About North Carolina Association of Educators:
The North Carolina Association of Educations is the state’s largest education advocacy organization for public school employees and represents active, retired, and student members. We are building a movement to defend and transform public education in our state. In the last three years, we've led the largest educator mobilization in state history and mobilized thousands of voters across the state to the polls as part of our successful campaign to halt the privatizer-controlled General Assembly’s eight-year legislative assault on our educators, students, and communities. In that same time, several of our locals have also fought for and won historic pay increases for custodians and other staff, secured #shotsforsafereturn ,and harnessed the momentum from those wins to propel themselves into ranking among the fastest-growing National Education Association affiliates in the country.
The position
The North Carolina Association of Educators seeks talented and dedicated organizers to fill a temporary Member Political Organizer position within our Government Relations Department to support the development and implementation of NCAE’s legislative, political and electoral member engagement efforts across targeted locals. The Member Political Organizer will work with local affiliate leadership, members, and partner organizations to build local issue advocacy and electoral organizing strategies to advance the priorities of NCAE. The Political Organizer should be organized, and metrics based. The Member Political Organizer will report directly to the Government Relations Manager.
In coordination with the Associate Executive Director, the Government Relations Manager, and the Chief Lobbyist, the Member Political Organizer core responsibilities include:
- Support state and local affiliate campaigns and initiatives through innovative and effective learning experiences for staff and leaders to become focused on empowering members to understand and support political programs and strategies.
- Monitor and track local School Board developments and community organized efforts impacting students, teachers, and the delivery of public education broadly.
- Track and monitor local School Board use of the American Recovery Act fund. Work with local affiliates to ensure they understand how the funds can be used and how to work with School Board to develop plans to use fund for the benefit of students and public education.
- Create opportunities for members to grow their analysis of how political opportunities can be a part of membership growth strategies through winning local budget, issue campaigns, and electoral organizing.
- Maintaining a local political presence in the county by participating in local meetings with electeds and partners, creating partnerships with the leaders of the various issue campaigns.
- Coordinate and implement member PAC drives as part of member fundraising strategies.
- Help managing our member campaign endorsement program by providing technical assistance to members in order to assist them with making the most informed decisions to support the development of endorsement criteria and setting member participation goals.
- Assess and co-design innovative and effective learning experiences for staff and leaders to become focused on empowering members to understand and support political programs and strategies.
- Act thoughtfully and strategically in rapidly changing internal and external environments.
- Advises state leadership, local leaders, and members on effective political and campaigns strategies.
- Expand the use of technology to recruit, retain, and engage staff, leaders, members and parents to advance the advocacy and political goals of the state and local affiliates.
- Drive sophisticated use of data to enhance political strategies and decisions related to member activist, voter behavior, and local political activity.
Qualifications and Competencies:
- Strong commitment to the goals of public education, include social, racial and economic justice
- Minimum one year experience working in organizing or electoral spaces
- Strong interpersonal, organizational, and presentation skills
- Ability to work well with all religious, cultural, ethnic and social groups
- Ability to identify, recruit and develop member leaders
- Experience running or managing small scale electoral programs a plus
- Willingness to work irregular hours including evenings and weekends
- Computer competency – Zoom, VAN (or other electoral database), Google Docs, Internet required
Characteristics of the Position:
- Regular travel
- Willingness to go the extra mile to get the job done
- Some evening and weekend hours will be required
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience organizing in North Carolina and understanding of the North Carolina political landscape
Duration: The contract will run from August 2021 through December 21, 2021 with the possibility of extension.
Compensation: This is a step 0 position of the staff union contract with an annual salary of $57,559 plus benefits.
Current and former/retired NCAE members, women, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ people are strongly encouraged to apply. Interested applicants committed to a strong public educators’ association who meet many but not all of the qualifications are encouraged to apply.
How to apply: Please submit your resume and 3 references to Angela Schell at [email protected].
You are encouraged to apply as quickly as possible. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and are due on August 24, 2021
