Community Organizer
Send a resume and cover letter to info@freedomstl.org in order to apply.
Position Title: Community Organizer
Reports to: Director of Movement Building and Storytelling
Location: Saint Louis City, MO
The Freedom Community Center (FCC) is a new, Black-led organization in North St. Louis that was founded to dismantle systems of oppression that inflict harm and trauma on Black communities in St. Louis City, particularly the police and the criminal punishment system. We ground ourselves in the knowledge that the Black survivors of St. Louis have the solutions to the question: What will keep us safe? We seek to build a community-based approach centered in power, healing, accountability, and repair. Given the resources to alleviate immediate economic needs, the space to facilitate communal healing, and the time to dream collectively of alternative approaches, our community of survivors will meaningfully address harm happening in St. Louis City at the individual and systemic level. We dismantle mass incarceration by modeling alternative responses to the criminal punishment system.
The current punitive approaches to violence such as police and incarceration do not prevent future violence, they create it. At FCC, we take a survivor centered approach to build solutions that interrupt violence at its root. In the place of violence, we make peace and build power. Our approach fosters accountability, healing, repair and transformation. The cornerstone of our peacemaking work is the Free Us Project which is made up of several different transformative justice processes. One of our transformative processes is a restorative justice program that seeks to intervene and work with people who are experiencing or perpetuating harm before they interact with the police or at the beginning of their interaction with the criminal punishment system. In addition, we intervene with individuals who have experienced a violent injury in order to promote repair and reduce the likelihood of retaliation or re-injury.
At FCC, we have an opportunity to seek a different path, one marked by healing, true accountability, and reparative solutions that will transform those involved so that they might participate in imagining an alternative future for themselves and our community. This work is materialized through our Free US project but also through our community organizing branch called Power Builders, where we build power within our community members. We interrupt violence both systemic and interpersonal by forging a different path toward reconciliation, transformation, healing, and freedom.
Position Summary:
The Community Organizer's primary responsibility is to base build and mobilize our base for political action. This role is responsible for leading our canvassing and organizing efforts in North St. Louis City. They will engage community members on their ideas of community safety and responses to violence. The organizer will invite community members to participate in Power Builders meetings, host community events in order to support the community, and connect them to FCC’s advocacy campaigns. They will collect members' information to maintain the communication database in order to keep community members informed of meetings and/or activities for Power Builders. The Community Organizer will work with the Director of Storytelling and Movement Building to politicize our base and move them toward direct action. In addition, they will support politicizing our participants. Together we will work to build power across St. Louis City.
Responsibilities:
Recruit and invite community members to participate in bi-monthly PowerBuilder meeting
Maintain communication and send scheduled notifications about the Power Builders meetings to community members
Manage a team of organizers to canvas North St. Louis City neighborhoods to engage with community members and build relationships and connections.
Engage and organize residents around mass incarceration, pretrial detention, and invest/divest strategies central to any of FCC’s campaign objectives.
Coordinate base-building activities with campaign activities which may include encouraging participation in actions, postcard mailings, petition signature gathering, sign/t-shirt making, and social media outreach);
Conducting 1:1s with potential members
Speak publicly on behalf of the FCC in policy arenas related to campaign goals.
Organize and conduct community surveys and collect participant data.
Identify and recruit community members to participate in the more intensive PowerBuilder training.
Serve as trainer and facilitator for Power Builders. As well as help train community members to serve as Peacemakers, who will participate in Restorative Justice circles for Free US participants.
Build trusting mentor relationships with participants in the program toward leadership engagement
Serve as a support person or facilitator for Restorative Process.
Serve as point person to engage Free US participants about Power Builder’s meetings and activities
Any additional tasks assigned by the Director of Movement Building and Storytelling
Qualifications:
You are driven, highly organized, and have a deep commitment to FCC’s mission to practice transformative justice responses to violent crime and commitment to Black liberation. You have a strong historical analysis of race and class and its impact on the oppression of Black and poor people - and ultimately all people. You are activist/organizing minded and invested into St. Louis’ political framework with bold ideas to change it. We’re looking for someone who is comfortable working independently and in a team-based setting. You have experience building out and strengthening organizing and advocacy efforts and have the ability to adapt to new or changing environments. We’re looking for a creative individual who thrives under pressure and is comfortable working independently or in a team-based setting. A sense of humor and willingness to adapt to the change inherent to a startup are essential. You value efficiency, hard work, and self-care.
To excel in this role, you should have:
A commitment to black liberation
An open mind, willingness, and desire to learn
Experience coordinating events ( this includes family cookouts, birthday parties etc)
Experience canvassing, organizing, or engaging with the community in any capacity
Familiarity with the criminal legal system (through education, criminal justice work, and/or personal experience with the system)
Strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize and balance demands
Basic proficiency in Google Suite, particularly Google Docs and Google Sheets or willingness to learn
Experience cutting turf, organizing, and canvassing
Effective written and oral communications skills
Ability to work independently and collaboratively, in-person and remotely
Able to follow instructions and learn how to lead when necessary
Knowledge of restorative practices and transformative justice framework
Interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter to info@freedomstl.org. In the cover letter, please address the following:
Why do you want to work for Freedom Community Center?
Please share 1-2 experience(s) that highlights why you would be a strong candidate for the Community Organizer position?
No faxes or phone calls please. Applicants will be notified regarding whether or not they have been selected for an interview. Applications without cover letters will not be processed.
The Freedom Community Center is proud to be an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and actively seeks the candidacy of people of color, women, LGBTQIA people and formerly incarcerated individuals. We are committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff.