Organizer

Organization Overview

Californians for Justice is a statewide, youth-powered organization fighting to improve the lives of people of color, immigrants, low-income families, LGBQiA2S+/TGNC youth and other marginalized communities. Through organizing in schools and in their neighborhoods, youth who join Californians for Justice become leaders in their own communities. They deepen their knowledge on issues like systemic racism, gender and sexuality, and education inequity, and organize and activate their peers to take action.

CFJ organizes students to have a voice in both local and statewide education policy. Our campaign and policy reform goals include adequate and equitable school funding, increased access and success in K-12 and higher education, and creating Relationship Centered Schools - schools that invest in youth voice, in staff, and in creating space for youth and adults to build positive relationships with one another. CFJ currently has four regional offices in Fresno, Long Beach, San Jose and Oakland, 48 full-time equivalent staff and a budget of $7 million.

Californians for Justice has been successful because of our strong, dedicated staff team. CFJ staff are unwavering in their commitment to youth power and racial justice, to building connection and trust with their teams, and have a strong sense of purpose and dignity in their work.

Position Overview

The Organizer will lead and coordinate CFJ’s grassroots organizing work in Oakland through base building, leadership development, political education workshops and other activities with high school students. The Organizer will also actively participate in CFJ’s local and statewide education organizing and campaign work through action research, coordinating campaign events, delegations with system leaders, alliance work, and electoral organizing.

The Organizer is part of a four-­person team: an Organizing Director, Lead Organizer, and two Organizers. The Organizer reports to the Lead Organizer and also works closely with other CFJ regional organizers, and across departments and teams in the organization. The position is full­‐time and non-exempt. Organizers have a flexible schedule of Mon - Fri 10/10:30 AM - 6:30/7 PM, some weekends, late evenings and overnight retreats may be required.

Essential Responsibilities

Base Building & Leadership Development (60%)

• Conduct base-building activities throughout the school year with high school students including but not limited to: school outreach, classroom presentations, one-on-ones phone banking, management of three school-­based chapter(s), developing and managing teacher ally relationships, and sustaining an active base of students at chapter(s) based on annual goals.
• Lead Oakland’s leadership development programming through weekly student leader meetings centered on: skills building, political education, community building, and conducting consistent one-­on-­one member check-­ins.
• Lead Oakland’s leadership development tracking, manage and oversee our membership goals, and member’s individual leadership development and trajectory through CFJ’s leadership pathways.
• Manage and implement Oakland’s regional Distributed Leadership Model by recruiting and training a core group of members who will develop their own teams made up of high school youth who will work together to advance CFJ’s campaign and programmatic goals.
• Supervise a team of high school interns and build their leadership and organizing skills.

Campaign Organizing (30%)

• Support our local and statewide education organizing and campaign work through action research, coordinating campaign events, delegations with system leaders, and electoral organizing (including phone banking during elections).
• Participate in ally events and meetings to build and maintain CFJ’s visibility and community solidarity.

Organization-­wide responsibilities (10%)

• Participate in all grassroots fundraising campaigns and maintain a portfolio of individual and organizational prospects for solicitation.
• Participate in and be accountable to cross-­department committees, teams, and departments.
• Assume rotating meeting facilitation, notetaking and tech support roles and responsibilities as needed.
• Provide support and participation for organization-­wide and regional campaigns and events.

Other Responsibilities

• Other duties as assigned.

Essential Qualifications

• One or more years of experience leading youth organizing efforts and/or educational advocacy.
• Strong commitment to social justice, racial justice, and youth empowerment.
• Strong interpersonal and team‐building skills, particularly with high school students and key decision-makers.
• Ability to energize, inspire, and move young people to action.
• Excellent problem-­solving and organizational skills.
• Orientation to working in teams, with the ability to work independently and be a self-starter.
• Excellent attention to detail, follow­‐through and commitment to meeting deadlines.
• Ability to prioritize and balance multiple tasks and projects.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral.
• Proficient computer skills with proficiency in G-Suite, and a variety of applications such as google drive and google calendar.
• California driver’s license, insurance, and regular access to a 4‐5 seat passenger car.
• Available to work flexible hours, including afternoons, occasional evenings, weekends and multi-day overnight retreats.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with one or more of the following areas: action research, campaign strategy, curriculum development, alliance building, media outreach, grassroots fundraising, building a mass membership base, and educational policy.
• Has experience in and/or knowledge of the culture and history of youth organizing and education advocacy in Oakland.

Work Environment

This position will be located in CFJ’s Oakland Office.

Physical Demands

• Able to work on a computer, including sitting at a desk, for extended periods of time with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Manual dexterity to operate a keyboard.
• Able to see or read a computer screen and printed material with or without vision aids.
• Able to speak clearly and in audible tones on the phone and in person and be understood by others.
• Able to hear and understand speech at normal levels and on the telephone.
• Able to understand and follow oral and written instructions.
• Able to occasionally lift objects weighing up to 20 pounds.