Chapter/Membership Organizer - Progressive Maryland

Chapter/Membership Organizer

Community Organizer Job Description 

Location: Maryland

Summary: Progressive Maryland was founded to empower communities to act for social and economic justice by developing leaders and cultivating allies in order to build a grassroots movement with the power to advance economic, racial, and environmental equity. We are made up of over 125,000 individual members and supporters and dozens of affiliated religious, community and labor organizations statewide. 

Community Organizer: The Chapter/Membership Organizer will work to sustain and expand Progressive Maryland's chapters in Howard County, Harford County, Frederick County and the Eastern Shore. The organizer will engage community members in ongoing campaigns, sign up new members and train people to lead. They will build a base of members, volunteers, and grassroots leaders who identify with and support the mission of Progressive Maryland and participate in statewide issue campaigns in solidarity with Progressive Maryland members from other chapters across the state. Under the supervision of the Director of Organizing, the Organizer works in concert with our team of organizers across the state to execute grassroots power-building plans that further Progressive Maryland’s programmatic and electoral goals. 

Responsibilities 

• Grow the base of members in Howard, Harford and Frederick Counties as well as the Eastern Shore.
• Recruit, develop and train Progressive Maryland members to take positions of leadership within their local Progressive Maryland chapter and on statewide issue campaigns
• Work with our members to grow  and create local chapters of Progressive Maryland. Provide toolkits and support materials to help facilitate member driven organizing. 
• Recruit, manage, and train Progressive Maryland members in regions without a chapter or local organizer to canvass and phone bank before, during, and after election season
• Mobilize our base to take action (turning out to events, submitting testimony during legislative session, signing petitions, etc.)
• Use phones, social media, and community outreach techniques to recruit and identify prospective members 
• Invite folks to become dues-paying members of Progressive Maryland
• Meet base building and outreach goals, which are tracked and reported in an accurate and timely fashion each week  
• With the support of the Director of Organizing, develop and implement grassroots basebuilding plans
• Represent Progressive Maryland at community events and meetings across their regions

Qualifications 

• Experience leading on a social justice issue and/or progressive electoral campaign 
• Direct experience in grassroots community organizing, canvassing, and phone banking
• Basic computer literacy and a willingness to quickly learn and use new digital platforms 
• Ability to meet deadlines under pressure while handling multiple projects 
• Ability to work independently, as a member of a team, and a team lead 
• Ability to train and manage member volunteers
• The ability to think, reflect, communicate, challenge the conventional wisdom, make judgments in complicated situations, and show flexibility.
• A clear sense of the challenges our communities face, impatience in the face of those wrongs, and a drive to address them
• Residence in or a willingness to relocate to Maryland or DC

Pluses (but not required) 

• Familiarity with Maryland political systems on the city, county, and state level 
• Experience with Votebuilder/VAN and other campaign platforms 

Travel: All positions require reliable access to a vehicle and a valid driver’s license, laptop, phone, and willingness to travel throughout your region regularly and elsewhere in Maryland as needed.

Salary, Benefits, and Position Details: Salary is commensurate with experience between $50,000-$65,000. Benefits include 100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental insurance, a 403(b) retirement plan with an employer match, 2 weeks paid vacation, 6 personal days, 15 sick days, and holidays. Progressive Maryland is a proudly unionized workplace. This position is in the bargaining unit, which is represented by UFCW Local 1994.

Progressive Maryland is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, People of Color, LGBTQ people, Returning Citizens, and Immigrants are strongly encouraged to apply. 

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