Full-time lead organizer

Compensation: $55,000 - $75,000, depending on training and experience.

• Full family health coverage: 10% of salary retirement contribution made by the employer; paid time off for sick, personal, and family leave, vacation and holidays

Work Schedule: This position has a variable and flexible schedule that includes regular evening meetings and weekend events.

Work Location: The MACG office is located in NE Portland at 4940 NE 8th Ave. Online work can be done remotely. The majority of in-person work will take place at MACG member organizations, partner agencies, and other community locations in the tri-county area (Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas).

About MACG 

MACG is a non-profit, non-partisan organization rooted in our 19 (and growing!) member organizations which are faith congregations, labor unions, healthcare, and community groups. You’ll find us working for change in congregations and clinics, in living rooms and union halls, in City Hall and at the state capital, to make the tri-county metro Portland area a better place for all to live and thrive. Our campaigns are grounded in a relational organizing process that prioritizes leadership development, connecting people across significant diversity to build solidarity, and bringing a “power with” paradigm into the way we work to change the systems that perpetuate disparities.  At every level, we work to center the voices and experiences of low income and people of color in leadership and decision making. In our 20-year history we have made meaningful change around issues that have included affordable housing, healthcare access, immigrant rights, quality jobs and education. Our current campaigns are centered around: climate justice, culturally specific mental health resources for the Latino community, and building respectful and active partnerships with area tribes and Native American-led organizations. MACG is an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), and more specifically with the IAF Northwest, a network of 12 IAF affiliates in the northwest United States, western Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Position Description

MACG is seeking a lead organizer who will:

• Support and Develop Volunteer Leaders
  • Build strong relationships with the leaders and members from a diverse mix of faith, labor, education, and community based organizations;
  • Mentor and support the development of confident, strategic and proactive leaders at every level in the organization;
  • Organize local and regional leadership trainings;
  • Engage leaders in research actions, conducting a power analysis, selecting issues and  developing strategic campaign plans; and
  • Help leaders gain skill in the analysis of the political, economic, and cultural landscape.
• Strengthen Member Institutions
  • Support leaders to strengthen their institutions to act on their missions and work for the common good; and
  • Identify and foster connections between institutional leaders.
• Build “Power With” / Organize Campaigns
  • Organize effective teams at multiple levels in the organization
  • Recruit new member organizations
  • Work with leaders to identify and engage members around their interests in campaigns;
  • Provide strategic direction and support to campaign action teams;
  • Work to engage the whole of the MACG membership in action campaigns
  • Engage leaders and members in timely reflection and evaluation leading to strategic long-range planning and new member recruitment;
  • Organize strong representation and engagement with IAF Northwest and its affiliates;
  • Work with the MACG Board to ensure legal and financial oversight, and;
  • Work with the money organizer to raise sufficient funding from member dues, individual donors, and grants;
  • Supervise and work with the part-time admin/communications staff to communicate broadly with leaders and institutions to provide updates and enhance engagement.

Important Qualities for the organizer to possess are:

Innate Intelligence – not a specific degree, but the ability to think critically, reflect, communicate, challenge the conventional wisdom, make judgments in complicated situations, and show flexibility.

Compassionate fire –the pilot light burning within a person because they recognize what is wrong in the world and it compels them to act to change it.

Relationality, Especially Across Race, Faith, and Culture – ability to build deep trust with people, especially people unlike oneself, such as people of other races, faiths, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations and gender identities, etc. 

A Track Record of Taking Action – evidence in school, the local community, or the workplace of attempting to relate to people and to respond to situations that seemed to demand responses; and success in whatever field or career or endeavor has occupied the individual’s time.

Hustle – self-starter, reliable, hard worker, with an appetite for learning and possessing a mature and healthy enough ego to sustain accountability and critique.

Expert Communicator - effective, well-honed oral and written communication skills.

Requirements:

1. Evidence of the important qualities listed above
2. At least a year of experience in community, student, labor, electoral, or other organizing
3. Industrial Areas Foundation regional and national training or commitment to obtain this training if hired
4. Computer skills including Google Workspace and Zoom
5. Ability to work in both in-person and virtual settings (as return to in-person work is safe in the context of the ongoing pandemic— MACG follows public health guidance)
6. Access to reliable and timely transportation - MACG meetings happen regularly all around the tri-county area.
7. Proof of Covid-19 vaccination.

Preferred Qualifications of the organizer include:

• Bilingual/bi-cultural Spanish speaker
• Experience working with tribal communities.
• Experience in leadership development
• Experience in providing training in community-based settings
• Experience in planning, organizing, and taking action at small and large community events
• Supervisory experience
• Experience with fundraising
• Knowledge of financial and legal responsibilities of running a small non-profit

Equal Employment Employer:

MACG strives to treat all people equally. It is our policy not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law.

Date of Opening:

This position is available beginning October 1, 2022. The position will remain open until filled.

To Apply:

Interested applicants should submit the following at their earliest convenience:

• cover letter outlining how your experience and skills relate to the important qualities, requirements and preferred qualifications sections above;
• resume

All materials should be submitted by email to Joe Chrastil. 

MACG practices relational organizing which means that if you are interested in this work, we want to get to know you! We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification. People with lived BIPOC experience are encouraged to apply. We will consider relevant skills you have gained through work experience, volunteering, education, training and life experience. Please be clear and specific in your cover letter about how your background is relevant to this position.

The first round of interviews will be scheduled from applications received by September 15, 2022.