Nonprofit Remote Digest - Issue #646

Public Advocates challenges the systemic causes of poverty and discrimination by promoting civil rights through advocacy, litigation, and partnership with low-income communities, people of color, and immigrants.

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Public Advocates — www.publicadvocates.org Stand with Public Advocates, a civil rights law firm building community power and achieving legal victories that advance education, housing, transportation equity, and climate justice.

Digital Communications Manager

Founded by and housed at Public Advocates, the Alliance for Housing Justice (AHJ) is a national coalition formed in 2017 to align housing justice organizing, policy, research and legal organizations in the fight to address the nation's affordable housing and displacement crises, advance the rights of tenants, combat white supremacy in housing and shift the public narrative from housing as a commodity to housing as a basic human right. In addition to Public Advocates, the coalition’s core leadership includes Right to the City Alliance, PolicyLink, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Poverty & Race Research Action Council.

Now is a moment for fundamental change in our housing systems. A true renters’ movement has been growing over the last few years – cultivated and supported by established community organizing groups and fueled by broader and more organic energy bubbling up throughout the country. The COVID crisis has exposed even further the inequities built into our housing system and the foundational nature of a safe and affordable home to our collective health and resilience. These factors, combined with the renewed movement for Black lives and racial justice and a shifting political landscape, mean that we are in a once-in-a-generation moment to broaden and deepen grassroots power and to win truly transformative change at the federal, state and local levels.

Communicating to shift the narrative is a key strategy in AHJ’s work. Through social and earned media, community education and building the capacity of grassroots groups to communicate effectively, we help to galvanize public energy toward transformative change. To win, we must shift the narrative away from a story in which land and housing are commodities to be profited from toward one in which people understand that housing is a fundamental human right which everyone in our society needs and deserves. AHJ is looking to add to our small but mighty team a skilled and committed digital communicator who can work together with the AHJ partners, staff and grassroots housing organizations to help us win that fight.

Responsibilities

• Manage all AHJ social media channels, blogs and newsletters ensuring the content, tactics and strategies we use align with the project’s larger communication and advocacy goals all AHJ social media channels, blogs and newsletters ensuring the content, tactics and strategies we use align with the project’s larger communication and advocacy goals

• Develop and execute a strategy to grow the project’s social media following and email list, employing the tracking and analysis of metrics with an eye toward increasing engagement, growing our target audience(s) and inspiring action

• Lead the updating, maintenance, design, content population and growth of the AHJ website

• Keep abreast of news on positive and adverse actions/decisions and identify those to feature; amplify local voices impacted by these actions/decisions through social media channels; monitor social media posts of targeted affordable housing groups and other allies, replying to, re-tweeting and reposting throughout the day and week

• Facilitate calls w/the AHJ Communications Committee (comprised of project partners), manage joint work and projects of the Committee

• Create, manage and promote online petition and other calls to action in coordination w/the Project Director and broader AHJ team

Qualifications

• Dexterity w/social media and web publishing platforms (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Wix, MailChimp, WordPress), management tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Facebook and Twitter Ads, Hootsuite), design tools (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite, Canva) and demonstrated savvy w/integration across platforms

• Minimum of 3-5 years of results-generating experience in digital communications and demonstrated understanding for effectively leveraging digital tools to mobilize people to take action; experience growing a user/follower base through social media

• Ability to quickly and capably generate accessible content, sometimes distilling from more complex information sources; experience designing social media assets; strong writing, grammatical, verbal communications skills; talent for editing, fact-checking and proofreading

• Experience and skill managing short deadlines and multiple, simultaneous and unanticipated tasks; demonstrated initiative in assigned work areas; flexibility and ability to handle ambiguity will be necessary

• Strong follow-up, work and time management and interpersonal communication skills; includes keeping supervisor regularly informed about workflow

• Comfort working w/remote teammates and allies and/or demonstrated experience or proven history of successfully working remotely

• Ability to grasp new subject matter quickly and leverage that knowledge to develop proactive and effective digital communications strategies

Preference for candidates w/:

• Passion for using digital communication as a social justice advocacy and digital mobilization tool

• Knowledge of affordable housing and racial justice policy and the current housing and racial justice landscape

• Demonstrated creativity in the approach to generating social media assets

• Experience working w/community-based organizations to address the needs of low-income populations

• Experience managing graphic designers, videographers and/or other contractors to produce content on spec, on time and on budget

Qualities expected of all Public Advocates staff include integrity, high professional standards, commitment to progressive social change and working successfully with diverse colleagues, clients and community partners. This includes active participation in promoting healthy workplace culture through our organizational diversity and inclusion initiative – an ongoing and intensive process of communication, trust-building and learning about our individual and organizational areas for growth. We strive to build a culture of cooperation and mutual support and value flexibility, resilience, optimism, curiosity and a sense of humor.

Public Advocates seeks to fill this position with someone who shares our values, including our organizational commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion. We encourage all interested individuals to apply — especially Black, Indigenous and People of Color; women; people from low-income backgrounds; people with disabilities; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender or anyone belonging to any other federal or state protected category. Read our Diversity Vision Statement here.

Salary

$65,000 - $71,000

Salary will be determined based on experience and with an eye for maintaining internal equity.

How to Apply

Applications welcome immediately; position open until filled. To be considered, applications must include: 1) a cover letter that a) explains your specific interest in this role, b) addresses how your identity and lived experience have informed your desire to use your skills to advance social justice and c) describes a digital media project you have managed that will help us understand your qualifications; and 2) a resume. Submit your application (and/or questions) by email to AHJcomms@publicadvocates.org.

We are open to U.S.-based remote candidates who live outside the San Francisco/Sacramento regions but have a preference for California-based candidates. Our San Francisco headquarters is currently located on the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Our downtown Sacramento office is located a few blocks from the Capitol. Both are convenient to public transit and we offer access to tax-advantaged commuter benefits. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide relocation assistance.

*At the time of this posting all our staff are working from home. We anticipate a return to the office when it is safe to do so but have not yet confirmed a return date. We are also in the process of designing a return to the office that meets the needs of both the organization as well as the staff.