Open until filled

The ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) seeks a policy advocate and organizer to build and lead community education, policy advocacy, and grassroots campaigns to protect and advance civil rights in Kern County, with a focus on immigrants’ rights and policing or criminal justice.

Founded in 1923, the ACLU SoCal has been at the forefront of many major efforts to protect civil liberties, civil rights, and equal justice in California. Principled and nonpartisan, the ACLU SoCal has offices in Los Angeles, Orange County (Orange), the Inland Empire (San Bernardino), and Kern County (Bakersfield). The ACLU SoCal tackles a vast array of issues, including police practices, criminal justice, First Amendment rights, voting rights, gender equity, reproductive justice, LGBTQ rights, immigrants' rights, education equity, and economic justice.

The Policy Advocate and Organizer will plan and execute grassroots and policy advocacy campaigns to effect changes at the local and state levels and cultivate strategic partnerships with organizational allies and relationships with lawmakers to advance policy objectives, with a focus on immigrants’ rights (50% time) and policing or criminal justice (50% time) work in Kern County. The Advocate will organize and attend lobbying visits with state and local officials, provide testimony to administrative agencies and governing bodies, provide trainings for community members and coalition partners on how to conduct policy advocacy with decision makers and “know your rights trainings,” develop strategy and lead field organizing activities for policy campaigns, and use new media strategies and activate ACLU membership, activists, and community partners in campaigns and around policy priorities. The Advocate will establish and cultivate collaborative relationships with community partners, coalitions and stakeholders, as well as ACLU members in the region to identify issues around the Project’s focus areas, and provide technical support and strategic leadership to community groups, advocates and organizers in the region; organize and lead community and stakeholder education events; mobilize support for policy reform, run trainings for activists and organizers; and conduct outreach to and advocacy with government officials and decisionmakers.

The Advocate will also work with the ACLU SoCal’s Activist Engagement and Development team and Communications team to engage the public and ACLU supporters and volunteers and build a wider base of supporters and volunteers in the region, as well as engage people to hold legislators accountable and push policy goals, and support the ACLU’s annual statewide Conference and Lobby Day in Sacramento.

The Policy Advocate and Organizer will report to a Senior Policy Advocate and Organizer in the Kern County office. The Advocate will work within the SoCal and statewide Immigrants’ Rights teams, and SoCal and statewide Policing or Criminal Justice teams. The Advocate will work closely with intersectional issue-based coalitions throughout Southern California and California.

This is a full time, exempt position. The position requires a willingness to work beyond a standard 7.5 hour workday, including evening and weekend meetings and events. Travel throughout California region may be required.

The Policy Advocate and Organizer, like all staff within ACLU SoCal, is expected to model professional workplace behavior and standards, and clearly and enthusiastically demonstrate our core values of accountability, collaboration, diversity, equity, inclusion, excellence, honesty, integrity, humility, and open communication.

Full-Time, Exempt

This is a bargaining unit position in the National Organization of Legal Services Workers union

• Plan and execute grassroots and policy advocacy campaigns to effect changes at the local and state levels through legislation, changes in government policy and ballot measures, with a focus on immigrants’ rights and policing or criminal justice in Kern County.
• Develop strategy and lead field organizing activities for policy campaigns.
• Develop advocacy letters and recruit diverse and powerful allies to sign on to letters.
• Develop advocacy materials including fact sheets, toolkits, action alerts, blog posts, and social media content.
• Establish and cultivate collaborative relationships with community partners, coalitions, stakeholders, and ACLU members, to strengthen collaboration, and to support and engage in the ACLU SoCal and ACLU of CA’s work in this area, as well as other ACLU priority campaigns.
• Build, facilitate and participate in coalitions, and attend and actively participate in community partner meetings and coalitions that focus on Project Area issues.
• Organize, lead and participate in community education events, rallies and meetings.
• Serve as a press spokesperson for the ACLU SoCal and as a public speaker on Project issues and related topics.
• Organize and attend lobbying visits with state and local officials and provide testimony to administrative agencies and governing bodies, and develop and cultivate relationships with lawmakers and decision-makers to advance organizing and policy advocacy objectives.
• Provide trainings for community members and coalition partners on how to conduct policy advocacy with decision makers.
• Develop fact sheets, advocacy materials, toolkits, action alerts, op-eds, blog posts, and social media content.
• Provide technical support and strategic leadership to community groups, advocates and organizers in the region.
• Help identify and tell compelling human stories to center the experiences of communities impacted by civil and human rights abuses.
• Support the ACLU SoCal’s base building, volunteer leadership development, and voter education work, as needed.
• Provide administrative support to the Kern County office.
• Assist with client communication and intakes.
• Provide logistical support for meetings, both in and out of the office, and policy advocacy efforts, including helping to organize the ACLU’s involvement in coalitions and coordinated policy advocacy efforts.
• Attend community meetings.
• Manage and maintain various databases through data entry, generating reports, etc.
• Occasional work evenings and weekends.
• Occasional travel throughout the region and other parts of the state.
• Other duties, as needed and assigned.

• A demonstrated commitment to the cause of civil liberties and civil rights, including immigrants’ rights, policing, and criminal justice issues.
• At least 2 years of organizing, campaign, and/or advocacy experience; individuals with more than three years of experience are encouraged to apply.
• Experience implementing a successful grassroots and/or legislative advocacy campaign at the school district, city/county, state and/or federal level.
• Experience planning and facilitating workshops, trainings, meetings, and other community events.
• Experience developing and implementing organizing and/or policy campaigns to make reforms.
• Experience using social media and developing educational materials, including creating graphics.
• Experience working effectively with coalitions and building coalitions.
• Excellent communication skills: written and verbal.
• Excellent time-management and organizational skills.
• Flexible team player and also comfortable working independently and taking initiative.
• Ability to participate in, create and sustain inclusive and engaging spaces for all races/ethnicities, genders, ages, classes, and geographies.
• Familiarity with Kern County, the Central Valley, or similar communities.
• Bilingual Spanish preferred.

Understanding and Applying Racial Equity

• Demonstrate commitment to building or deepening understanding of racial equity.
• Core terms and concepts such as structural racism, white privilege, and anti-Blackness.
• The role that racial inequity has played and continues to play in our society.
• How race impacts supervisory relationships, team dynamics, and organizational culture.
• Personal/implicit/unconscious bias.

Working for Racial Equity

• Consistently assess structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions within the context of their job responsibilities; race/ethnicity, intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, identity, and/or sexual orientation.
• Consistently adhere to organization’s racial equity policies and procedures, including those that relate to hiring, retention, and promotion.
• Consistently identify and disrupt ways in which bias plays out in work and/or team.

Leading on Racial Equity

• Effectively encourage people to have honest conversations about racial equity, and accept feedback openly, non-defensively, and from a posture of learning.
• Consistently address structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions by identifying and implementing changes that can produce more equitable outcomes. This applies not only in terms of race/ethnicity, but also at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender identity, and/or sexual orientation.
• Consistently set racial equity outcomes, goals, and performance measures for team, department, or organization, and develop and successfully implement plans to achieve them.

The salary range for this position is $62,400- $67,000. Benefits include medical, vision, and dental insurance for staff members and their eligible dependents; life and long-term, short-term disability insurance; 401(k) plan with employer match; ample vacation and sick leave and fifteen paid holidays.

Please submit a resume, cover letter, a writing sample, and three references to our online recruitment portal: https://secure.onehcm.com/ta/ACLUSC.careers?ShowJob=486693636

COVID Vaccination and proof of being fully Vaccinated (includes booster) is a condition of employment.

The ACLU of Southern California is committed to developing a culture of diversity, equity, respect, and inclusion and to strive to maintain a workforce that reflects the communities that we serve. The ACLU SoCal is an equal opportunity employer that does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of any status or condition protected by applicable law. We encourage all qualified individuals to apply and value people of all races, genders (including gender identity or expression), sexual orientations, disabilities, citizenships, ages, religions, and national origins and who have different marital statuses, family caregiving responsibilities, lived experiences with the criminal justice systems, and genetic information. The ACLU SoCal does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of any of these characteristics.

The ACLU SoCal is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please e-mail tgarcia@aclusocal.org. If you are selected for an interview, you will
receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.