Community/coalition organizer - Part-time
Disability Justice. Worker Rights. Human Need over Corporate Greed. Public Health/Education/Welfare.
The Alliance for Community Services is a community-labor coalition of people with disabilities, low income families, seniors, unions and community organizations promoting social, racial, disability and economic justice, with a focus on expanding and improving public sector services that meet human needs. The Alliance brings together front-line service workers with consumers of those services to learn from each other, and take action together for the benefit of all. Current issue priorities include
- Protect and improve public health (e.g. Medicaid, Medicare, mental health, long term care), public education , disability services, SNAP, including safe/healthy service offices
- Win democracy, accountability and justice for students and teachers at Chicago City Colleges
- Organizing people with disabilities and elders, including residents of long term care (LTC) institutions (e.g. nursing facilities), to win person-centered care, freedom, dignity
- Progressive tax/revenue, fair budgets, fair union contracts
To build people power, organizers:
· identify and recruit persons directly affected by these issues, especially people with disabilities, seniors, rank-and-file union members, Medicaid consumers
· organize meetings and protest actions (remote and in-person)
· build campaigns by getting people more involved (doorknocking, phone calls, one-on-ones, et al)
· collect and publicize stories of persons being harmed by austerity
· outreach to community and nonprofit groups
· initiate/promote on-line activism
· data entry, fundraising, and misc support tasks (note: This is an organizing position that is mostly reaching out to and mobilizing members. Admin tasks are in support of that, not a central part of the job)
Initially 15 hours per week, and a flexible schedule determined by the work. Specific schedule negotiable, but will include some evenings and weekends. Possibility of expanding weekly hours for the right person.
Required qualifications:
Commitment to racial/social/economic/disability justice. Strong verbal and written communication skills, facility with phone/computer technology, shared documents, email. Ability to: juggle multiple tasks, respectfully listen to and engage diverse constituencies, show initiative, motivate others to act on shared values. Willing to recruit/engage persons of diverse abilities and backgrounds.
Preferred:
Lived experience with issues of the Alliance agenda. Three years experience with public policy, legislative campaigns or community organizing. Language other than English (including ASL). Familiar with Chicago or Illinois progressive community.
Location: Staff work remotely but must be present for some REQUIRED activities (meetings, actions) in Illinois, mostly Chicago metro.
