Program Associate @ Public Citizen, Washington, DC

[Sherry Joseph]

Position Available – Program Associate

Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch

 

 

General Description:  The Program Associate is a member of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch (GTW) staff team performing a range of functions, as needed, in support of GTW’s work. This includes running GTW’s intern program; designing, copyediting and quality control of GTW written materials; coordinating production of signs, props and other materials for actions and events; tracking briefings, hearings and other outside events of interest to GTW staff and providing notes of relevant events; helping to track media coverage, congressional letters, hearing records and more and contribute to daily clips electronic distribution; administration of listservs and maintenance of congressional staff databases; and providing project support and administrative support to GTW staff and campaigns.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Recruit and supervise general, research and field interns for GTW;

• Monitor news clips and statements and letters released by Members of Congress on trade-related issues to distribute to team and allies and to add to website and use in social media campaigns;

• Work with Deputy Director and Press team create images for online and social media campaigns, including memes, infographics, and videos;

• Work with Research Director to track think tank and other organizational briefings and events, congressional hearings and other outside events of interest to GTW staff and, as assigned, to cover such events and prepare notes for use by the team and GTW allies;
• Assist with design of GTW materials and coordinate the maintenance of briefing books, lobbying folders and other materials needed by GTW staff for public events by creating a system of easy access to such materials and preparing copies for events;
• Provide project support including sign-making, prop procurement and more and administrative support to GTW staff and campaigns, including special projects relating to GTW events and activities;
• Maintain, organize, and update various Access databases relating to domestic and international listserves of allies organizations and activists and congressional staff.
• Other duties as assigned.

 

Requirements:

 

Education:  College degree required.

Work Experience: Experience in copyediting, recruitment and management of volunteers, graphic and web design, office management, and project coordination. Two years office experience.  

Skills: Excellent editing and copyediting skills, including excellent facility with English grammar and syntax. Graphic design and web HTML experience. Ability to work with and mentor student volunteers.  Highly proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel. Design skills a plus. Familiar with databases, especially Microsoft Access; familiar with basic office equipment.  Good organizational, interpersonal and communication skills. Some research skills. Knowledge of university speaker booking systems a plus.

Knowledge: Familiarity with issue or electoral campaigning and nongovernmental organization and political protocol. Working knowledge of trade and globalization issues a plus; however, we will invest in training a candidate with strong skills and commitment to Global Trade Watch’s goals.

Capabilities: Ability to juggle multiple tasks and manage time, prioritization, project tracking and follow-through; ability to work well with a wide range of people; ability to adapt to challenging situations on a daily basis; excellent attention to detail; ability to undertake projects with minimum supervision.  High energy and enthusiasm.

Conditions: Strong interest in and commitment to the public interest and promotion of the goals of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. 

 

Public Citizen is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, LGBT candidates are encouraged to apply. Public Citizen employees are proud members of SEIU Local 500.

 

TO APPLY:

 

Send a letter of interest, resume, and writing sample to GTWapp...@citizen.org.

About Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch:  

Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1971 to represent the public interest in Congress, the executive branch and the courts. We fight for openness and democratic accountability in government; for social and economic justice in globalization and trade policies; for clean, safe and sustainable energy; for strong health, safety and environmental protections; for safe, effective and affordable medicines and health care and for the right of consumers to seek redress in the courts. We have six divisions based in our Washington, D.C. offices and an office in Texas

The mission of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division is to ensure that in this era of globalization, a majority have the opportunity to enjoy America's promises: economic security, a clean environment, safe food, medicines and products, access to quality affordable services such as health care and the exercise of democratic decision-making about the matters that affect their lives.

Public Citizen started working on globalization and ‘trade’ issues in 1991 when we recognized that this was necessary simply to remain effective advocates for the public health, consumer safety, environmental and economic justice goals Public Citizen had promoted over decades. Motivating this strategic initiative was our realization that today’s international commercial agreements, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), were no longer mainly about trade per se. Rather, these far-reaching agreements were backdoor delivery mechanisms to implement an expansive, enforceable package of non-trade policies  - limits on financial regulation and food safety, new monopoly patent rights over medicines and seeds that limit access, new investor rights that promote job-offshoring and subject public interest policies to attack and more. This corporate-led version of globalization is designed to limit governments’ role in regulating the economy and to eliminate many of the public interest safeguards Public Citizen and like-minded organizations and activists had won over decades. And, it shifts decision-making on matters previously determined in national, state and local venues to international bodies where those affected by the decisions have no meaningful role.

Since its inception in 1995, GTW has been a leader in popularizing the globalization and trade debate by connecting these seemingly arcane policies to peoples’ everyday experiences – and helping people make a difference in the future of globalization by giving them the tools they need to educate their communities, hold Congress accountable for policy choices, and hit the streets to protest. GTW works with diverse national and international coalitions. For more information, please see our website: www.tradewatch.org