Coalition for Environment, Equity, & Resilience seeks Regional Resilience Campaign Community Organizer

Overview

CEER is seeking a proven community organizer professional for our Regional Resilience Campaign (RRC). The RRC Community Organizer will lead organizing efforts and relationship-building across a 5 county region. The RRC Community Organizer will report to the Coalition Director and collaborates with staff, CEER’s member organizations and impacted community members to advance the goals of the campaign.

The goal of the RRC is to educate, empower, and build resilience across the region among

people living in rural areas and front-line communities heavily impacted by environmental justice issues, aligned with CEER’s Eight Point Plan. The Regional Resilience Campaign was first developed in 2019. Its current footprint includes five counties: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Jefferson, and Liberty County. The RRC has focused on organizing communities around state level policy, mutual aid, disaster recovery, and infrastructure spending.

The Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience (CEER) brings together advocacy, social justice and technical groups from three main constituencies: environmental justice, community organizing, and environmental conservation. To ensure a more equitable and resilient future for our region, our founding members developed an 8-point plan to guide recovery efforts and infrastructure spending after Hurricane Harvey. The 8-point plan can be found on CEER’s website: www.ceerhouston.org.

CEER’s advocacy work is rooted in undoing the legacy of environmental racism through power-building, movement-building and working in coalition with those most impacted by injustice. CEER has adopted the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing and our work is rooted in a set of values that centers people.

Essential Functions

Primary duties include leading community engagement efforts and strategic planning for the

Regional Resilience Campaign. Essential functions include:

1. Lead grassroots relationship-building and power-building activities with community leaders across the regional footprint. Build trust and establish lines of communication with resident leaders working on environmental justice issues, and move impacted residents to action through relational values-based community organizing.
2. Facilitate campaign committee meetings to create and implement a shared advocacy   strategy that leverages the expertise of community members, coalition members and partners. Serve as project manager to ensure timelines and deliverables set in work plans are met.
3. Coordinate training workshops, tours and other educational activities to advance shared goals and add capacity to joint efforts. In collaboration with campaign committee members and consultants, facilitate retreats and planning sessions to map strategy and evaluate the success of collaborative efforts.
4. Maintain relationships with elected officials and other decision-makers. Stay abreast of political activities and policy efforts that impact environmental justice in the region. Support government affairs activities within the campaign strategy.
5. Contribute to grant reporting, data collection and other duties as necessary.

The purpose of our work is to:

• Increase community awareness of the environmental justice issues impacting communities across our region
• Connect community leaders to opportunities to connect with others across the region and share their stories and solutions with community members, decision makers, and others who can influence our systems to be more equitable and just
• Co-develop strategies and activities alongside RRC partners, such as listening tours
• Support the development of a network of resilience hubs across the region.

Our new RRC Community Organizer should be:

• A leader who is driven by equity and social justice and has a deep commitment to mobilize impacted residents so they can speak for themselves;
• A self-starter who shows strong initiative in making improvements to our work, sets high standards for individual and team performance, and is committed to constant improvement of yourself and the organization
• Able to manage projects with multiple deadlines and create systems to track deliverables. Experienced in managing campaigns, projects or initiatives with multiple deadlines and multiple components.
• Successful working both independently and as part of a diverse team. Someone who thrives in a dynamic and highly entrepreneurial work environment where innovation is key to achieving results.
• Someone with a great sense of humor who values a culture of wellness.

Professional Qualifications:

• 2-3 years of community organizing or community engagement experience with a record of integrating meaningful community engagement in campaigns for social change.
• Strong computer skills.
• Ability to build meaningful relationships and work well with all religious, cultural, ethnic and social groups in urban and rural communities.
• A strong understanding of public policy and the environmental and/or civil rights movements preferred.
• Ability and willingness to work nontraditional hours, including evenings and weekends as required. CEER has a flex time policy and a supportive and empowering work culture.
• Fluency in Spanish or Vietnamese is preferred but not required.
• High school diploma required. Bachelor’s degree or higher preferred.
• Full-time access to a reliable vehicle.

Salary and Benefits

The salary range is $50,000 – $65,000 depending on experience. Benefits include

comprehensive medical, dental, vision, 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, sick leave, $350/month travel reimbursement and $60 quarterly mobile phone reimbursement. CEER also provides wellness benefits and a $1,500/year professional development stipend, as well as an express commitment to wellness and work/life balance.

To apply, please email a cover letter, resume, and a list with the names and contact information for three professional references to stefania@ceerhouston.org with RRC Community Organizer in the subject line. Please apply by April 7.