Organization:

LA Voice believes all people have power and a voice. Every day we amplify that power by uniting diverse faith voices and equipping grassroots leaders to organize for what their communities need, winning systemic changes that improve the lives of all county residents. We are an interfaith, multi-racial, multicultural organization of 70 faith and spiritual communities that represent more than 50,000 families in Los Angeles County. (See our Facebook page L.A. Voice or website www.lavoice.org). Our core strategic values are: exponential growth of grassroots leadership; bridging to belong across differences; and confrontation with power for social transformation leading to racial equity and inclusion.

Our diverse and experienced team works with communities across the county to create a Los Angeles with racial equity and abundant life for all.

LA Voice is a member of Faith in Action (www.faithinaction.org), the largest grassroots spiritual and congregational organizing network in the U.S. and a member of PICO California, an effective, highly respected grassroots organization playing a significant role to turn the tide toward inclusion and equity and create a true state of belonging.

Position Summary:

LA Voice is seeking a full-time Director of Organizing to support and develop spiritually-rooted grassroots leadership and power in Los Angeles County. We are looking for an experienced and passionate leader who will manage a diverse and talented organizing staff, implement effective social change strategies and develop the leadership of hundreds of grassroots leaders– while preparing us to develop thousands. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of successfully developing and executing organizing strategy, designing leadership programs for grassroots leaders, and supporting and managing a team. They will bring with them a deep understanding of grassroots organizing and an orientation towards long-term power building. While they will help LA Voice organizers lead powerful campaigns, the heart of their work will focus on strategy development; political formation, integration of people, issues, and opportunity; curricula design; and deep work with organizing staff and grassroots leaders and clergy. They will be a key partner in leading LA Voice’s organizational development, vision, and strategy.

Responsibilities include:

• Working with staff, leaders, clergy and allies, develop and implement the powerful strategic vision for our organization, achieving tangible, long-term systemic change for Los Angeles communities.
• Oversee the strengthening and development of participatory systems, structures, and programming.
• Supervise our team of community organizing staff, ranging from beginner-level organizers to Lead Organizers.
• Work with staff, leaders and clergy to develop comprehensive programming for training and leadership development.
• Help to develop LA Voice’s strategic partnerships with labor, advocacy and other community-based organizations, and political leaders.
• Strengthen the organization’s public image, incorporating communications, fundraising, and movement infrastructure into strategic organizing decisions.
• Work with the executive director plus board members, staff, clergy and other leaders to develop a strong analysis of our region and ability to act powerfully with other PICO federations in Southern California and CA.
• Support creation of systems to build organizational capacity for voter engagement and data-driven work to build and exercise our power.
• Work closely with the Executive Director on long-term vision, problem solving, learning, and experimentation

LA Voice has a strong learning culture, including regular staff development sessions and regional, state, and national trainings. We place a high priority on personal and professional leadership development, relationship building, and creating a respectful and supportive multi-racial, multi-faith, and multilingual organization.

This is a full-time, exempt position and reports directly to the Executive Director. The job includes regular evening work and some weekend work. Salary is dependent on experience, ranging from $115,000-$140,000.

Qualifications:

• Minimum 7 years of successful community organizing experience (congregation-based, labor, or other)
• Successful experience recruiting, training, supervising and developing organizing staff.
• Demonstrated success developing and leading organizing campaigns to win tangible benefits for people.
• Excellent strategic thinking and political analysis skills—the ability to figure out how to exponentially advance the work.
• Experience with and commitment to grassroots organizing models
• Strong public speaking and writing skills
• Commitment organizing as a primary method to disrupting the structural forces causing racial and other disparities
• Proven ability to bridge and build powerful, reciprocal relationships across difference and to help others do the same.
• Group development skills; experience nurturing, managing, and guiding teams of people successfully toward shared goals
• Highly organized and able to design systems to track multiple initiatives and goals
• Facility working with clergy or people of faith, in traditional and non-traditional spaces
• Effective interpersonal and relational skills; self-reflective and rooted

Other Possible Qualifications:

• A decade or more of organizing and leadership experience
• Fluency in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese or other language related to our work
• Experience leading integrated voter engagement work, including canvassing, phone banking, and other voter contact or integrated voter engagement models
• Established political and organizing network in LA County
• Experience organizing with people who have been incarcerated, or life experience with incarceration
• Experience organizing with people with uncertain immigration status, or life experience with uncertain immigration status
• Experience organizing with people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, or life experience with either