National Security & Civil Rights (NSCR) Community Advocate

National Security & Civil Rights (NSCR) Community Advocate

Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus

Full-Time, Based in San Francisco

The Opportunity 

The need for creative advocacy to challenge the surveillance, policing, and racial and religious profiling of Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in the U.S. is greater than ever. Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus (Advancing Justice – ALC) seeks a Community Advocate to join its National Security & Civil Rights (NSCR) program to engage, educate, and build movements to represent and mobilize AMEMSA and other marginalized communities of color to address issues at the intersection of national security, criminal justice, and immigrants’ and civil rights. As the political landscape shifts rapidly with new and frequent attacks on immigrant and AMEMSA communities, NSCR works to provide free direct legal services, pursue strategic litigation and policy advocacy, and engage in robust community outreach and education. The Community Advocate is responsible for educating impacted communities regarding their rights and the issues that are pertinent to them, building relationships with community partners and allies, and devising campaigns with coalitions to advance the interests of AMEMSA communities in the Bay Area and across California. Significant experience with civil rights, anti-surveillance, anti-policing, immigrants’ rights, and criminal justice, particularly as these issues impact AMEMSA communities, is highly desired. The position requires extensive local outreach and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

The Organization

Advancing Justice – ALC is the nation’s first legal organization focusing on advancing and defending the civil rights of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (APIs). In the aftermath of 9/11, ALC has worked to protect the civil rights of AMEMSA communities. Since 1972, Advancing Justice – ALC has litigated high-profile civil rights cases, advocated for the passage of landmark policy changes, and provided an array of services, including community education, advocacy, and direct client representation to further the rights of low-income immigrants and communities of color. The current program areas include NSCR, Workers’ Rights, Immigrants’ Rights, Housing Rights, Criminal Justice Reform, and Voting Rights. A growing staff provides strong professional and collegial support and opportunities to learn about and collaborate with other program areas. ALC adopts a unique approach of empowering and working with local communities to challenge national policies and practices. The Community Advocate position is an opportunity for those who seek to ground your impact work within local communities.

Advancing Justice – ALC is based in San Francisco, a hub of the Asian American rights movement, progressive politics, and social justice activism. Our location in Chinatown is the first mixed-use, affordable housing co-op in San Francisco, serving as a model for preserving affordable housing in the city and protecting tenants’ rights.

Recent Accomplishments

Advancing Justice – ALC’s NSCR program works on a broad range of issues; recent

examples include:

• Leading multi-city policy advocacy and coalition building to hold local police departments accountable when they collaborate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF);
• Challenging the Muslim Ban’s unlwaful waiver process through federal litigation and participating in a range of other strategies to continue to fight the Muslim Ban, including through federal administrative advocacy, legislation, and in international forums;
• Working in coalition to challenge the federal government’s discriminatory Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs and frameworks and the state of California’s related programs, including its Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) program;
• Providing direct representation to individuals who have been approached by the FBI or other federal agencies, such as the DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations, for “voluntary interviews,” to individuals who have experienced difficulty while traveling due to placement on discriminatory government watchlists, and to those facing discrimination and national security profiling in immigration-related matters such as government policies like CARRP and its denaturalization efforts.

 Responsibilities

• Build and sustain relationships with community partners, leaders, and community members; 
• Identify emerging issues, patterns and advocacy opportunities at the nexus of national security and surveillance or policing and national security and immigrants’ rights;
• Collaborate with team members to develop campaigns and lead/participate in related activities including power mapping, strategic research, analysis and planning. 
• Co-design and implement community advocacy strategies, including working with coalitions to address issues impacting AMEMSA communities;
• Engage local AMEMSA community members through regularly scheduled outreach, Know Your Rights presentations and other engagement opportunities across Bay Area mosques, houses of worship and community centers;
• Develop community education and campaign materials (print and digital) in relevant languages;
• Network and build coalitions with aligned community groups and organizations working on immigrants’ rights, civil rights, criminal justice, and racial justice issues;
• Support the NSCR program’s work through grant writing and ensuring compliance of grant deliverables by tracking legal intakes, outreach, and other data;
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• B.A./B.S. or highly relevant work experience
• At least 1-2 years of experience in community advocacy around national security, anti-surveillance, immigrants’ rights, civil rights, or other issues impacting marginalized communities
• Excellent research, analytical, written, and oral communication skills;
• Demonstrated record of successfully leading and implementing projects and/or advocacy campaigns with measurable impact
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and presentation skills
• Ability to build and sustain relationships across the Bay Area and the state of California
• Proficiency with word processing, spreadsheets, and slide presentations
• Ability to work with a highly diverse group of mission-driven staff and colleagues with a range of substantive legal, policy and advocacy knowledge, experience, and expertise
• Demonstrated leadership and ability to work independently and in collaboration with other attorneys, community advocates, and community-based organizations;
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing the rights of low-income, AMEMSA, API, people of color, and immigrant communities
• Experience in organizing and/or working in coalition spaces to advance the rights of low-income, AMEMSA, API, people of color, and immigrant communities;
• Ability to work some weekends and evenings if necessary
• Familiarity with Bay Area AMEMSA and Muslim communities strongly preferred 
• Preferred bilingual skills, particularly Arabic, Farsi or other AMEMSA-relevant languages.

Compensation and Benefits 

This is a regular, full-time, non-exempt position. Salary is based on years of relevant experience and principles of internal equity. Starting salary for a Community Advocate is $57,000 per year. Advancing Justice-ALC offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes the following: generous vacation and paid holidays; medical, dental, disability, and life insurance coverage; a flexible spending account (FSA); and, 401K retirement savings plan. The terms and conditions of employment may be governed in part by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit via email by May 31, 2022 to jobs@advancingjustice-alc.org (as PDF attachments), including the following:

1. Cover letter explaining your interest in the position
2. Resume
3. A writing sample of your work (no more than 5 pages)
4. Three (3) professional references

Incomplete applications will not be considered, and please note that a cover letter is required. Please indicate “NSCR Community Advocate” in the subject line.

Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified persons are encouraged to apply, regardless of race, color, creed, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, disability, HIV status, marital or domestic partner status, or religious affiliation.