Lead Trainer - Fundamentals of Organizing

Addition (a project of Tides Center) is a team of organizers, storytellers and strategists committed to broadening who we are engaging in battles for justice.

We do that through launching new organizing in working class communities, training and teaching people how to do this work, and telling the story of how working class people are leading the way.

We are seeking a great organizer and trainer to lead our Fundamentals of Organizing training program, which trains people in the fundamentals of community organizing through great stories and common sense language.

We train on all things organizing, but our core program hits on this.

• Issues That Have Heat. Nothing beats organizing a campaign on issues that people in the community chose themselves. We show you how to find the ones that will inspire lots of new people to join the fight.
• Cutting An Issue to Win: A forgotten secret sauce of organizing is building campaigns to win as a way to defeat cynicism and build confidence in organizing. We show you how to rack up wins along the way to taking on larger and more structural fights.
• Down & Dirty Power Analysis: Your strategy is never better than your power analysis. We’ll teach you how to run one and do it with members of your organization, including a unique wrinkle you are unlikely to find anywhere else.
• Simplified Campaign Strategy: Campaign plans don’t have to be complicated, but you do need one. We provide a simple framework for developing campaign strategy, and turning that strategy into a plan to win.
• Building a Base, Developing Leaders: One of the most essential of the soft arts is helping people develop into leaders. Everyone says “go develop leaders,” but we are rarely taught how. This session helps you figure out where you are stuck and what you can shift in your organizing to help people develop into leaders.

A full description of our current trainings can be found at fundamentalsoforganizing.org/training

We are designing and rolling out additional trainings all the time, seeking to fill existing gaps in what is available, and meeting the moment.

Our strong suit is simplicity, stripping things down to the most essential and telling great stories that help the ideas stick.

For the first 2 years, our experimental training program has been driven by current Addition staff. While this will be the first full time position strictly dedicated to training, you will have a small team of co-creators and co-trainers to collaborate with.

The ideal candidate has these qualities and experiences.

*At least twenty years organizing experience from which to train from.

*Knows how to tell a good story, and has their own stories to tell in our story-styled training.

*Significant training experience. Have led or been deeply involved in organizing trainer programs.

*Can remember how you talked before you joined the non-profit organizing sector.

*Equally comfortable training in a church basement, at a mass meeting, or on Zoom.

*Understands that the digital world is just another place where people spend time, and the fundamentals of organizing can be applied there as well.

Responsibilities Include:

• Running our Working Class Campaign Training for mass groups at least four times a year.
• Building and running new training programs to meet the moment.
• Recruiting senior sage organizers to be a part of our training team.
• Being nimble and flexible enough to create and run the trainings that people most need at any given moment.
• Being creative, trying new things, taking big risks, and the chips fall where they will.
• Pitch in to take on some of the administrative functions of the organization, as is expected of all team members. This would range from improving digital infrastructure, grant writing and reports, and other related tasks.

Organizational Relationship

Addition (a project of Tides Center) was founded in 2022 by long-time organizers to help seed a new field of community organizing that could engage people who were often overlooked by, or would not fit in with, much of our current sector. We do this through incubating new working-class organizing projects from scratch, training a generation of organizers how to do good organizing that resonates with a broad range of people, and storytelling that demonstrates what is possible when we engage beyond those we already see eye to eye with on all things.

Physical Demands

No significant physical demands related to this position.

Equal Employment Opportunity and Reasonable Accommodation

Tides Center is an equal-opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. The organization encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, record of arrest or conviction and any other characteristic protected by applicable law.