Energy & Climate Justice Organizer

Job Title: Energy & Climate Justice Organizer

Job Location: Open to multiple options within Kentucky, prioritizing candidates from rural electric cooperative territories or rural communities

Reporting Relationship: Supervised by a member of the Leadership Team or a Lead Organizer

Employment Type: Full Time

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KFTC) seeks to hire an Energy and Climate Justice Organizer to advance local, state, and federal campaigns related to clean and affordable energy, holding electric utilities accountable, and shaping a just transition. This Organizer will help strengthen KFTC’s organizing, organization, and alliances in ways that advance the organization’s vision, values, and long-term goals. This position will focus primarily on campaigns related to Kentucky’s Rural Electric Cooperatives and the communities they serve.

Who We Are

KFTC is a community of people inspired by a vision of a thriving society where people are free from oppression and where racial, economic and environmental justice exists for all. Guided by Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and others directly impacted by oppression, KFTC organizes Kentuckians to dismantle racism, reimagine democracy, and transform the future of our Commonwealth.

We are a grassroots organization with thousands of members and a dozen chapters across Kentucky. We believe in the power of community organizing – people working together to achieve common goals. KFTC members and staff use a range of organizing strategies to build grassroots power and make change, including base building, leadership development, strategic communications, art and culture, integrated voter engagement, grassroots fundraising and alliance building.

KFTC’s leadership adopted the following vision and goal to guide our work through 2031:

Vivid Description: Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is a collective light, leading the way to a thriving, joyful, intergenerational, multi-cultural society where people are free from oppression and where equity, health care, and racial, economic, and social justice exist for everyone. We are a beloved community, where all people are connected and affirmed through healthy relationships, and dedicated to achieving mutual liberation.

Audacious Goal: Guided by Black, Indigenous, People of Color and impacted communities, we will recruit, equip, and activate a network of 100,000 members and partners across all 120 counties to dismantle racism and all systems of oppression, to develop a robust democracy and transform the future of Kentucky.

What You’ll Do

KFTC seeks an organizer who is highly motivated, self-aware, creative, committed to lifelong learning and transforming the future of Kentucky while seeking to achieve mutual liberation for all. This organizer will collaborate closely with our Urban Energy & Climate Justice Organizer.

We are especially interested in hiring Organizers to:

• Do strong, anti-racist, anti-colonial organizing in specific regions of our state; with a focus in Kentucky’s rural electric cooperative territories as well as other rural communities.
• Bring skills and experience doing and leading organizing movements for mutual liberation, grassroots fundraising, campaigns, membership building, door-to-door canvassing, 1:1s and more.

You will:

• Recruit, support, and activate a growing, diverse, skilled, informed, and value aligned set of grassroots leaders in Kentucky whose lived experiences and values motivate them to work for racial, economic and environmental justice; energy, land, and climate justice; and Just Transition.
• Support KFTC’s New Energy and Transition Committee, members, and allies to advance a visionary, anti-racist, anti-colonial policy agenda related to energy, land, climate justice, and Just Transition.
• Support implementation of organizing campaigns and strategies related to energy, land, climate justice, and Just Transition. Current priorities include campaigns aimed at: speeding a just transition to clean energy by Kentucky’s monopoly utilities; transforming governance practices and clean energy programs offered by Kentucky’s rural electric cooperatives; pushing local governments to invest in equitable clean energy programs to benefit communities of color and low-income residents; shaping decisions about utility rates and Kentucky’s energy future at the KY Public Service Commission; winning / securing transformative federal climate and just transition policies; opposing the build-out of false climate solutions; and shaping public narratives about the climate crisis, jobs, and justice.
• Create opportunities for thousands of Kentuckians to grow as energy, land, and climate justice leaders, which can look like: designing and facilitating workshops; providing one-to-one and small group coaching; planning high-quality webinars, conferences, and community meetings; lifting and supporting the perspectives & experiences of Black, Indigenous, and people of color residing in KY; creating clear and compelling written materials; organizing door-to-door canvassing; creating opportunities for people to take collective action and demonstrate solidarity; and supporting people to take on various leadership roles.
• Represent KFTC within several key just transition, energy, land, and climate justice alliances and cultivate strong and healthy relationships that will lead to greater alignment, resources, and shared strategies among allies at local, state, regional, national, and global levels.
• Contribute to important organizational goals and priorities, including by centering anti-racist & anti-colonial principles and practices, building a strong and effective staff team, helping to raise resources through grassroots and foundation fundraising, and more.

Who You Are

You are deeply committed to KFTC’s vision and values, as well as grassroots organizing as an approach to change. Key attributes & guiding principles include:

• Ideally, 3 or more years experience in a similar role.
• Brings a visionary spirit to the work and culture of the organization via brave imagination, innovative thought and creativity.
• Persistently seeks understanding the specific experiences of historically marginalized groups in the U.S., particularly Black and Indigenous groups.
• Employs anti-racist & anti-colonial values, practices, and principles to your personal & professional life.
• Direct anti-racism and anti-colonial experience (e.g. direct experience in and/or with Black & Indigenous led justice movements, etc.).
• Understands the importance and potential of building authentic solidarity between BIPOC folks and low income white folks historically, presently, and as a guiding light. Has experience cultivating these relationships.
• Understanding of grassroots community organizing and social justice issues in Kentucky including Kentucky’s political, economic, and energy landscape.
• Deep alignment with values, interests, principles and policies related to Just Transition and Black & Indigenous led energy, land, and climate justice movements.
• Experience with grassroots organizing campaigns and fundraising, preferably ones centered around Just Transition, energy, land, and climate justice through an anti-racist & anti-colonial lens.
• Familiar with local, state, and federal political institutions relevant to climate and just transition policy in Kentucky.
• Familiar with KFTC and our allies in the Just Transition, energy, land, and climate justice movement.
• Strong interpersonal communication, group facilitation, and listening skills.
• Organized and reliable; ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Strategic, able to cope with changing and uncertain circumstances.
• Ability to work well independently as this job is very self directed, but also skilled at working collaboratively in teams with volunteers and co-workers.
• Experience with spokesperson development and media relations.
• Comfortable using (and/or learning to use) technology, including Google platforms, databases, email and Slack communication and various social media platforms.
• Is committed to being a lifelong learner who is open to flow and change and capable of being open to giving, receiving, & applying critique.
• Prioritizes self-care for the purpose of collective care.

What Else You Should Know

1. This position will be open until filled; ideal start date is late April/May 2025.
2. This position requires a full-time, flexible, 40-hour/week schedule with frequent in-state travel, some overnight travel, and some work on nights and weekends. A valid driver’s license and a vehicle that can be used for work are also required.
3. KFTC has offices in Louisville, Lexington, Covington, Bowling Green, Prestonsburg, and London, KY. Because this position focuses on Kentucky’s rural electric cooperatives and rural utilities, we will prioritize candidates from those areas. KFTC staff work either mostly from home or some hybrid between home and office depending on their schedule and responsibilities.
4. All employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and comply with safety policies and procedures, like masking and social distancing. Employees in need of an exemption from this policy due to a medical reason or because of a sincerely held religious belief must submit a completed Request for Accommodation.
5. Salary is based on prior relevant experience. An Organizer with no experience would start at $47,601. 5 years of relevant experience would mean starting at $55,009. A successful candidate who brings additional experience will have a higher starting salary.
6. Generally, KFTC’s staff receive an annual cost of living pay adjustment plus an additional across the board yearly pay raise.
7. KFTC currently provides full family health, dental, and vision coverage. We have a compensation time policy, 15 paid vacation days, 9 paid sick days, 3 paid personal days, and 11 paid holidays as well as 5 days of closure time at year’s end. We offer 40 days of paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child and 20 days of paid family care leave. All staff are eligible for a month paid sabbatical after 5 years. KFTC contributes to a Simplified Employee Pension plan after 3 years of employment.
8. This position is in the bargaining unit of the staff union, which is represented by Chicago-Midwest Regional Joint Board, Workers United, an affiliate of SEIU.
9. KFTC is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, religion, color, marital status, veteran status, national origin, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical size or weight, status as parent or caregiver, pregnancy status, ancestry, or physical or mental disability that can be reasonably accommodated without undue hardship. Our equal employment opportunity philosophy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, training, promotion, transfer, job benefits, pay, and dismissal. KFTC aims to be guided by people most-impacted by the issues at the center of our work. People of color, people from working class backgrounds, women and LGBTQIA2S+ people are encouraged to apply.

How to apply

If you feel you are a qualified match for this position, please fill out an application in Breezy.

Be sure to include a resume, cover letter, and contact information for three professional references (which should include name, title and organizational affiliation, email and phone number for each reference). We’ll review applications starting in late March and will begin reaching out to schedule first round interviews at that time.