Specialist, Neighbor & Community Organizer

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

It is an exciting time at the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) as we continue to undertake our mission of providing good, nutritious food today and food to enable brighter futures. On an annual basis CAFB distributes about 40 million meals worth of food through a network of hundreds of partners across the DMV. We know that creating long term solutions to food security requires more than meals. It requires education, training, and collaboration across the public, private and social service ecosystems. We are seeking people with strong ideas and a passion to come together to address the complex interrelated issues of food security, poverty, and equity. We are expanding in multiple ways: providing food for today and addressing the root causes of hunger by partnering with organizations that provide critical services like job training programs, health care and education. Food has the power to transform lives and move everyone forward. Find out how on our website at capitalareafoodbank.org. Let us discuss how food is at the center of everyone’s healthy life!

DESCRIPTION

The purpose of the Advocacy Department is to enact policy change, enhance operations, and empower neighbor voice to build brighter futures through community and political engagement. CAFB’s service area includes DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia, and this position is responsible for synergizing the voices of neighbors, volunteers, college students, and nonprofit partner agencies to build strong, grassroots coalitions to enact policy change, and enhance the operational reach of the food bank. The Neighbor & Community Organizer will work to build the advocacy power of community stakeholders and clients across several jurisdictions to accompany grassroots level advocacy efforts. This is an exempt position and will report to the Sr Manager of Advocacy & Public Policy, and will serve as a liaison between the formalized lobbying efforts of the food bank, and the grassroots and community-level work that should support or inform the annual policy agenda, food bank operations, or other outlets of impact.

The Neighbor & Community Organizer will join an agile Advocacy Department to play a leadership, implementation role in the day-to-day operations of the Client Leadership Council, a nationally recognized, ten-month advocacy training program for food bank clients designed to further empower neighbor voices in policy, press, and programming. Additionally, this position will lead an effort at the food bank to launch the Advocacy Action Network, a cohort of partner and direct distribution sites, to further lift the food bank’s policy agenda. Strong candidates for this role will have a sharp understanding of community organizing models, familiarity leveraging grassroots momentum to build the power of traditional advocacy-oriented policy strategies, and experience working with neighbors experiencing food insecurity. Spanish fluency is a plus.

Essential Functions:

Client Leadership Council – 70%

• Provides general support to the management of CAFB’s Client Leadership Council;
• Maintains regular contact with council members to track actions, schedule meetings, and support programmatic feedback into annual operating plan;
• Leads planning and logistics of skills calls, in-person convenings, and advocacy actions;
• Drafts correspondence to class members regarding advocacy opportunities, upcoming CLC events, or class updates;
• Identifies and prepares CLC members for testimonies, meetings, and appearances;
• Supports movement and community building efforts between CLC classes and advocacy stakeholders;
• Leads annual recruitment of CLC members through a variety of channels;
• Maintains relationships with CLC alumni, identifying opportunities for ongoing engagement to inform the work of CAFB and advocacy stakeholders;
• Supports group policy work to further empower client voice, and build momentum for CAFB’s annual policy agenda.

Community Organizing – 30%

• Helps to organize and launch the Advocacy Action Network;
• Coordinates calls to actions on behalf of CAFB volunteers and other community stakeholders;
• Attends community events for CAFB presence.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

• At least a Bachelor’s Degree or relevant experience.
• At least 1 to 3 years of community organizing and policy experience.
• Detail-oriented with the ability to juggle multiple projects for different stakeholders; and
• A team player with an ability to do what is needed to achieve organization/team goals.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to juggle multiple tasks at once
• Strong written and verbal communication skills;
• Creative, strategic, and a self-starter with an ability to work with diverse stakeholders, clients, and organizations;

Other Skills, Abilities:

Interpersonal skills

• Displays humility, patience, compassion, and respect to the Food Bank’s clients.
• Maintains a customer service mindset in all circumstances.
• Able to represent the Food Bank in a professional manner in multiple settings and with a variety of stakeholders.
• Possesses a friendly, positive and energetic demeanor and a can-do attitude.

Self organization and management

• Utilizes strong organizational skills to prioritize and manage multiple tasks through frequent interruptions and rapidly changing policy environments/timelines.
• Demonstrates confidence working independently;
• Exhibits strong attention to detail and organization.
• Demonstrates a strong sense of pride and ownership over their areas of responsibility.

Other skills and abilities

• Understands structure and programmatic intent of various social safety net programs.
• Demonstrates intermediate capability with data entry, analysis, and visualization.
• Personal experience with food insecurity is a plus.
• Spanish fluency strongly preferred.

Physical Demands/Working Conditions –

The physical demands and working conditions described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Sitting: over 2/3 percent of the time
• Keyboarding: over 2/3 percent of the time
• Driving: under 1/3 percent of the time
• As required by the duties and responsibilities of the position

Reporting:

• This role reports to the Sr Mgr of Advocacy & Public Policy

Schedule:

• Normal working hours are 9am to 5pm Monday – Friday
• Hybrid schedule available

Compensation:

• Compensation is $62,000 to $67,000/annually

NOTE: Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

WE OFFER:

At Capital Area Food Bank, we understand that great people make a great organization. We value our people and offer employees a broad range of benefits including competitive compensation and benefits, free onsite parking, complimentary shuttle to metro, professional development, growth, and volunteer opportunities, fun work in a diverse environment

Application Process:

Interested applicants must submit a cover letter and resume. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

EOE STATEMENT

Capital Area Food Bank welcomes and supports a diverse and inclusive work environment. We are committed to equal employment opportunities (EEO) for all applicants seeking employment and for all our employees. CAFB makes employment decisions based on organizational needs, job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, personal appearance, military status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, political affiliation, educational status, unemployment status, place of residence or business, source of income, reproductive health decision making or any other characteristic protected by law. Additionally, harassment or discrimination based on these characteristics will not be tolerated at CAFB. To perform the essential functions of this position, reasonable accommodations are available to qualified individuals with disabilities.