As a local organizing center and nationally recognized organization in the struggle for racial, social, and economic justice, the Audre Lorde Project is hiring for the position of Membership Engagement & Leadership Coordinator to build our membership base and expand our member leadership capacity. With the completion of our 3-year strategic planning in June 2024 our membership uplifted a long-term goal of grounding ALP as a Political Education and Organizing Center for LGBTSTGNC POC. In alignment with ALP’s mission and organizing principles, this position will work collaboratively with members, staff and board to coordinate programming that supports organizing, building power and engaging our membership base in campaign work.
What does the Program and Political Education Coordinator do?
- Ensure our political education programming supports our members in developing grassroots organizing skills and deepening their knowledge of effective community organizing strategies.
- Collaborate with staff and members ensures our political education programming prepares our members to engage in campaign and coalition work
- Plan the coordination and facilitation of political education programming spaces including panels, workshops, trainings, forums, study groups, collaborative events, and more.
- Evaluate and update current workshops, trainings, curriculum, program plans, etc.
- Engage organizational partners and individuals in developing political education programming.
The Audre Lorde Project (ALP) is a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Two Spirit Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming (LGBTSTGNC) People of Color center for community organizing, focusing on the New York City area. Through mobilization, education and capacity-building, we work for community wellness and progressive social and economic justice. Committed to struggling across differences, we seek to responsibly reflect, represent and serve our various communities.
Role Commitments
Programs Assessment, Adaptation and Creation (25%)
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Evaluate and update current programming in collaboration with staff and members to assure: :
- Our programs are in support of our organizing principles and frameworks
- Our programs are effective for our membership base
- Our programs support coalition and campaign work
- Our programs are supporting our strategic planning goals
- Monitor current events, political landscape, and local movement activities to inform programming.
- Design programming to support member empowerment, politicization and engagement of grassroots community organizing.
- Create and utilize evaluation tools and creating a yearly evaluation plan for ALP programming
- Cultivate collaborative community partnerships with organizations and service providers to support program development.
- Provide written and oral reports about our programmatic work to our members, board, & community at large.
- Work with staff and members to ensure successful implementation of programs
Political Education Assessment, Adaptation and Creation (25%)
- Use popular education methods and Black Feminist theory to create and implement relevant, engaging and collaborative political education programming.
- Use our political frameworks as a guide for developing our political education programming. Our political frameworks are as follows: Disability Justice, Healing Justice, Transformative Justice, Language Justice, Environmental Justice, Anti-Capitalist and Anti-colonialist.
- Use political education programming to increase our members capacity and engagement in strategic organizing.
- Create a political education programming plan for internal and community wide political education training as needed.
- Develop skills-based organizing training.
- Revise existing training regularly and as needed.
Campaign & Community Organizing via Coalition Building (20%)
- Represent ALP on economic, racial, immigrant, and gender justice coalitions; work locally (and nationally, as needed) with coalitions.
- Develop relationships with LGBTSTGNC leaders and organizers across New York City to further ALP’s engagement within justice
- movements.
- Support in developing campaigns as needed and throughout ALPs campaign work
- In coordination with ALP Staff, provide support on large-scale community events to create campaign visibility as well as education around the political issues and conditions LGBTSTGNC people of color face in New York City.
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Contribute to ALP’s campaign work by assisting at events and meetings.
Leadership Development (15%)
- Support the leadership development of members through their participation in programmatic work including facilitation skills, curriculum and content building, research, public speaking, event planning, and more.
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Identify member leaders and areas of leadership development alongside ALP’s Member Engagement and Leadership Coordinator.
Organizational Administration Support (15%)
- Use the database to track member needs, development, and leadership goals.
- Complete documentation and evaluation of programming.
- Lead and support internal working groups or committees as needed.
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Collaborate with other program coordinators or directors for projects or events.
Qualities We Expect of All ALP Staff
- Advances mission
- Communicates with integrity
- Embodies a culture of respect
- Organized working style
- Transformation of self
- Reliable and shows respect for others time
Qualities We’d Love to See in an Applicant
- Excellent interpersonal and communications skills.
- Strong working knowledge of LGBTSTGNC POC, LGBTSTGNC & POC communities, resources and services in the NYC area.
- Strong experience in program development, implementation and evaluation with communities facing the greatest barriers to survival.
- Strong relationship with feedback culture.
- Experience in organizing people power.
- Experience in curriculum or workshop development.
- Experience working in member-led environments, and delegating tasks.
- Experience in working on grassroots campaigns
- Strong peer-counseling, conflict-management and crisis management skills.
- Experience managing volunteer committees including experience cultivating leadership and decision-making among community members including community led program development.
- Able to coordinate large actions/events for 300 or more people.
- Experience cultivating leadership and decision-making among community members; developing and leading grassroots community organizing campaigns; and solid interest/experience in movement-building strategies
- Able to use PC-based word processing and database programs.
- Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends as needed, maximum 1 evening a week.
- Multilingual in English and another language preferred.
What You Don’t Need
- A college degree. ALP recognizes that this is a common barrier to keep people of color and people from low-income backgrounds out of positions of power.
Who Should Apply?
The Audre Lorde Project is committed to justice for LGBTSTGNC people, people of color, women and femmes, immigrants, poor and low-income people, people with disabilities, chronic health issues, and mental health concerns, formerly and currently incarcerated people, youth, elders, parents, those living with HIV, and those practicing religion or faith. ALP offers equal opportunity employment to all of these groups and others required by law.
We believe that our people have the tools and lived experiences to fight for their own liberation and must lead the movement for justice. Therefore, we prioritize our work being led by those most affected by our work. Applicants must be based in NYC.
Annual Salary: $66,000 plus generous benefits package
ALP pays for 100% of premiums for employee health, dental, and vision coverage; flex spending account and additional wellness programs; retirement account; commuter benefits; life insurance; and annual professional development stipend. Generous leave benefits provided, including vacation, wellness and sick days, personal days, holidays, and the first week of July, last week of November, and last two weeks of the year off.
Applications should include a resume and cover letter. Please submit your materials via this link in BambooHR