Family & Community Organizer - Tennessee BAEO

[Mendell Grinter]

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Tennessee Black Alliance for Educational Options (TNBAEO) 

Job title:                      Family & Community Organizer

Term:                           Full-time

Location:                     Memphis, TN  

About BAEO:

The Black Alliance for Educational Options is a national non-profit education advocacy organization founded in 2000 by prominent Black educators, elected officials, and civil rights activists.  BAEO’s mission is to increase access to high-quality educational options for Black children by actively supporting transformational education reform initiatives and parental choice policies that empower low-income and working-class Black families.  BAEO is unique in that it’s a virtual organization supported through a network of staff and volunteer leaders that embody its core values. 

The Organizer’s responsibilities will include:

• Organizer will spend the majority of their time in the field cultivating relationship with members of the community
  
• Responsible for growing and sustaining BAEO’s constituency/membership base
• Regularly attend working group meetings, school board meetings, coalition meetings and conduct follow-up calls to provide ongoing support to working groups as needed
  
• Responsible for keeping abreast of ongoing education issues at the state and local levels, attending public meetings, keeping reliable records, and tracking community engagement
• Organize/facilitate meetings on a regular basis with school and elected officials to communicate parent/community concerns
  
• Integrate community organizing with long-term, sustainable policy and programmatic changes in education
  
• Network with local, state and national groups that are organizing around education issues important to our community and foster collaboration with these groups
  
• Support development of power-building curriculum and tools to support successful organizing and engagement efforts by BAEO membership
  
• Work in collaboration with BAEO’s policy staff to ensure tools are developed to support community engagement and participation including collaborating on development of talking points on key education policy issues
  
• Work in collaboration with communication staff to support framing and messaging including press releases, reports, blogs and other communications materials as necessary
  
• Develop and maintain records on constituency tracking ensuring BAEO has accurate and reliable tracking mechanisms that log its communication and relationship with various community members
  
• Conduct follow-up calls and complete reports to ensure accurate collection of data on individuals/organizations
  
• Maintain a presence at all education-related community events and meetings
  

 

Other duties as assigned

Requirements:

• Strong understanding of and belief in BAEO's mission, vision, core values, and theory of change. 
  
• 1-2 years experience organizing within the context of a grassroots, member led organization 
  
• The successful candidate will be a highly motivated self-starter who has the self-discipline, maturity, and advanced technology skills to work effectively in a virtual environment without the benefit of close supervision 
  
• 5 years of work experience 
  
• College degree strongly preferred, candidates with a high school diploma will be considered with subsequent experience.  
  
• Strong leadership development and training experience
  
• Successful track record of base building and campaign development
  
• Strong teamwork abilities for close collaboration with other staff and members Demonstrated knowledge of education reform, and parent choice policies and programs. 
  
• Dedication and ability to work flexible hours, including some evenings and weekends
  
• Demonstrated commitment to grassroots organizing and building power with people
  
• Experience in managing multiple deadlines and tasks.
  
• Previous organizing experience preferred. 
  
• Must be willing to conduct cold-calls, and cold visits. 
  

 

To apply: Please send your resume, and cover letter in attachment form, with salary requirements to she...@baeo.org.  Only candidates who meet the requirements will be contacted and invited to participate in the selection process. No phone calls please. 

BAEO is an Equal Opportunity Employer