The Carolina Federation seeks two Regional Organizing Directors to lead our efforts 1) to grow grassroots political power in county level chapters across North Carolina and 2) innovate new methods of multi-racial base-building in this emerging moment of new political terrain and possibility.
The Carolina Federation is a statewide organization that brings local people together across race and the rural-urban divide to build political and electoral power in their own communities and across North Carolina.
At a time when the right-wing still holds power in North Carolina and far too many campaigns overlook the importance of long-term investment in local communities, we are developing a bold approach to multi-racial organizing and voter engagement for our state. Our approach to building power is defined by our relentless commitment to bringing new people into political action, our deep investment in local leadership and our intentional integration of cultural work with community and electoral organizing. By unleashing the full potential of our diverse communities we can create real change in the lives of our people, win elections that were previously unwinnable and transform the political terrain. By rooting ourselves in our movement traditions, our grassroots democratic practice and our solidarity with each other, we can dismantle the concentrated corporate power that seeks to control our government and our economy.
Over the past two years, we have launched three new county-based chapters, trained hundreds of member leaders in our core organizing principles and built the largest volunteer-driven electoral effort in North Carolina outside of the major political parties.
While we are incredibly proud of these successes, we also know that the work of our first two years is only the beginning of our effort to fundamentally change the direction of our state. Indeed, we are clear that one of our biggest challenges still lies ahead of us: the challenge of refining, expanding and deepening and systematizing our approach to a multi-racial base-building -- one that centers the leadership of working class folks and people of color while bringing in new members in the thousands and thousands.
As organizers, we know that our political power is built at the grassroots. Our ability to support local leaders to build this grassroots political power in their counties will be the key determinant of success for our vision of left progressive governance across our state.
North Carolina remains a key national battleground between the white nationalist infused right-wing and our vision of multi-racial, progressive left populism. Our ability to harness our grassroots political power in the electoral arena will directly influence whether North Carolina successfully follows the path of Virginia and Georgia -- contesting not only for the survival and flourishing of our own people but also for the future of the South and of our nation.
In this moment of both challenge and opportunity, we are looking to bring on two (2) experienced Regional Organizing Directors to guide our grassroots political power building across six county level chapters.
We are seeking Regional Organizers Directors who would:
These two positions will be the beating heart of our statewide base-building efforts, responsible for leading the innovation, implementation and expansion of our county-level work, while supporting and developing our talented county-level organizers and their exceptional member leaders.
Broadly, each Regional Organizing Director will be responsible for the following:
Our organization values the recruitment of staff with strong political alignment and key leadership qualities that match both the role and the kind of work we do. This is because we believe that skills and competencies can be taught, while values, alignment and leadership qualities are more deeply ingrained. Because the work we do is political, fast-paced, deeply relational, and about power, we look for many of the following qualities:
These are the skills and competencies that we are looking for in our Regional Organizing Directors. Because these two positions will require close collaboration with our experienced county-level organizers and highly engaged member leaders, we see these skills as core prerequisites for success in this position.
Please note that we require applicants for this position to have previous experience in supervision of organizers. Our county-level organizers typically join us on staff with between one and four years of existing organizing experience and we invest heavily in their movement leadership over several more years. Applicants without previous experience in supervising organizers will unfortunately not be considered for this position.
These are full-time, salaried positions with compensation set at $60,000 a year. We offer employer-based health care and a generous paid time off policy.
Ideal candidates for these positions would either live in or be able to relocate to Central or Eastern North Carolina. We are especially interested in applicants who live in or have significant connections to North Carolina counties located to the east of Interstate 95, one of the traditional boundaries between the Piedmont region of the state and Eastern North Carolina. Applicants who live in a county with an existing Carolina Federation chapter or affiliated organization -- Cabarrus, Forsyth, Guilford, Alamance, Durham or New Hanover Counties -- are also encouraged to apply.
These positions will require regular, weekly (compensated) travel within either Central or Eastern North Carolina, especially once our organization returns later this year to regular in-person base building, training and campaigns. Depending on your base location, travel times to existing and new chapters could range between 30 minutes and two hours. As with most organizing work, these positions will also require some availability during the evening and on weekends.
Please send a cover letter, resume, and at least three references to jobs@carolinafederation.org. Please use the subject line “Regional Organizing Director Application - [Your Initials]”. For example: “Regional Organizing Director Application - GGH”.
In your email or cover letter, please include how you heard about this position.