NAACP Legal Defense Fund : Defend, Educate, Empower

The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) seeks an experienced and dynamic individual to serve as a Community Organizer in its Criminal Justice Project. 

LDF is a non-profit, legal advocacy organization that assists African Americans and other people of color in securing their civil and human rights. Since its founding under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall in 1940, LDF has been committed to transforming this nation’s promise of equality into reality for all Americans.

As part of its commitment to racial justice, LDF strives to combat racial bias and discrimination in the criminal justice system. Although we work primarily through the courts, our strategies include non-litigation advocacy, monitoring of the executive and legislative branches of the United States government, coalition building, policy research, public education and community engagement. It is our belief and experience that advocacy outside the courtroom – specifically, community engagement and organizing – is a particularly critical component of any effort to achieve sustained and comprehensive criminal justice reform. Therefore, LDF has expanded its Criminal Justice Project to include Community Organizers to further this objective. The Organizers help LDF support communities of color in challenging racially biased practices in the criminal justice system, such as police misconduct and the misuse of prosecutorial discretion, by demanding accountability and by fighting for appropriate, effective and unbiased criminal justice policies.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Community Organizer will draw upon the legal knowledge, experience, communications capacity and reputation of LDF’s Criminal Justice Project to support communities of color in their struggle to achieve racial equity and criminal justice reform. The Community Organizer will help build LDF’s relationship with the people who are most affected by the inequities of the criminal justice system, so that our advocacy efforts will be tailored to the real and expressed needs of the community.

The ideal candidate for this position will have a demonstrated commitment to racial justice and criminal justice reform; a willingness to advocate for LDF’s criminal justice priorities; excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to convey complex information effectively to a wide range of audiences of varying sizes; the capacity to plan, implement and coordinate successful community outreach and public education campaigns; the ability to integrate organizing objectives with legal strategies; the capability to develop and maintain relationships, partnerships, and coalitions of organizations, community members/leaders, and public officials via the internet, in-person and telephone; the professionalism, discretion, and sound judgment to handle sensitive, high-profile, legally privileged and otherwise confidential information in an appropriate manner; the ability to work both in a team structure and independently, as required by different circumstances; strong initiative and creative thinking; well-developed interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate with diverse groups; excellent organizational skills; and a willingness to adhere to a flexible and sometimes demanding schedule that may require working evenings and weekends. Extensive travel to both urban and rural areas throughout the United States is required.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate for the Community Organizer position will have a college degree, a valid driver’s license, substantial organizing experience, an understanding of overall social justice issues and a demonstrated commitment to race and criminal justice reform.

Location:

This position is located in our New York office.

Annual Salary:

Competitive Salary; Commensurate with Experience.

Benefits:

Medical and Dental Insurance, Group Term Life Insurance, Tax Saver Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability, and Tax-Deferral Retirement Plan.

To Apply:

Please submit your resume and cover letter:

Email to: jobs@naacpldf.org

or

Monica Garcia
Director of Human Resources
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
99 Hudson Street, Suite 1600
New York, New York 10013

We seek to fill this position immediately

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, marital status, age, veteran status, disability or genetic information.