Lehigh Valley Organizer

Food & Water Watch•Allentown, PA

22h•$49,300 - $56,900

About The Position

Food & Water Watch is looking for an organizer to join our Pennsylvania team and help support our organizing efforts in the area to protect our food, water, and climate. The organizer will work closely with volunteers in the Lehigh Valley and other staff at Food & Water Watch. This position is based in or near Allentown, Pennsylvania. The employee may be required to occasionally travel throughout the region for organizing efforts and occasionally travel throughout the state and very occasionally travel out of state for internal meetings or trainings and/or coalition or campaign events at the employer’s discretion. Food & Water Watch is working to create a healthy future for all people and generations to come - a world where everyone has food they can trust, clean drinking water and a livable climate. Making this happen requires involving people in the pressing issues of our time at the local, state, and federal level, building on one win after another, as we develop a larger movement that has the political power to make our democratic process work. The organizer will report to the Northern Region Director and will work closely with other staff on the Pennsylvania organizing team and also work with other teams including digital, communications, and philanthropy to support Food & Water Watch’s work. The organizer will lead our volunteer development work throughout the Lehigh Valley with a focus on developing a robust team of volunteers including developing volunteer leaders. The organizer will primarily work on campaigns to stop the buildout of fracking and fossil fuel infrastructure, with a particular focus on stopping the rapid expansion of data centers in the Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania more broadly fueled by the AI boom. This is a full-time temporary grant-funded position for one year, with the possibility to extend.

Requirements

At least 1 year of full-time organizing experience, or an equivalent combination of full-time and volunteer experience.
Demonstrated ability to develop effective organizing strategies.
Familiarity with Pennsylvania politics and Lehigh Valley communities.
Commitment to Food & Water Watch’s core values of justice, human dignity, fair treatment, and equity.
Ability to work effectively with people of diverse racial, ethnic, class, age, gender, and sexual orientation backgrounds.
Excellent writing and verbal communication skills.
Excellent time management & organizational skills and ability to balance multiple projects.
Ability to work remotely using basic online programs, including email, Slack, and Google docs.

Nice To Haves

Experience using digital organizing tools.
Campaign planning experience.

Responsibilities

Recruit volunteers and allies. Build a strong base of volunteers and organizations in support of our local, state, and national campaigns in the Lehigh Valley.
Develop campaign plans. Work with other staff to establish long and short-term goals, strategies, and tactics to win our campaigns.
Organize campaign tactics. Plan and execute strategic tactics to meet the needs of our campaigns, including educational events, base-building drives, and actions directed at elected officials.
Build capacity. Develop the leadership of volunteers and grassroots organizations by offering training and organizing support.
Represent Food & Water Watch. Speak at public events and in press interviews on behalf of the organization. Participate in coalitions and joint campaigns or tactics.
Write to inspire action. Develop educational materials such as factsheets, action alerts, website content and newsletter articles on campaign issues.
Use digital tools. Become proficient in tools such as ThruText, Scale to Win, Asana, VAN, and Mobilize.
Know our issues. Maintain familiarity with Food & Water Watch’s priority issue campaigns and policy positions, and respond to information and support requests from activists, coalition members, and the media.
Build Food & Water Watch for the long haul. Participate in member recruitment and fundraising activities for Food & Water Watch.
Carry out other projects as assigned.