Social Justice Organizer

Are you looking for meaningful full-time work? Are you passionate about social and economic justice? Would you rather work in the community instead of an office all day? Do you thrive in an energetic and grassroots environment?

If YES then we invite you to join the ACORN team of community organizers

Job Description:

• Direct community outreach in low and moderate income neighbourhoods. Identifying community concerns and connecting issues like high rent, bad landlords and expensive bills to the need for collective action. Motivate residents to join/form local groups to exercise their rights and advocate for change.
• Develop low income residents' skills to facilitate meetings, speak to the media, lead direct actions and speak to their local representatives.
• Work with professional organizers on a day to day basis to learn how to create building and neighbourhood-wide campaigns through base-building activities, corporate research, mass communications, fundraising, project management skills and more.
• 42 hours per week - working in afternoons and evenings between 12-9pm. Salary with benefits, transit/phone reimbursements, sick days and paid vacation.
• Attends out of city staff trainings and meetings (sometimes outside of Canada) approximately 3-5 times a year.

Qualifications and Skills

• No paid experience required; professional organizer training is provided
• Strong desire to work with people
• Ability to work independently and in a team
• Multilingual candidates are encouraged to apply
• Ability to listen in order to identify issues that are affecting our people
• An interest in social justice

What is ACORN?

ACORN Canada is a local and national community union of low and moderate income people fighting for social justice. We are a membership based organization that is independent from the governments, corporations and banks we seek to hold accountable. We are 180,000 members strong across 30 neighbourhood chapters in 10 regions across 6 provinces.

ACORN's purpose is to give low-to-moderate income people the power needed to have their voices effectively heard at the highest levels in the country. ACORN is able to be both a local-based union winning local campaigns, as well as a large-scale organization combining forces to fight national corporations and governments that are at the root of most of our problems.

We are a tenants' union. We are a disability action union. We are a worker's union. We are a consumer's union. We are whatever our members are. Our members pay dues so that the organization can be sustainable and not dependent on outside funding from government and corporations. Each dues member has a vote, and only members speak for the organization. Our members get elected to our board of directors and set our policy and help determine the tactics.

Some of our major victories include:

• $10/month internet for 220,000 low income families through the federal Connecting Families program & some social housing providers
• Stricter regulations and lowered interest rates on payday loan companies like Money Mart
• $15 million/year in the city budget for affordable housing since 2019
• Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of repairs into our members' units and apartments
• Stopping our members' evictions and AGIs (Above the guideline rent increases)
• AND MORE

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: $42,000.00-$44,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Commuter benefits
• Company events
• Dental care
• Extended health care
• Life insurance
• Mileage reimbursement
• On-site parking
• Paid time off
• RRSP match
• Vision care

Application question(s):

• Are you using ChatGPT or AI to answer these questions?
• Are you returning to school? If yes, when?
• Why do you want to work for a social justice organization?
• Please outline (using examples when possible) how you have an enthusiasm for knocking on doors and talking to strangers year-round.
• Describe your passion for fairness, equality and social/economic justice.
• How do you feel about membership dues as a model for sustaining an independent community union?
• SITUATIONAL QUESTION: You've been planning a protest for the last month against a local landlord who has mistreated an ACORN member. Half an hour before it's due to start, the member calls you to say that she can't attend the protest because she thinks the landlord will respond by increasing her rent as a punishment. What would you say to the member to persuade her to change her mind?
• SITUATIONAL QUESTION: A member you recruited recently attends your chapter meeting. He begins to speak over other members and is not willing to listen to others who have a different opinion. You can see that some members are getting uncomfortable or frustrated. What do you do to defuse the situation?

Location:

• Ottawa, ON K1K 1G8 (required)

Work Location: In person