Reports to: Senior Organizer
Salary: $60k/year

Transportation Alternatives (TA), New York City’s advocate for walking, bicycling, and public transportation, is launching a new role to support street safety for children, their families and caretakers, and school community members.

We seek an organizer to lead our campaigns and work with, among others: schools (pre-K through 12th grade), Parent Associations/Parent Teacher Associations (PA/PTAs), Community Education Councils (CECs), parents groups, and students, including youth activists.  The right candidate is a seasoned organizer and self-starter who can build a new program, create and implement campaign strategy, build consensus within a group, and wants to ensure that children can safely walk, bike and take public transportation to and from school activities and around New York City.

Position Overview

Reporting to the Senior Organizer, the School Organizer is a new role and will work closely with schools, school districts, CECs, PA/PTAs, the Panel for Educational Policy, parent groups and students across the five boroughs to develop and advance campaigns that aim to make both schools and the pathways to them safe for children and their families. In partnership with TA’s senior team, you will build out and launch five programs in schools and neighborhoods to launch this new area of work. You will manage a group of local activists which requires thinking about “big picture” strategy and managing the day-to-day needs of each campaign. The right candidate will center equity, approach the work in both a qualitative and quantitative way, elevating local volunteers and partners as needed while also identifying new opportunities.

Areas of responsibility will include:

Campaign Management

• Lead and manage five major campaigns, as well as new campaigns as opportunities arise, in collaboration with the Senior Organizer
• Create and implement campaign strategy, from top-level goals to day-to-day campaign management
• Organize and implement tactics per campaign strategy
• Track qualitative and quantitative goals for campaigns, as well as providing monthly reports

Activist Development

• Facilitate monthly Activist Committee meetings, and find and invite in new members
• Develop leadership among existing volunteer activists, including leadership structures within each of the three committee campaigns and one-on-one meetings with key activists
• Manage Activist Committee’s Google Group, Slack, and Facebook page

Community Support and Recruitment

• Conduct outreach to recruit volunteers for TA campaigns through attending and hosting public meetings, canvassing, phone/text banking, social media, and other methods
• Develop and maintain relationships with key political and opinion leaders, as well as allied organizations
• Represent TA in coalitions, meetings, and events

This position is located in New York City. TA is a fast-paced and collaborative work environment. Occasional evening and weekend engagements, and, given the 24-hour news cycle, late nights and early mornings may be part of this position.

Qualified candidates will bring with them:

• At least two years experience in organizing or campaigning, with a strong background in advocacy, education, working with students, parents, and teachers, and/or grassroots organizing
• Excellent organizational and time management skills with the ability to meet goals and deadlines while working independently
• Excellent interpersonal skills; ability to build trust and maintain relationships with community partners and fellow staff members
• Strong communication skills, including writing and public speaking
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, frequently changing environment, including the ability to “manage up”
• Able to develop and execute campaign strategy and build consensus within different stakeholders
• Ability to manage dozens of activists involved across five campaigns
• Ability to manage, from start to finish, large scale events with up to hundreds of participants

Exceptional candidates will also bring with them:

• Familiarity and interest in TA’s work and advocacy areas
• Experience working with New York City Department of Education, schools, PA/PTAs, CECs, parent groups, and/or students Bilingual, with a strong preference for a Spanish speaker
• Experience with using social media platforms for organizing, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
• Familiarity with online platforms such as Phone2Action, Salesforce, and Canva, or similar
• Experience working G Suite tools

This position is included in the bargaining unit of TA employees represented by the Technical, Office and Professional Union, T.O.P. Local 2110 UAW.

Transportation Alternatives is committed to workplace diversity and inclusion. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, political orientation or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local law. We value having diverse staff in gender, ethnicity, background and modal preference. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.