Collective Power Practice – Project Partner

About The Movement Collective

The Movement Collective is a “systems change” project incubator. The Movement Collective has a prefigurative strategy: we are partnering with communities to start to build the new, more caring, liberated, sustainable world we seek now. We do it by generating and piloting local models of visionary new systems that can lay the foundation for that new world – and then replicating them. As Movement Collective models demonstrate new systems, they also meet the immediate needs of communities and build the roots – the underlying sources – of community power. Our initiatives rebuild and foster:

• Local self-sufficiency by shifting the provision of basic needs from economies that are extractive and exploitative to ones that are local, just, democratic, and sustainable;
• Deep community by bringing people together in collective purpose;
• Democratic proficiency by creating opportunities for people to practice democracy in cooperative governance structures; and
• Natural bounty by restoring local ecosystems.

The Movement Collective is currently searching for a Project Partner for the project described below. This position will have the potential to expand into a Project Director role.

About The Project

We face a mental health crisis, with depression and anxiety rates at record highs. This epidemic is fueled in part by the weight of the societal crises we face today, including climate collapse, rising authoritarianism, economic inequality, and the stripping away of rights. Mental health professionals have been searching for new approaches to address people’s feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness, fear and isolation in the face of these developments.

The Movement Collective is working with experienced mental health professionals and social change leaders to establish a new kind of practice to meet this critical need. The practice is grounded in the understanding that (1) when people feel powerless in the face of external, societal developments, taking meaningful action to address them in community with others has critical therapeutic benefits, and (2) taking that action can be difficult. The practice will help people overcome the barriers to getting involved. It will connect them with organizations and groups that are dedicated to addressing the crises causing them distress and provide them with the ongoing support and structure they need to sustain their engagement.

Job Responsibilities

The Project Partner will work alongside the Movement Collective’s Co-Directors and other members of the project team to help build, launch and manage this new program. Responsibilities include:

• Establishing program procedures and practices
• Developing program outreach materials
• Building a network of therapists who will refer clients to the program
• Building a network of community organizations to place clients
• Developing and implementing client outreach strategies, including social media advertising, flyering, and recruitment events
• Working directly with clients in the pilot program, including connecting them to organizations and causes and supporting them to maintain their engagement
• Building procedures for management of client information
• Supporting the project with other tasks as needed

The ideal candidate will be one of the following:

• A grassroots organizer with a deep interest in the relationship between mental health and taking grassroots action
• A social worker, therapist, or other mental health professional with experience taking grassroots action.

The ideal candidate will also have some or all of the following:

• Interest in alternative mental health services and practices
• Experience in building teams or organizations
• Willingness to think outside of the box and spark creativity
• Experience managing volunteers
• Experience providing mental health services to clients
• Empathy and patience for people working through difficult life challenges
• Eagerness to engage with people at different levels of experience engaging in grassroots action
• Demonstrated dedication to working towards racial, economic, environmental, or other forms of justice
• Experience using a CRM (Salesforce, VAN, ActionNetwork, etc.)
• Availability to work 10-20 hours per week to start, with the potential for hours to increase over time

Compensation

$2,000-$4,000 per month depending on experience and time commitment. This position has the potential to expand into a full-time Project Director role as the project develops, with a commensurate increase in compensation.