Organizer & Operations Associate

Economic Security for Illinois (ESIL) is hiring a full-time, year-long, bilingual Organizer & Operations Associate to organize community voices and support efforts to expand direct cash & income support and bring tax equity to low & middle income families for sustainable economic security.

About ESIL:

Economic Security for Illinois is a non-partisan non-profit advocating for bold policy solutions that work for working people. We promote ideas that will put money in people’s pockets. Our policy solutions include:

• Expanding and modernizing the state’s Earned Income Credit (EIC) to include more low- and middle-income Illinoisans;
• Giving access to cash through guaranteed income and cash transfer programs and pilots; and,
• Demanding equitable taxation structures.

Learn more about ESIL at economicsecurityil.org/ 

About This Role:

This role is an exciting opportunity for a highly organized, detail-oriented, bilingual multitasker to contribute to the seamless functioning of ESIL’s virtual office. The Organizer & Operations Associate will be responsible for providing ESIL’s with the high quality operational support it needs to ensure that the team has what it needs to deliver high-quality work internally and to our partners and community supporters. This entry-level position will be filled by a passionate advocate who can help ESIL organize in the digital world, and-- when it’s safe again-- out in all corners of Illinois.

Roles/Responsibilities:

• Organize community voices

• Recruit new community voices across Illinois through social media and personal contact
• Serve as the main point of contact for existing community voices on a regular basis and when media and/or advocacy opportunities arise
• Manage community voices story portal from the back end of ESIL’s website
• Prepare community leaders to be ready for events, advocacy with policymakers, and interviews

• Digital engagement 

• Support ESIL’s social media efforts by drafting tweets, Facebook posts, instagram posts, and other relevant content under supervision of Communications and Media Manager
• Identify opportunities to boost coalition partners’ successes and work to foster collaboration between organizations
• Coordinate paid digital media efforts to grow coalition’s presence and engage more community voices

• Operations/Administration

• Take notes during coalition and staff meetings
• Manage follow up emails and calls with partners under supervision of Coalition Manager
• Maintain an organizational calendar of relevant events, both internal and external
• Lead on scheduling opportunities to meet with coalition members and legislators
• Manage contact lists
• Maintain press list to track press hits and social media engagement
• Help prepare team for critical internal and external meetings
• Support logistics for funder site visits, workshops, events, and celebrations
• Manage, prepare, and organize organizational documents
• Manage organizational email account and triage incoming and outgoing communications
• Research and arrange venue spaces for ESIL and partner events

Qualifications:

• You have 1-2 years in community organizing, administrative work, or a comparable role
• You have a Bachelor’s degree, or 4+ years working experience in a comparable field
• You can make a case for why you are personally invested in ESIL’s work/mission and understand the daily challenges faced by low-income communities of color, lived experience preferred
• You are person-oriented and have strong listening, communication, and facilitation skills
• (Preferred) You have Spanish language proficiency, including written and spoken; or can communicate in some other language
• You are highly organized and possess excellent time management skills, including being able to meet deadlines in spite of frequent interruptions
• You demonstrate good judgement and discretion
• You are creative and social media savvy on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and/or TikTok, and can help ESIL grow an audience
• You are an experienced user of digital tools such as Google Docs, Microsoft Office, Slack, Creative Cloud or Canva, etc.
• You have paid or volunteer experience with citizen lobbying, tabling, canvassing, community presentations, phone banking, volunteer management, and/or volunteer trainings
• You are willing to to work a flexible schedule, including some nights and weekends

Start Date: Position to start February 1 (or ASAP) and terminate December 31, 2021, unless otherwise extended.

Salary: Fixed-term contract-based position at $4,000/month ($48,000 annualized) plus $400 monthly stipend to purchase individual health insurance and $60 monthly stipend for internet/phone usage during the remote-work period.

Job Type: Full-time, limited-term contract. Four weeks vacation accrued and holiday time per year, plus comp time.

Location: Chicago, IL (Preferred), position will be remote for most of 2021 until widespread vaccine availability

Reports jointly to: Amber Wilson, Statewide Coalition Manager, and Jenna Severson Communications and Media Manager

Economic Security for Illinois is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regards to age, race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status.

To apply for this independent contractor consultant role please send the following materials to  Amber and Jenna at info@economicsecurityil.org with “Organizer & Operations Associate” included in the email subject line:

1)      Cover letter identifying why you fit the role;

2)     Your résumé;

2)      A short writing sample (a few paragraphs is fine) showing you can tell a story; and,

3)      2-3 examples of your best social media engagement (this can be a tweet that went over well, instagram graphics you created, a survey you conducted, a petition you promoted, a TikTok explainer video, etc. This content does not need to be formal or professional in nature, nor does it need to be related to ESIL’s work.)