes community‐organizing groups, ethnic associations, unions, refugee organizations, churches and mosques, school districts and community colleges, and direct service organizations that work with diverse immigrant communities. ICIRR organizes its membership around a shared agenda centered in immigrant, racial, economic and health justice. ICIRR builds power with our members through local, state and federal grassroots organizing campaigns and provides our members with organizing and advocacy strategy, training and technical assistance on issues that affect their respective immigrant constituents, and policy analysis on immigrant‐ and refugee‐related issues. ICIRR also anchors a state‐wide rapid response network to create opportunities for accountability around immigration enforcement activities, provides leadership development and organizing capacity building for our membership in service of building our collective power, promotes citizenship and civic participation, monitors and analyzes immigrant‐related laws and policies, and builds cross‐movement intersectional alliances to advance an equitable and pro‐ immigrant agenda throughout Illinois and the U.S. ICIRR is a justice organization serving vulnerable immigrant communities; excellence in pursuit of ICIRR's overall mission is expected of all employees.

To increase ICIRR’s capacity to engage and build power throughout the state of Illinois, ICIRR is seeking a fulltime North Suburban Regional Organizer for our team; someone who will help build immigrant power in

Northern Illinois around issues at the intersection of economic justice, health equity, racial equity and

immigrant rights.

We have a strong team with a diverse range of skills and an even more diverse range of nationalities and life

experiences. As a justice mission‐driven organization, we hold ourselves to high standards and know that if

we do our jobs well, people from our communities will have more opportunity to build the kind of lives they

aspire for themselves and their families.

While the position will be under the direct supervision of the Director of Movement Building, the North

Suburban Organizer will work in close collaboration with and receive guidance from ICIRR’s Senior Director of Organizing and ICIRR’s Lead Organizer.

The Suburban Organizer will be responsible for the following tasks in the North and Northwest Suburbs:

Regional Organizing Capacity Building

• Identify, meet one‐on‐one, recruit, and develop directly impacted immigrant leaders and institutions to engage in local and ICRR campaigns.
• Build a core team of directly impacted leaders in areas without ICIRR membership to create new

political homes that drive locally defined state, federal, and municipal organizing campaigns.

• Conduct community presentations and training on organizing, policy and advocacy issues to engage new potential leaders.
• Engage ICIRR member organizations in Lake, McHenry and other counties and areas in Northern

Illinois to expand community organizing capacity in the area.

• Work in strategic collaboration with organizers that are part of ICIRR’s community organizing

fellowship in the region.

• Build institutional relationships with faith institutions, service providers and other agencies and

organizations as part of localized base building efforts in the region, and bring new institutional

members into ICIRR’s formal membership structure.

• Work with regional leaders to move local, state and federal elected targets towards ICIRR’s agenda

and priorities.

• Develop an online‐to‐offline engagement pipeline to engage regional supporters from ICIRR’s digital organizing infrastructure to transition participants into in‐person (aka offline) leaders

• Develop relationships and explore collaborative opportunities with strategic allies including those

engaged in other movement building efforts in the region to build intersectional power General Coalition-Wide Organizing Support

• Participate and support as needed in ICIRR coalition‐wide events, actions, meetings and trainings.
• Provide recommendations and feedback to strengthen ICIRR’s overall organizing program as a

member of ICIRR’s Organizing Department

• Maintain working knowledge of the entire range of issue areas addressed by ICIRR and understand

local political dynamics in the region.

Electoral Organizing during Election Years

• Work in partnership with ICIRR’s Political Department to coordinate targeted voter engagement

activities including phone banking, door knocking, and voter engagement and Get Out the Vote

efforts leading up to elections, and (if applicable), in partnership with an ICIRR Democracy Project

fellow in the region.

Note: ICIRR operates within a hybrid in‐person/remote structure. The North Suburban Organizer would be

expected to be on site at the ICIRR Chicago office a minimum of one‐day‐per‐week and would be working

remotely and/or in a potential office space in the region throughout the remainder of the week.

Qualifications: We are looking for someone who is self‐sufficient, reliable, excellent at building relationships, has strong time‐management and prioritization skills, is bilingual and is a self‐starter. Strong preference will be given toward someone who is based in North Suburban Illinois. Our organizers take charge of driving their own campaigns, meeting deadlines, and are largely responsible for managing their own schedules.

All organizers develop a multi‐month workplan with support from ICIRR’s Director of Movement Building and Senior Organizing Director, which serves as the framework to evaluate work outcomes. While the position is based in the Northwest Suburbs, frequent travel to Chicago will be required.

Additionally:

• We seek to hire people with deep experience living and/or working in immigrant communities,

especially immigrants themselves and the children of immigrants.

• A minimum of two‐to‐three‐years experience in grassroots community organizing with formal

training strongly preferred.

• Bilingual language capacity in Spanish is required.
• Excellent interpersonal and writing skills; experience and comfort in public speaking in English and

Spanish; excellent leadership abilities and organizational skills; detail‐oriented with the ability to

juggle different tasks simultaneously and complete them in a timely manner;

• Knowledge and awareness of immigration policy and politics, and experience working with

immigrants and/or refugees strongly preferred;

• A car and valid driver’s license are required. Because the organizer must be available when our

leaders are, evening and weekend work are a part of this job.

Benefits will be discussed during interview