Policy Advocate and Organizer - Voting Rights and Civic Engagement

ACLU of Southern California

POLICY ADVOCATE AND ORGANIZER,

VOTING RIGHTS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

LOCATION

Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, or Bakersfield. Some time in and travel to Orange County and South Los Angeles County will be required.

DEPARTMENT

Advocacy

OVERVIEW

ACLU SoCal seeks applicants for a full-time Policy Advocate and Organizer (Advocate) to be part of the ACLU SoCal’s First Amendment and Democracy and Activist Engagement and Development Projects. Our issue team policy advocate and organizers do issue-specific advocacy and organizing with coalitions and activists, and our activist engagement organizers engage ACLU SoCal activists and volunteers on all of our issues but focus on particular geographic regions and in collaboration with issue organizers embedded in each issue Project. The person who fills this position will do an equal mix of both.

The Policy Advocate and Organizer will spend 50% time with the First Amendment and Democracy Project planning and executing policy advocacy and organizing campaigns to effect voting rights, civic engagement, government transparency, and free expression reforms at the local and state levels and cultivate strategic partnerships with organizational allies and relationships with lawmakers to advance First Amendment and Democracy Project policy objectives. [Some current priority issues the team is working on include ensuring election systems provide voters with equal opportunities to participate in the political process, ensuring that government is transparent and that all members of the public have access to attend and participate in government meetings. The Advocate will organize and attend lobbying visits with state and local officials and provide testimony to administrative agencies and governing bodies, provide trainings for community members and coalition partners on how to conduct policy advocacy with decision makers and “know your rights trainings,” develop strategy and lead field organizing activities for policy campaigns, and use new media strategies and activate ACLU membership, activists, and community partners in campaigns and around the First Amendment and Democracy Project’s policy priorities and assist in finding plaintiffs for litigation. The Advocate will establish and cultivate collaborative relationships with community partners, coalitions and stakeholders, as well as ACLU members in the region, to identify issues relating to voting rights, government transparency, and free expression, and provide technical support and strategic leadership to community groups, advocates and organizers in the region; organize and lead community and stakeholder education events; mobilize support for policy reform, run trainings for activists and organizers; and conduct outreach to and advocacy with government officials and decisionmakers.

The Advocate will spend 50% time with the Activist Engagement and Development Project implementing voter education and engagement campaigns during election cycles, grow and engage an active and sustaining base of volunteers and volunteer leaders to work alongside the ACLU SoCal team to win SoCal priority policy campaigns at the state and local levels across all issue areas, with a particular focus on organizing in Orange County and South Los Angeles County. The Advocate will promote volunteer and member participation in cross-issue priority campaigns; build an active and inclusive base of volunteers and supporters who can be mobilized to participate in meetings, rallies, hearings, lobby visits and delegations; and create a volunteer leadership development process that identifies and supports volunteer leaders to help lead and move ACLU policy reform goals in their community. The Advocate will work with the Activist Engagement team focused on different regions, alongside a digital organizer, to implement a leadership ladder of engagement, constituent relationship management (CRM) and intersectional issue organizing tools (trainings and briefings) to increase ACLU member and supporter power.

The Advocate will be directly supervised by the Director of Activist Engagement and Development but will be an active member of both the First Amendment and

Democracy and Activist Engagement and Development Project teams, with a coherent work plan that encompasses both issue organizing and volunteer engagement and base building goals. The Advocate will also be a member of the statewide voting rights team. The Advocate can be based in any of ACLU SoCal’s offices but some time spent in-person doing Orange County and South Los Angeles County organizing will be required.

CLASSIFICATION:

Full-time, Exempt.

This is a bargaining unit position in the National Organization of Legal Services Workers union.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Voting Rights, Government Transparency, First Amendment Policy Advocacy and Issue-Based Organizing (50%)

• Plan, develop strategy for, execute and lead field organizing activities for grassroots and policy advocacy campaigns to effect changes at the local and state levels through legislation, changes in government policy and ballot measures.
• Develop advocacy letters and recruit diverse and powerful allies to sign on to letters, as well as advocacy materials such as fact sheets, toolkits, action alerts, blog posts, and social media content.
• Establish and cultivate collaborative relationships with community partners, coalitions, stakeholders, and ACLU members to make policy and narrative change in the areas of First Amendment and democracy.
• Build, facilitate and participate in coalitions, and attend and actively participate in community partner meetings and coalitions.
• Organize, lead and participate in community education events, rallies and meetings.
• Serve as a spokesperson for the ACLU SoCal both with the press and as a public speaker on voting, civic engagement, government transparency, and free expression.
• Organize and attend lobbying visits with state and local officials and provide testimony to administrative agencies and governing bodies, and develop and cultivate relationships with lawmakers and decision-makers to advance organizing and policy advocacy objectives.
• Provide trainings for community members and coalition partners on how to conduct policy advocacy with decision makers, and provide other technical support and strategic leadership to community groups, advocates and organizers.
• Help identify and tell compelling human stories to center the experiences of communities impacted by civil and human rights abuses.
• Help identify plaintiffs for litigation.

Activist Engagement and Volunteer Leadership Development Organizing(50%)

• Recruit and engage volunteers and identify volunteer leaders with a focus in Orange County and South Los Angeles County that will take the lead to expand community support on specific local and statewide campaigns that grow enduring power in that region.
• Work with issue-specific organizers to identify and implement organizing opportunities to increase volunteer engagement and leadership involvement in Orange County and South Los Angeles County that: (1) support ACLU SoCal priorities and aligned coalition activities; (2) utilize event tools such as meetings, , community briefings, issue trainings, and other innovative strategies to grow ACLU’s base, and; (3) fuel virtual, phone and in-person activities to achieve civic engagement outreach, education, and other campaign mobilizations to win campaigns.
• Implement organizing tools and activities that build power to bridge issue work around priority campaigns s to build awareness and engage with volunteers and commit them to take action to advance issues.
• Meet quantitative goals to identify, develop, and increase the number of volunteers on the ladder of engagement who work as part of a team to lead increased recruitment and mobilization efforts to build power in Orange County to advance ACLU SoCal policy and program agenda.
• Create plans and programs with volunteer leaders for them to sustain volunteer engagement and recruit ACLU supporters to grow power the region.
• Work with AED team to develop a cohort of volunteer leaders that will work alongside us to build organizational power through trainings and coaching on lobbying, campaigns, outreach/recruitment, event planning, communications, etc.
• Participate in planning and implementation of annual statewide ACLU Conference and Lobby Day and recruit SoCal leader cohort to develop their issue and organizing skills and implement a work plan to further engage them in local actions to advance priority campaigns.
• Implement organizing and regional power building program using one-on-one visits and organizing meetings with identified volunteers in target regions to further build relationships, identify leadership potential, move volunteers through the ladder of engagement and develop specific roles that contribute to building ACLU SoCal power in their region.
• Help the AED team’s digital organizer maintain and expand our constituent resource management system (CRM) and voter file.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• A demonstrated commitment to the cause of civil liberties and civil rights, including voting rights, civic engagement, government transparency and/or free expression issues.
• At least 3 years of organizing, activist leadership development, campaign, and/or advocacy experience.
• Experience developing and implementing a successful grassroots and/or legislative advocacy campaign at the school district, city/county, state and/or federal level, as well as experience developing and implementing organizing campaigns to make reforms.
• Experience planning and facilitating workshops, trainings, meetings, and other community events.
• Ability to plan and implement activist/volunteer opportunities such as text banks, skill building trainings, and meetings with very limited guidance from supervisor, including developing a timeline, recruiting, adapting past training materials, managing logistics and following up with participants.
• Ability to conceptualize and draft high-quality activist materials, toolkits, and trainings.
• Experience working effectively with coalitions and building coalitions.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent time-management, project-management, and organizational skills. Attention to detail, and ability to set and meet deadlines, including demonstrated capacity to manage and prioritize competing projects.
• Collaborative approach to working with colleagues. Flexible team player and also comfortable working independently and taking initiative.
• Demonstrated success in building and maintaining relationships with people from a variety of backgrounds, including those most impacted by ACLU work and allies. Ability to participate in, create and sustain inclusive and engaging spaces for all races/ethnicities, genders, ages, classes, and geographies.
• Bilingual Spanish preferred.
• Availability for evening and weekend work and very occasional overnight travel.
• Occasional travel throughout the region and other parts of the state.
• Familiarity with the Orange County region of California, and specifically regional issues, activists, and organizations preferred.
• Commitment to the mission and values of the ACLU and understanding of how privilege and power impact the work and approach to the work.
• Demonstrated comfort in implementing standard equity and inclusion practices for volunteers.
• Adept at computer programs including Microsoft Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, other Office programs.
• Knowledge of CRM systems, voter files (such as Political Data Inc.), and text blasting tools (such as ThruText).

RACIAL EQUITY COMPETENCIES:

Understanding and Applying Racial Equity

• Demonstrate commitment to building or deepening understand of racial equity:
• Core terms and concepts such as structural racism, white privilege, and anti-
• The role that racial inequity has played and continues to play in our
• How race impacts supervisory relationships, team dynamics, and organizational culture.
• Personal/implicit/unconscious

Working for Racial Equity

• Consistently assess structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions within the context of their job responsibilities; race/ethnicity, intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, identity, and/or sexual orientation.
• Consistently adhere to organization’s racial equity policies and procedures, including those that relate to hiring, retention, and promotion.
• Consistently identify and disrupt ways in which bias plays out in work and/or team.

Leading on Racial Equity

• Effectively encourage people to have honest conversations about racial equity, and accept feedback openly, non-defensively, and from a posture of learning.

• Consistently address structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions by identifying and implementing changes that can produce more equitable outcomes. This applies not only in terms of race/ethnicity, but also at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender identity, and/or sexual orientation.
• Consistently set racial equity outcomes, goals, and performance measures for team, department, or organization, and develop and successfully implement plans to achieve them.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The salary range for the Policy Advocate position is $69,014.77-73,249.76 and tiered on a salary scale based on years of relevant experience in accordance with the organization's Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Benefits include medical, vision, and dental insurance for staff members and their eligible dependents; life and long-term, short-term disability insurance; 401(k) plan with employer match; ample vacation and sick leave and twenty-two paid holidays.

(NO Phone Calls PLEASE)

The ACLU of Southern California is committed to developing a culture of diversity, equity, respect, and inclusion and to strive to maintain a workforce that reflects the communities that we serve. The ACLU SoCal is an equal opportunity employer that does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of any status or condition protected by applicable law. We encourage all qualified individuals to apply and value people of all races, genders (including gender identity or expression), sexual orientations, disabilities, citizenships, ages, religions, and national origins and who have different marital statuses, family caregiving responsibilities, lived experiences with the criminal justice systems, and genetic information. The ACLU SoCal does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of any of these characteristics.

The ACLU SoCal 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 hrsupport@aclusocal.org. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.