Position: Bilingual Senior Organizer
Department: Field
Terms of Employment: Regular Full-Time/Exempt/Local 2320 Union Position. NYCLU staff are currently working in a hybrid model; several in-person days will be required.
Location: Suffolk County Regional Office, Centereach, NY
Salary: $65,000-$70,000
Application Deadline: Until the position is filled.
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is one of the nation's leading advocates on behalf of constitutional rights and liberties. Founded in 1951, as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, the NYCLU is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with more than 90,000 members and supporters, and eight offices statewide. We work in the courts, in the legislatures and on the streets to advocate for racial justice, health equity, Indigenous rights, free speech, freedom of religion, privacy and equality before the law for all New Yorkers. For more information, please visit our website: www.nyclu.org.
DEI VISION STATEMENT
The NYCLU is committed to building an equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist workplace that centers the voices of marginalized and directly impacted communities. This commitment strengthens our mission to protect civil liberties and advance justice across New York. We welcome candidates of all backgrounds to apply, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated people, and others whose experiences reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Suffolk County Regional Office is part of NYCLU’s state Field Organizing Department. The Suffolk County Senior Bilingual Organizer is a member of the NYCLU’s Suffolk Regional Office and will report to the Suffolk County Regional Director. NYCLU’s statewide Field Organizing Department engages in multi-layered advocacy efforts aimed at both the state and local levels including base building organizing, public education, coalition building, leadership development, and lobbying of state and local lawmakers. The Suffolk County Bilingual Senior Organizer will focus on local organizing work in Suffolk County to improve democratic participation, including youth, parents, voters, candidates, and residents—and support efforts for change through integrated advocacy that will allow marginalized communities to better hold school districts and local governments accountable.
We are looking for bilingual candidates (English/Spanish) who have experience working on grassroots campaigns, have strong base-building and leadership development skills, and are committed to building power to win transformative policy and legislative change. Ideal candidates are strategic, passionate, and collaborative.
The ideal candidate will have a passion for engaging young people in leadership development and organizing around issues that impact them at the local and state level and have strong roots in Suffolk County. They will also have the ability to engage with NYCLU members, community members and leaders, coalition partners, policymakers, nonprofit leaders, school district administrators to bring about real and meaningful change. They are a people person and are comfortable approaching new people from different backgrounds. They are energetic, empathetic, fun, and quickly establish connections. They can take the emotional temperature of a room and facilitate a hard conversation (in both English and Spanish and other languages using best language justice practices) but also know that plenty of consensus happens one-on-one outside of the meeting. They have a proven ability to build reciprocal relationships with members of directly impacted communities, coalition partners from directly impacted communities and to foster collaboration.
The Suffolk County Bilingual Organizer reports to the Suffolk Regional Director. The Suffolk County Bilingual Senior Organizer’s direct report may include intern and volunteers.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in public policy or other related field preferred.
- 4+ years of experience developing and leading base building efforts in the areas such as education equity, voting rights, racial justice, immigrants’ rights, environmental justice, economic justice.
- At least 2 years of experience in youth organizing youth leadership development programs.
- 3+ years of experience in a progressive leadership role within community or advocacy organizations.
- 3+ years of successful experience training, mentoring and supervising volunteers and teams, with the proven ability to foster a healthy, balanced, and accountable environment for staff.
- Experience delivering training for youth.
- Must be a Suffolk County resident and currently reside in Suffolk County.
- Fluent bilingual English and Spanish speakers.
- Knowledge of the issues affecting all communities, especially low-income communities, and communities of color in Suffolk County.
- Knowledge of Suffolk County’s history, political and power landscape.
- Proficiency and willingness to research new and existing trends, issues, concerns to help inform power/target analysis.
- Ability to think critically and contextually about systemic issues of race, power, and identity.
- Ability to meet deadlines and manage and execute multiple projects simultaneously effectively.
- Proficiency with MS Office programs, digital organizing tools, CRM EveryAction, and social media platforms.
- Excellent engagement skills and communication skills must demonstrate maturity, integrity, and respect for people from a diversity of backgrounds.
- Excellent facilitation skills, active listener and able to synthesize and build collective knowledge.
- Excellent work planning skills, including development of monthly, quarterly, and annual plans.
- Experience holding space for difficult conversations around race, language, and other topics.
- Possesses sound judgement, mediation skills and familiarity with transformative justice principles.
MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Centers and empowers directly impacted people and marginalized communities in local level organizing.
- Plays an integral role in organizing and developing campaigns for greater social, education and political equity in School Districts in Suffolk County, including coordinating, and collaborating across departments.
- Works to establish NYCLU Suffolk’s credibility and presence in specific school districts in Suffolk County by building relationship with youth leaders, educators and other school officials.
- Plays an integral role in the leadership development of young people, parents and educators to ensure that youth can organize on issues that directly impact them.
- Organizes, strategizes, and leads public advocacy campaigns that mobilize grassroots and NYCLU members and supporters to uphold and defend civil liberties and civil rights, particularly immigrants’ rights, voting rights and educational equity.
- Recognizes and recommends issues for NYCLU’s consideration.
- Identify opportunities to develop strategic partnerships with community groups to advance the NYCLU’s advocacy agenda.
- Builds reciprocal relationships with grassroots groups, communities, advocacy organizations, and government agencies, including representing the NYCLU at community events, coalition meetings, panels, and rallies.
- Organizes and coordinates coalition efforts.
- Organizes large-scale public education and organizing events, such as rallies, community forums, lobby visits, public hearings, news conferences, panel discussions, and training.
- Conducts extensive public education, including public speaking at community events and representing the NYCLU in the media.
- Recruits, trains, engages, and mobilizes a diverse network of members, supporters and volunteers.
- Facilitate workshops and trainings to the public, and trains others as facilitators.
- Stays abreast of NYCLU’s statewide organizing portfolio, including supporting the work of organizers statewide, where requested.
- Contributes to the development of leadership development programming support and guidance on the volunteer engagement program and leadership development.
- Contributes to the development of public education materials and workshops in collaboration with our communications team, including contributing to and/or editing blogs, public letters, reports, etc.
- Advises other staff on organizing strategies and help them to implement those strategies.
- Actively supports the NYCLU’s internal and external commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Provides administrative support including but not limited to ensure smooth logistical coordination for meetings and events by reserving spaces, preparing materials, managing RSVPs, handling travel and expenses, maintaining supplies, updating contact lists, supporting social media, and carrying out special assignments.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be willing to work extended hours, evenings, and weekends.
- This position requires a moderate amount of physical effort. Some examples include lifting and carrying (equipment, tables/chairs for some outreach events), marching, protesting, or traveling via car or charter bus to Albany. In addition, the ideal candidate may be requested to remain in a stationary position for long periods of time. NYCLU can provide reasonable accommodations to the ideal candidate but please be aware of these expectations.
- Requires travel to regional offices in Centereach and other communities throughout Suffolk County.
- Driver’s license and willingness to travel within New York State.
- Must have dependable access to a vehicle and expect to drive long distances.
HOW TO APPLY
Please submit your resume and cover letter that includes your unique qualifications for this position, and where or how you learned of this job posting via
If feasible, please submit these materials as a single PDF.
The NYCLU is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from all qualified individuals regardless of race, sex, gender identity or expression, age, disability, religion, national origin, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, record of arrest or conviction or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and having a workforce that reflects the communities that we serve.
NYCLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please e-mail ldecicco@nyclu.org. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request accommodation for the interview process.
This position may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.