Criminal Justice Organizer
Grassroots Leadership is seeking a full-time CJ Organizer for our Austin office. The position will be responsible for planning, organizing, and overseeing the implementation of criminal justice programs and membership base for our criminal justice (TAJ) program. An ideal applicant will have the ability to work in a fast-paced environment, be a self-starter, and have experience with base-building work. This position will report to the CJ Campaign Manager.
Essential duties and responsibilities:
Raise the profile of Grassroots Leadership's work with allies and partners. This includes building and maintaining those relationships
Increase our TAJ member base of directly impacted individuals and allies in Austin through coordinated bi-weekly community outreach events, socials, canvassing and flyering to encourage individuals to join
Coordinate regular new member trainings and 1:1’s with base members
Coordinate regular spokespeople and story telling trainings to ensure members are equipped with the tools to craft and tell their stories
Regularly report updates on campaign opportunities or points of interventions with the campaign coordinator and other organizers.
Identify and bring awareness to the ATX/HTX Coordinator of potential base member(s) for leadership development
Collaborate with PD organizers to identify individuals to become TAJ members
Maintain internal communications including regular updates, emails with teams across the organization to ensure the workflow is in alignment
Regularly maintain and use our database (Everyaction), including adding new people, gathering information for sign-on letters, event registrations, email updates, action alerts, etc. as needed.
Regularly use Basecamp for internal communication
Provide reentry support resources to members
Responsible for submitting monthly expense reports by the end of each month
Maintain stable team budgets for events and meetings
Any other tasks assigned by the ATX/HTX Coordinator
Experience, Knowledge, and skills required:
Knowledge of the criminal justice system components and a commitment to ending the disproportionate impact of mass incarceration, deportation, and criminalization on communities of color
Experience in meeting facilitation, agenda development, note taking, and event planning
Experience in conducting 1-1 meetings
Experience in leadership development
One or more years of experience in community organizing, base-building efforts, and facilitating leadership development amongst directly impacted communities
Strong written and oral communication skills
Able to strategically adapt to rapidly changing situations in a politically challenging environment
Ability to work effectively with diverse individuals, coalition partners, and policy-makers
Ability to work in close proximity to others or alone, and manage multiple tasks simultaneously
Extremely well-organized
Direct personal experience with incarceration or that of a loved one
More about the job:
This salaried position will be located in our Austin office. Some travel within the city and occasional travel outside of the city or state will be required. Salary for this position will start at $53,000 a year with full benefits. Full-time staff members are automatically enrolled in comprehensive health care plans, have flexible work schedules, and are able to take part in various employee benefits.
About the organization:
Founded in 1980, Grassroots Leadership is a nationally recognized civil and human rights organization based in Austin, Texas working for a more just society where prison profiteering, mass incarceration, deportation, and criminalization are things of the past. We work to transform the justice and immigration systems through organizing, research, advocacy, and public education, building bridges between communities to increase the capacity of local leaders and coalitions, and mobilizing those most impacted by incarceration and deportation.
Grassroots Leadership is an equal opportunity employer and does not to discriminate in employing staff, or selection of volunteers, on the basis of race, creed, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, justice involvement or conviction, veteran status, financial status or HIV status. Grassroots Leadership works affirmatively to build a staff and board that includes people of many different races, classes, genders, physical and mental abilities, ages and sexual orientations.
Grassroots Leadership is committed to investing in the leadership of people of color. Formerly incarcerated people, people who have family in prisons or have been impacted by the immigration enforcement system, women, queer, and trans people are encouraged to apply. We do not discourage or discriminate against people with convictions, and you will not be asked if you have ever been convicted of a crime on the application or interview. Please feel free to mention your experience with the criminal justice or immigration system as those experiences will be considered as an asset in this job.
How to apply:
Please send to HR@grassrootsleadership.org with CJ Austin Organizer in the subject line, in PDF format:
Letter of introduction / Cover letter
Current resume/vitae
Contact information
Questions about the position should also be directed to the same email address.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis; priority deadline is August 18.
