Summer Part-time

    Communities United is a grassroots, membership organization of low to moderate income individuals and families in Maryland. Our mission is leadership development and community organizing that builds power to win transformative change for social, economic, and racial justice. Our current organizing focuses on ex-offender enfranchisement and quality of life, expansion of sustainable public community schools, effective approaches to addiction that reduce harm and support recovery, reducing violence and promoting trauma-informed policies and resilience in Baltimore, and confronting horrible housing conditions low income residents suffer in Baltimore.

    The Youth Organizing Leadership Academy is a full summer program for youth 15-24, teaching basic community organizing skills, building from participants' own lived experience, to provide hope, energy, and vision to lead change for social justice within their own communities. At the same time, YOLA will teach key life skills, including job readiness, social/emotional coping skills, tools and pathways to career and/or college, community connections, financial literacy and more. Youth will be exposed to opportunities to become professional organizers, including presentations from and mock interviews with union and other professional organizers. All YOLA participants will be encouraged and supported in completing a Youthworks application for summer employment with Communities United and potentially other social change organizations. Communities United plans to hire a few of our most successful YOLA students to be peer leaders of our 2023 Summer Youth Organizing Cohort and to become active Communities United Youth Members.

Job Title: Youth Lead Organizer
Location: Baltimore City
Reports to: Parent Organizer

Primary Responsibilities:
CU organizers are responsible for engagement, activation, development and retention of members, developing a team of leaders and executing issue and/or infrastructure building campaigns. Organizer responsibilities include:

• Work in close collaboration with Parent Organizer to develop training and activity calendar for full summer.
• Planning  and day-to-day management of CU’s Youth Organizing Leadership Academy (YOLA), based at the Baltimore Unity Hall, with primary responsibility for meeting scope of work deliverables outlined in the 2023 grant for this work.
• Planning and day-to-day management of CU’s 2023 Summer Youth Organizing Cohort (with Youthworks interns).    
• Ongoing outreach and recruitment of new CU members, particularly youth members.
• Building one-on-one relationships with youth, community members and organizational partners.
• Developing  leadership of all members that builds their capacity to lead campaigns, including speaking to the media, organizing and  facilitating meetings, leading public actions and events, and recruiting and leading CU members.
• Developing political consciousness and strategic abilities of CU leaders through popular education, reflection, and developing appropriate  educational materials.    
• Building a Communities United youth chapter.    
• Researching and building movement relationships on issues pertaining to campaigns;    
• Communicating  campaign messages clearly, both verbally and in writing, including testimony, op-eds and social media.
• Exercising strategic judgment and problem-solving skills.    
• Organization of self and materials to meet responsibilities.    
• Pitching in and working with a diverse team of staff and members.
• Use of social media to enhance community organizing.

Primary Qualifications:
To be successful, organizers must have commitment to social, racial and economic justice and believe that those directly affected by issues of injustice must be at the forefront of efforts to change them. Organizing is a practice, and success requires dedication to all aspects of it to be successful – recruitment, leadership development, mobilization and reflection. Qualified candidates will have:    

• Experience working with youth ages 14-21.
• Organizing experience (labor, community, issue campaign or election related) preferred.    
• Understanding  of issues facing low income communities of color.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.    
• Excellent organizational skills – good attention to detail and well organized.    
• Self-motivation  – a proven ability to work independently.    
• Patience  and ability to work well with diverse groups and populations.    
• Dedication  and ability to work flexible hours, including some nights and weekends.
• Spanish/English  bilingual a plus, but not required.
• Ability to be a team player and work in a highly collaborative, fast-paced environment    
• Will need to pass a background check to work with youth
• A valid driver's license. Regular access to a vehicle preferred, but ability to take responsibility to arrive on time all the time is a must.

Salary & Benefits

• $16/hr
• Cell-phone reimbursement

​Application Process:
Send resume and cover letter to executive[email protected] with "Youth Lead Organizer" in the subject heading of your email.