Director, Organizing Strategy - DC/Baltimore job at Leadership for Educational Equity
colleen...@educationalequity.org
About Leadership for Educational Equity
Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan leadership development organization dedicated to developing its members’ potential to ensure every child has the opportunity to receive an outstanding education.
Our kids and communities need more leaders who believe that educational inequity is a solvable problem. We believe that when our members are organized and reach positions of leadership, they’ll serve as a transformative force for students, communities and the broader movement for educational equity.
LEE is a diverse team of passionate and talented individuals committed to making a difference. We are a high-growth, results-oriented organization that operates in an entrepreneurial environment deeply invested in continuous improvement. If you would like to become part of our team and join the fight for educational equity, or if you would simply like to learn more about what we do, please visit educationalequity.org.
Position Summary
The Director, Organizing Strategy - DC and Baltimore will be responsible for developing LEE members into effective and impactful volunteer organizers, and supporting them to establish and run a volunteer-organizing group in their communities.
Through deep relationships with members across DC and Baltimore, the Director, Organizing Strategy will work to identify, develop and make effective potential leaders into highly skilled community organizers. Through coaching and training LEE members to execute regional organizing events – including public actions - the Director, Organizing Strategy will ensure that members’ organizing work occurs in strong partnership with local communities, while bringing to this work the sense of urgency and indignation necessary to create equitable education opportunities for all students.
The Director, Organizing Strategy will serve as an integral part of the training team for LEE’s National Organizing Workshops by designing individual sessions and facilitating large group learning and development of foundational community organizing skills. This work will also involve designing and implementing both national and regional programming, coaching and training to begin to scale impact.
As part of the Organizing Leadership Team at LEE, the Director, Organizing Strategy will execute special projects, which may include designing and developing community organizing trainings for internal staff and ensuring organization-wide fidelity to LEE’s relational organizing model. The Director, Organizing Strategy will also be responsible for accurately tracking and reporting on regional metrics and progress to goals.
Working in a uniquely structured region, the Director, Organizing Strategy will be responsible for continuously shifting and improving LEE’s organizing leadership development approach in the region to ensure the work is successful. By harnessing the leadership of other staff working to achieve educational equity in the DC and Baltimore areas, deeply understanding the local contexts and continuously lifting up lessons learned, this role will ensure LEE advances its understanding of how to successfully support members to organize in DC and Baltimore.
Position Location: Washington, DC or Baltimore, MD
Travel Requirement: 15%
Responsibilities
- Serving as the primary leader of LEE’s work to support members to effect meaningful and lasting change in education through community organizing in DC and Baltimore
- Building a strong foundation for members’ organizing work in DC and Baltimore by coaching and training two teams of members in the region through LEE’s relational organizing cycle to public action
- Supporting these teams to operate as highly effective groups that achieve meaningful and lasting change for students
- Serving as an integral member of LEE’s Organizing Leadership team to ensure synthesis of the work across the organization and to create opportunities for effective collaboration
- Continuously tracking important metrics and progress to goals in DC and Baltimore to ensure our data are accurate, accessible and effectively able to inform our execution of the organizing work on the ground, in both DC and Baltimore and across the country
- Identifying, supporting, developing and training member and community leaders in DC and Baltimore to help lead the collective action work through one-one-one coaching and group trainings
- Integrating other LEE supports into individual member leadership development in the region
- Successfully executing regional organizing events
- Serving as a key member of the training staff at LEE’s National Organizing Workshops, including leading large group learning and developing new lesson plans to best fit the needs of our membership
- Developing a deep partnership with the Regional Directors and Senior Directors of Regional Impact to ensure our members are effectively supported in this work
- Continuously innovating approaches to the work to allow LEE’s coaching and training to reach a greater quantity of leaders, including leveraging technology and opportunities for digital engagement
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree
- At least seven years of professional experience
- At least four years of experience in community organizing using a model similar to LEE’s relational organizing approach, i.e. broad-based organizing, coalition building, union-based organizing and field operations that build local organizations
- Demonstrated ability to lead diverse coalitions to public action and impact
- Highly effective communication, facilitation, coaching and relationship building skills
- Awareness and readiness to develop adult learners
- Able to coach and support a diverse set of LEE members across lines of difference – particularly race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and immigration status
- Ability to quickly apply skills and lessons learned through prior organizing experiences to LEE’s relational organizing model
- Ability to accurately track metrics and progress to goals efficiently and effectively
- Excitement about working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment that requires great flexibility as LEE continuously learns how to best achieve impact for students
- Ability to travel outside the region up to 15% of the time for team meetings and trainings
- Able to work evenings and weekends as needed
Preferred Qualifications
- 7-10 years of organizing experience
- Organizing experience in DC and/or Baltimore
- Experience in politics or civic engagement and/or non-profit organizations [501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) preferred]
Benefits and Salary
Salary for this position is competitive and depends on prior experience. In addition, a comprehensive benefits package is included.
An Equal-Opportunity Employer with a Commitment to Diversity
Leadership for Educational Equity is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and as an organization committed to diversity and the perspective of all voices, we consider applicants equally of race, gender, color, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability, political affiliation and national origin. We reasonably accommodate staff members and/or applicants with disabilities, provided they are otherwise able to perform the essential functions of the job.
An affirmative action equal opportunity employer.
The statements in this description represent typical elements, criteria, and general work performed. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required for the job.