Organizational Description:
Since our founding in 2006, Organizing Neighborhood Equity (ONE) DC has worked tirelessly to advance racial and economic equity in the District by fighting economic disenfranchisement among Black working-class communities in DC. ONE DC builds multi-racial and cross-class solidarity, but we focus our efforts in the majority Black, working class communities in Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8. We build community power through grassroots organizing, leadership development of members, advancing social entrepreneurship and alternative economic models, collective use of resources, and coalition-building in the primary areas of housing, employment, and income inequality.
As a Black-led non-profit, we take seriously the need to bring members of the community that we serve into decision-making and leadership roles. The members of our shared leadership team have lived experience with the structural inequalities that we work to address, and this experience guides our direction and informs the work that we do. Our commitment to building economic independence and community power within communities of color in DC shows up clearly in the decisions we make about how to shape our programming and where to direct our resources.
ONE DC has recently achieved a number of internal and external victories to build our political strength to win racial and economic equity in the District. In 2018, ONE DC purchased the United Black Fund building and spent the last three years renovating it to become the country’s first debt-free Black Workers Center, where ONE DC members and other workers convene to build worker power through cooperative incubation, community work, and political education. As a community steward, ONE DC plans to use our Black Workers and Wellness Center as a hub for movement-building work and community partnership. In 2020, ONE DC co-founded a citywide organizing partnership to cancel rent for workers who lost their jobs during the country’s first global pandemic in a century. In 2021, ONE DC began its work to strengthen the city’s tenant union community. Now, in over five buildings working with tenant leaders, ONE DC encourages these tenant associations to join the Right to the City, a national network of tenant activism.
Organizationally, ONE DC has practiced a non-traditional governance structure called shared leadership . ONE DC’s volunteer directors on the Shared Leadership Team work with ONE DC’s staff to steward and govern its resources and organizational priorities through sub-committees. In 2022, ONE DC’s SLT decided to introduce a management team structure to strengthen our human resources operations, and the financial management. The management team, composed of the Director of Operations (Operations Lead) and the Director of Organizing
(Lead Organizer), will strategize staff activities with the SLT, work with ONE DC’s Personnel Committee on staff management, and provide day-to-day staff supervision. As a management team these supervisors will be
responsible for ensuring key responsibilities that fall under certain SLT standing committees and subcommittees are completed collaboratively by staff and members.
Position Description
Homes For All DC (HFA DC) is a sub-committee of ONE DC’s Organizing Committee and is one of the primary ways that ONE DC participates in Right to the City’s (RTTC) Homes for All (HFA) campaign. HFA DC is composed of working-class tenant unions and associations, in the District of Columbia. The mission is to build the capacity of existing DC-based tenant organizations, and to support the development of new housing justice movement in DC. We accomplish this through grassroots organizing, political education, collective strategy, peer-led support, regional and local tenant assemblies, media & messaging, and collaborative fundraising. ONE DC is the anchor for this new formation. The HFA DC Organizer is responsible for working with ONE DC member-leaders, leaders in other grassroots organizations, and the Right to the City Alliance to help form HFA DC.
This is a full-time position for 40 hours per week.
Three principles/priorities drive the work of ONE DC's employees:
- Community organizing based on ONE DC’s Mission, values, policy objectives, and Strategic Plan – utilizing campaign-specific organizing and outreach, using popular education methods to develop resident leadership, and direct action to achieve our goals;
- Base building, especially with long-term DC residents of color, and membership development; and ● Developing structural alternatives (alternative economic and ownership strategies).
ONE DC expects staff and member leaders to embrace learning, exert leadership, take responsibility and show maturity in relationships with ONE DC, fellow employees, members and the SLT. A ONE DC Community Organizer must be committed to ONE DC’s political and economic vision and agenda and be comfortable working in a democratic and accountable manner with its entire staff.
Responsibilities Include:
Base Building 70-75%
- Recruit new and existing and emerging tenant associations in the DC area as organizational members of HFA DC.
- Convene monthly HFA DC circle meetings that bring together members of Tenants’ Associations who are members of HFA DC for peer sharing, political education and collective strategy building and prepare member leaders to facilitate those meetings.
- Assist HFA DC member Tenants’ Associations to convene monthly meetings on their properties and prepare member leaders to facilitate those meetings.
- Assist HFA DC member Tenants’ Associations to develop a list of demands and a campaign plan. ● Canvassing each HFA DC member property monthly to build relationships with the property’s residents, generate interest in the property’s Tenants’ Association, and to invite them to join the HFA DC circle meetings and other ONE DC events.
- Phonebank each HFA DC member property monthly to build relationships with the property’s residents, generate interest in the property’s Tenants’ Association, and to invite them to join the HFA DC circle meetings and other ONE DC events.
- Schedule and coordinate weekly planning calls with HFA DC Leadership Circle.
- Manage HFA DC GoogleDrive folder to ensure that all notes, key documents, work-plans etc. are well organized and accessible to membership.
Member Development 5-10%
- Identify active participants in HFA DC Circle to participate in ONE DC orientation and or LEAP. ● Help plan and facilitate an HFA DC strategic planning retreat to set the goals, vision, and processes for HFA DC.
- Connect HFA DC member-leaders with RTTC HFA training opportunities and other resources. ● Facilitate learning exchanges between HFA-DC member-leaders and other RTTC HFA organizational members.
Personal Development: 3%
- Attend ONE DC staff orientation
- Attend regular ONE DC staff meetings, Shared Leadership Team meetings, planning sessions, and other campaign-related events.
- Attend ONE DC LEAP, Freedom Schools, and other organizational political education sessions.
Liaison with National Right to the City/Homes For All Network 7%
- Participate in monthly RTTC all-member meetings
- Engage in weekly/bi-monthly meetings with RTTC support liaison
- Engage in RTTC training and staff development spaces for HFA HUB staff.
- Participate in national and translocal committees that are pertinent to the work and development priorities of HFA DC and ONE DC, as needed
Communications 5%
- Coordinate HFA DC related social media presence, email blasts, and website posts ● Manage HFA DC email account and field inquiries
- Perform organizing campaign related administrative tasks, such as updating the database, website, or social media, as needed.
Development & Fundraising 5%
- Help develop and implement ongoing, grassroots fundraising strategy for HFA DC ● Support ONE DC Resource Development Committee and RTTC to secure additional grant funding for HFA DC
Reports to:
- As a part of the shared leadership structure, the HFA DC Organizer reports the Director of Organizing for daily work responsibilities and supervision. ONE DC’s Personnel Committee is responsible for recommending hiring and firing of employees to the Directors of the SLT; and for handling employee issues and infractions as prescribed in ONE DC’s Employee Handbook.
Minimum Qualifications:
- At least one year of demonstrated direct organizing/base building experience;
- Excellent interpersonal skills, with a history of power-building and relationship-building with working-class sub-populations;
- Strong computer and internet skills;
- Exceptional organization and time management skills; a demonstrated ability to design a work plan, prioritize, and meet goals;
- Ability to build unity and motivate others to action;
- Strong history and personal practice of political and personal transformation;
- A disciplined commitment to political education;
- Good communication skills, written and verbal; and
- Self-motivated and skilled at working as part of a team.
- Must be a resident in the DMV area. DC residents are strongly encouraged to apply and given strong preference;
This is a full-time position. The salary for this position will range from $50,000-$55,000 based on experience. ONE DC offers a generous salary and benefits package. ONE DC is strongly committed to staff development and training. This is an opportunity for an individual to build meaningful relationships with grassroots communities and to be a part of real, concrete social change. People of color, women, LGBTQ+, and bilingual applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.
To Apply:
Please submit resume, list of 3 organizing references, and cover letter (including salary expectations) electronically to [email protected]. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.