Community Organizer

Position overview

The Community Organizer will identify and foster grassroots leadership, recruits community leaders, and conducts neighborhood meetings.

The Community Organizer, utilizing community building and organizing techniques, will be a critical member of the Opportunity Neighborhood Mount Vernon (ONMV) team, working to ensure we address the structural and systemic issues at play in the neighborhoods we serve. The Community Organizer is responsible for engaging residents, property managers, business owners, the police, county and school staff, elected officials, faith leaders and service providers in the opportunities and strategies involving the five focal areas of Opportunity Neighborhood Mount Vernon.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

· Recruit, train, and support Neighborhood Ambassadors to be community leaders, participate in working groups, and implement community engagement programs in their communities.

· Manages, coaches and schedules professional development training for ON Neighborhood Ambassadors. Oversight of NAs community engagement activities, advocacy, and other neighborhood service initiatives.  

· Teach and empower residents to develop solutions to community needs

· Work with community leaders to support events in targeted communities to meet the needs of low-income communities.

· Co-lead the Opportunity Neighborhood Engagement Team’s monthly meeting of non-profit, county government and school partners.  

· Collaborate with United Community programs, as well as other stakeholders to address issues and concerns in targeted communities and increase resident engagement and community partnerships.

· Identify gaps and strategize to fill them in community empowerment programming across the Mount Vernon region.

· Educate the community about United Community’s program offerings and work to eliminate barriers for residents accessing those services.

· Canvasses community, businesses, neighborhoods including Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs).

· Develop new and strengthen existing relationships to increase participation and engagement.

· Support the data gathering, entry, analysis, and reporting needs of ONMV activities, including entering internal and external databases.

· Maintain the ONMV outreach database for the distribution of communications.

· Assist with training series for community partners and direct training opportunities for residents

· Assist in securing additional support (in-kind or financial), to support community empowerment programming.

· Tracks grant funding, including allocated funds from partner organizations.

· Other duties as assigned.

PREFERRED EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

· Bachelor’s degree or 3-5 years professional experience

· Being bilingual (Spanish/English) is preferred but not required

· Experience organizing volunteers, community members, events, etc.

· Experience connecting communities together for a common goal,

· Respect for economic and cultural diversity and experience working with diverse groups.

· Ability to foster collaborations across diverse constituencies in a low-income community.

· Conduct research, track, and analyze legislation on priority policy topics determined by committees and working groups.

· Support the drafting of memoranda, policy briefs, fact sheets, and background papers on issues relating to focal areas.

· Strong commitment to social justice and equity.

· Strong written and oral communication skills.

· Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Drive. Experience with communication tools is a plus.

· Motivated, resourceful, and have a strong work ethic; you are able to self-manage and take projects from beginning to end, and deliver results on or before deadline while retaining a high quality of work.

· Positive and friendly, and able to thrive both in a collaborative environment and autonomously.

· Proactively solving problems, both technically and creatively, with constant attention to process improvement.

· Excellent organizational skills, creativity, and the ability to multi-task and drive projects, in a motivated, effective way.

· Ability to work flexible hours if needed, including limited evenings and weekends.

TRAVEL

Travel to and from satellite United Community locations and meeting sites with a 3-5 mile radius is expected. Mileage reimbursement is provided. 

EEO STATEMENT

United Community provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

OTHER DUTIES

Please note that this job description is not designated to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: Up to $50,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Ability to Relocate:

• Alexandria, VA 22309: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person