Community Organizer/Popular Education Position at Highlander

The Highlander Research and Education Center has worked since 1932 to bring about social, economic and environmental justice. Our constituency is made-up primarily of low-income, rural and small town grassroots community workers who want to create change in their communities. We use popular education, participatory research and cultural organizing to help identify issues, develop political analysis, and create organizing strategies. We work to build cross-racial, multicultural alliances across race, class, gender, and nationality. We are a rural residential meeting center on a 106-acre farm in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains near Knoxville, Tennessee.

We are seeking a community organizer/popular educator to work across all of our programmatic teams and with all our constituents to help people involved in social change organizing and advocacy to strengthen their efforts. We seek a person who is skilled in using a variety of tools and techniques to 1) facilitate grassroots education on issues of democratic rights and economic justice, 2) conduct grassroots research into problems impacting low-income communities, and 3) build strong relationships with diverse community leaders. The community/organizer will be a skilled meeting facilitator, strong team builder and participant, and have experience as a community organizer.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Work with all Highlander programmatic teams to design, implement and lead popular education programs and workshops, and create and implement field support and outreach and recruitment strategies;
• Work with Highlander staff to develop political analysis, strategies, and program plans across teams;
• Work as a popular educator to facilitate people telling their stories, identifying common themes, developing vision, and creating strategies to bring about change;

• Direct paid or volunteer experience as a grassroots community organizer
• Experience in working in and ability to relate well to African American communities
• Experience in popular education and other educational methods
• Experience working in the South
• Knowledge and understanding of the issues facing low-income communities
• Ability to establish rapport with activist and community members in diverse ethnic, racial, social and economic groups
• Willingness and ability to travel to do fieldwork in communities
• Commitment to social justice and progressive movement building
• Good oral and written communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects/time management skills
• Willingness to work collaboratively with a team
• Good logistical skills
• Willingness to learn new skills
• Willingness to work long and/or irregular hours
• Spanish speaking ability is a plus