Lead Community Organizer

St. Petersburg, FL

Full Time

Mid Level

Are you angry about the injustices your community faces? Do you want to learn how to build the people power necessary to fight those injustices and make real, local change? As a community organizer with FAST, you’ll learn how to bring together our area's diverse faith community to address the root causes of serious community problems.

FAST is a constituent-led, grassroots organization that brings together faith communities to address the root causes of serious community problems across Pinellas County, FL.

FAST is part of the Direct Action and Research Training Center (DART), one of the largest faith-based community organizing networks in the country. We believe that fighting for racial and economic justice is fundamental to our identity as people of faith, and we know that successfully fighting for justice requires having power in the public arena. We’ve been organizing interfaith coalitions to build power since 1982. A few of our victories include:

Over $450 million invested in affordable housing
$950 million invested in public transportation
More than $22 million secured for communities to address the climate crisis and increase resiliency
Criminal justice reforms resulting in 50,000 fewer arrests of children

Primary Responsibilities:

The Lead Community Organizer will direct the organization, including hiring and supervising all staff at FAST. The Lead Community Organizer reports directly to the organization's board of directors. Main duties include:

Building engagement in the community
- Train grassroots faith leaders how to engage others in the fight for justice & recruit new leaders and congregations into the organization.
Drive forward campaigns on community problems
- Train grassroots leaders to identify community problems, conduct research, and develop action plans for issue campaigns.
- Organize public actions of over 1,000 people.
Fundraising from local sources
- Coordinate an annual 6-8 week fundraising drive with grassroots leaders who fundraise from individuals, small businesses, and major corporations in the community.
- Ensure that dues from member congregations are collected.
Organizational development & management
- Work with the organization’s Board of Directors to map out the strategic direction and development of the organization.
- Train, supervise, and evaluate staff of 1-3 Associate Organizers.
- Ensure that the organization’s finances are in order. This includes maintaining accurate financial records, ensuring that all foundation proposals and reports are submitted in a timely fashion.

Who You Are

You're excited to direct a nonprofit organization and set the vision for its growth. You have a passion for justice, and are energized by the prospect of uniting people around a common cause. You are naturally curious and value strong relationships. You may or may not be personally religious. Either way, you have a genuine respect for all faith traditions and are excited about uniting faith communities to live out their call to “do justice”.

FAST is a diverse coalition that includes communities of color, low-to-moderate-income communities and immigrant communities. We strongly encourage people from these backgrounds, as well as fluent Spanish speakers, to apply.

Qualifications:

Core passion to win on local justice campaigns
Excellent relationship-building skills
Enthusiasm for working with diverse faith communities
At least two years of professional experience in community organizing, advocacy, congregational or non-profit leadership, or similar work
Experience leading teams of people
Possession of a valid driver’s license and access to a car
Ability to travel for training events throughout the year

Why Choose DART

DART invests heavily in training and development of our team members. During your first year, we provide comprehensive professional development through an initial five-day classroom-style training, one-on-one mentoring from experienced DART consultants, and three multi-day trainings with organizers across the country. Ongoing professional development continues through individualized coaching and mentoring, as well as local, regional, and national staff trainings.

Compensation and Benefits

Starting salary is $60,000-$70,000 annually.

Benefits include:

FAST makes generous retirement contributions of 10% after one year of employment - no match required.
Three weeks of paid vacation in your first year and four weeks thereafter
11 paid holidays
Flexible scheduling
Healthcare reimbursement of $500 for an individual and $750 for a family
Parental leave
Mileage reimbursement for work-related travel
Relocation assistance
Comprehensive, on-the-job training through the DART Organizers Institute and individual consulting

FAST is an equal opportunity employer.

Apply for this position

Required*

First Name*

Last Name*

Email Address*

Phone*

Address*

Resume*

We've received your resume. Click here to update it.

Attach resume or Paste resume

Attach resume as .pdf, .doc, .docx, .odt, .txt, or .rtf (limit 5MB) or Paste resume

Paste your resume here or Attach resume file

Do you have a valid driver's license?*

What's your citizenship / employment eligibility?*

How did you hear about this opportunity?*

If you heard about this position from a specific person, please let us know who:

What are your long term career goals?*

Please describe your experience working with religious congregations. How do you feel about it?*

What in your community makes you angry?*

What is the largest number of people you have brought together for an event, training, or public meeting? How did you do this?*

Please describe as many experiences in your life that you've acted on values for justice, fairness, equality, or improving the lives of others. Examples could include but are not limited to volunteering, jobs within relevant organizations, leadership positions, choices related to your field of study, or ways you've responded to injustice in your own life.*

Please tell us about your leadership experience, including managing teams, leading initiatives, or directing strategy.*

Please make a list which includes the following information for your last three paid jobs. We are interested in your most recent three jobs, regardless of whether they seem relevant to this position:

Job title
Company/organization name
Start and end date (mm/yyyy - mm/yyyy)
Reason for leaving
Hours worked per week **

What languages do you speak fluently?*

What is your desired salary?*

If hired, when could you start?*

Public transportation in our cities is not what it should be. Organizers must have access to a reliable vehicle to efficiently get to meetings with people in all regions of their communities. If hired, will you have access to a reliable car by your first day on the job?*

The following questions are entirely optional.

To comply with government Equal Employment Opportunity and/or Affirmative Action reporting regulations, we are requesting (but NOT requiring) that you enter this personal data. This information will not be used in connection with any employment decisions, and will be used solely as permitted by state and federal law. Your voluntary cooperation would be appreciated. Learn more.

Gender

Race/Ethnicity

Human Check*

Submit Application

Join the team of motivated and inspiring DART organizers who are building people power to create more just communities.

Lead Community Organizer

Apply for this position