New York City Base-Building Organizer

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:

Community Voices Heard (CVH) is a member-led multi-racial organization, principally made up of women of color and low-income families in New York State that builds power to secure racial, social, and economic justice for all. Founded in 1994 by welfare recipients in New York City working to fight unjust welfare policies, we have since expanded our organization to include working on seminal issues throughout New York State. Our core organizing issues include fighting for truly affordable housing, a just social safety net, good jobs and access to them, criminal justice reform, immigration reform and an open, participatory democracy.

For more information please check out our web page at: www.cvhaction.org.

BACKGROUND ON POSITION:

Community Voices Heard is seeking a base-building organizer for our work in New York City, primarily focused in upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Successful applicants will have experience engaging in the relational organizing model. Candidates must have demonstrated experience in building strong teams of members, campaign and leadership development.

Key job duties include:

• Door knocking 100 doors a week in prospective building to identify tenant leaders and hear tenants’ concerns.
• Holding at least 10 one-on-one meetings per week with potential tenant leaders.
• Organizing know your rights trainings in target buildings.
• Bringing together organizing committees of tenants focused on organizing their buildings.
• Developing tenant leaders for work within their buildings and across the city.
• Staffing CVH issue teams of members and creating winning campaign strategies.
• Moving members to lead meetings with elected officials.
• Planning and executing direct actions as a part of campaign strategies.
• Mobilizing tenants and member leaders for actions at the city and state level to fight for CVH’s platform.

Candidates will be particularly appealing to us if they also have:

• At least 2 years’ experience of community, labor, or political organizing.
• Experience moving people into action and conducting leadership development activities
• Experience participating in issue-based campaigns
• Ability to work independently and at times a fast-paced environment
• Demonstrated experience and ability to work/organize across racial and cultural lines.
• Experience working in a grassroots membership organization or other type of social justice organization.
• Demonstrated commitment to building long-term power with low-income people of color, their families, and their communities.
• Spanish proficiency preferred.