Community Organizer - Internal, Part time

January 7 2021

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Internal Organizer Apprentice Job Announcement

 

About VOLAR:

 

Mission

 

Village of Love and Resistance (“VOLAR”) is a black and brown-led collective with more than 100 years of experience of living, working, worshiping, studying and playing, and praying in East Baltimore. The majority of our care-taking council (CTC) including (Darnell Ingram, Dominic Moulden, Kenneth Clemons,

Katherine Williams, Lenora Knowles, Marisela Gomez, Pamela Jordan, and Sabriya Linton) live and or work in East Baltimore. Our council members have researched, organized, designed, litigated, and written about equitable, healthy, and sustainable development. VOLAR plans to renovate and transform a facility into a community and wellness center as well as rebuild and reinvest into the surrounding area through engagement of the people and implementing neighborhood development projects. We will use a community investment trust fund model to assure investment by legacy residents within several zip codes of our community center. This project is an effort for local residents to co-own and co-lead the redevelopment of their majority black and low income neighborhood(s). This community engaged business model is based on the Market Creek Plaza in San Diego and Mercy Corps Northwest in Portland Oregon, which were designed, built and eventually [to be] owned by neighborhood residents in order to remove barriers to financial inclusion and provide low-dollar investment opportunities in commercial and/or residential properties to local residents.

 

Apprentice Internal Organizer Job Description (part-time)

 

The Apprentice Administrative Organizer will help manage our day to day operations and provide general office support. (During the pandemic this will mostly occur remotely)

The Apprentice Internal Organizer must be committed to VOLAR’s  political and economic vision and agenda and be comfortable working in a democratic and accountable manner with the Care Taking Council and Lucille Gorham Fellow. They must also have excellent written and verbal skills to communicate internally with colleagues and oversight committees.

 

This is a part-time position for 15 to 20 hours per week.

 

Responsibilities Include:

 

Community Organizing

  • Support current organizing work for VOLAR (via doorknocking, meetings, flyers, email blasts, FB)

 

Organizational Organizing Support

  • Attend & participate in CTC meeting

  • Create and print CTC meeting agenda

  • Collaborate with organizing members to address day-to-day administrative needs

  • Check email account and forward/respond to emails as appropriate

  • Answer phone, check and relay messages

  • Plan intern/CTC lunches and wellness days

  • Data entry as needed

  • Archive organizational documents and photos to Dropbox

 

General Office Support (as possible during pandemic period)

  • Check mailbox, open and sort mail into staff boxes

  • Bring outgoing mail to post office

  • Ship mail and packages as needed

  • Purchase stamps

 

IT Support

  • Once per month, run updates on all computers and check in with CTC about their computer functioning. Report issues to Care Taking Council

 

Requirements:

  • Experienced community organizer, worked on issues of racial and housing justice.

  • Self-motivated and skilled at working as part of a team.

  • Willingness to engage in honest, constructive, mindful, and compassionate reciprocal critique of self and work of team members with teams and other VOLAR CTC/Fellows.

  • Knowledge of Baltimore communities, history, issues and organizations. Baltimore residents are strongly encouraged to apply and given strong preference.

  • Must be willing to commit to at least a 2-year involvement in VOLAR

  • Willingness to learn about and commit to VOLAR’s organizing model.

  • Ability to build unity and motivate others to action.

  • Willingness and ability to work with diverse community residents, particularly low-income residents, to overcome barriers to developing their strength as a community; as well as practice and develop resident-led leadership.

  • Strong computer, internet, social media skills; including data entry and some analysis.

 

Desired Skills:

  • Bilingual speakers are welcome, especially Spanish language proficiency.

  • Good public and interpersonal communication skills, written, verbal.

  • Ability to see the broad picture and have an eye for detail.

  • Creativity and sense of humor.

 

 

VOLAR is strongly committed to staff development and training. This is an opportunity for an individual to build meaningful relationships with grassroots communities and to be a part of real, concrete social change. People of color, women, LGBTQ and bilingual applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

 

To Apply:

 

Please submit resume and cover letter (including salary expectations) electronically volar018@gmail.com . Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

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