Job Posting: Community Organizer

Temporary Full-time Community Organizer

Saint Paul Federation of Teachers (SPFT) is a union of teachers and educational support professionals that is a national leader in innovative, social justice unionism. SPFT is affiliated with Education Minnesota, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Education Association and represents 3500+ licensed employees, educational assistants (EA), and school and community service professionals (SCSP) in over 55 schools and educational programs in the St. Paul Public School District.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

The SPFT community organizer position is temporary and will work closely with local union leadership and other organizers during our current contract and revenue campaign. The primary responsibility of this position will be working with the SPFT TIGER (Teaching and Inquiring about Greed, Equity, and Racism) team. This team explores tax avoidance by large corporations, wealthy non-profits that refuse to help their community by funding public schools, and lawmakers that are complicit in defunding our public education system. This position will report to the SPFT Staff Director and duties and responsibilities include:

  • Leading the work of the SPFT TIGER (Teaching and Inquiring about Greed, Equity, and Racism) team of members and parents;
  • Organizing TIGER team meetings and turning out members;
  • Leading the TIGER team action planning and working with other SPFT organizers on strategizing and planning campaign actions;
  • Recruiting additional parents and community members from communities of color to participate on the TIGER team;
  • Organizing TIGER team presentations in the community: identifying TIGER members to lead presentations, setting presentation dates for parent or SPFT member groups at schools, community organizations, or with other small groups of vested community members;
  • Assisting in and helping to organize SPFT’s members in current contract negotiations;
  • Mobilizing parents and community members to participate in campaign actions;
  • Mobilizing SPPS student groups to get active in support of issues connected with SPFT contract negotiations;
  • Mobilizing the TIGER team to have conversations about this campaign via phone banks, door knocks, social media and other appropriate means;
  • Coordinating and participating in SPFT actions such as walk-ins, rallies, etc.
  • Training and debriefing participants in campaign events;
  • Maintaining and distributing materials for use during campaign events;
  • Coordinating SPFT campaign work with other labor and progressive groups as well as parent groups.
Qualifications
  • Experience fighting for racial equality and social justice;
  • Community organizing experience preferred;
  • Familiar with public education and education policy;
  • Experience advocating for a cause;
  • Creativity, problem solving and decision-making skills;
  • Effective and efficient utilization of time management, work plans, and implementation of plans to meet objectives and goals;
  • Effective oral and written communication skills;
  • Experience with Google Docs, Microsoft Office and Excel;
  • Working with diverse populations, personalities and viewpoints;
  • Access to reliable transportation and willing to use it for job-related tasks;
  • Ability to work evenings and the occasional weekend; and
  • Ability to work independently and in team settings.

This is a temporary, full-time position with a wage of $25/hour.

If you are interested in applying for this position, please email one of the following:

  • your resume or
  • a letter expressing your interest and qualifications for this position or
  • a video expressing your interest and qualifications for this position

to Leah Lindeman at leah@spft.org by 5p.m., Friday, November 3, 2017.

SPFT is an equal opportunity employer and encourages all qualified applicants regardless of gender identification, race, ethnicity, or religion.