Community Organizer Jobs in Reston, VA (NOW HIRING)

Community Organizer

📍 Location: Maryland (Regional Assignment)
💼 Reports to: Director of Organizing
📧 Applications must include a cover letter explaining your interest in community organizing and working for Progressive Maryland. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.

Organizational Summary: Progressive Maryland was founded to empower communities to act for social and economic justice by developing leaders and cultivating allies in order to build a grassroots movement with the power to advance economic, racial, and environmental equity. We are made up of over 125,000 individual members and supporters and dozens of affiliated religious, community, and labor organizations statewide.

Position Summary: Progressive Maryland is seeking passionate, driven individuals to join our organizing team. Organizers are responsible for building formal grassroots membership chapters of working-class Marylanders—particularly in low- and moderate-income communities—who will fight for systemic change in their communities and across the state.

The core function of this role is recruiting and developing dues-paying members, cultivating neighborhood-based leadership, and training people to take bold action that wins real change. Organizers will lead door-to-door outreach, build neighborhood groups, run strategic campaigns, and engage in sustained fundraising through membership recruitment.

This is not a desk job. You’ll be in the field knocking on doors, talking to residents, building trust, and helping people take action around the issues impacting their lives.

Key Responsibilities

• Organize and grow neighborhood-based membership chapters by conducting field outreach and door-to-door conversations with working-class residents.
• Identify and surface local issues by listening closely to community members and conducting issue surveys and power-mapping.
• Develop grassroots leaders from within the community to take on roles in local campaigns, lead neighborhood chapter meetings, organize and represent their neighbors, and speak to the press.
• With support from the Director of Organizing, plan and execute public actions (e.g., rallies, town halls, press conferences, petition deliveries) that escalate pressure on targets and build public support for our grassroots organizing campaigns.
• Recruit dues-paying members at the door, on the phone, and at events; ask for donations and sustain internal fundraising as a regular part of the job.
• Meet organizing and outreach goals around member recruitment, leadership development, and event turnout. Accurately log all activity in our digital systems.
• Engage local members in city, county, and statewide issue campaigns, and work in solidarity with chapters across Maryland.
• Represent Progressive Maryland at community events, in coalitions, and with local institutions and allies.
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications and Attributes

We are looking for people who are hungry to build power from the ground up. Ideal candidates may not have formal experience in organizing, but should be excited by a people-first, action-oriented, and justice-driven job.

Required

• Deep belief in social and economic justice and a passion for building people-power.
• Self-motivated and able to manage time and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Comfortable asking for money and recruiting dues-paying members face-to-face and by phone.
• A commitment to learning on the job, including how to develop campaigns and organize actions.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to connect with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Willingness to work flexible hours, including evenings and some weekends.
• Basic digital literacy and willingness to use campaign tools and outreach platforms.

Nice to Have

• Experience in community organizing, canvassing, or grassroots campaigning.
• Familiarity with Maryland’s political landscape and community institutions.
• Experience with VAN/Votebuilder or other campaign CRM tools.
• Fluency in a second language spoken in Maryland communities.

Work Schedule and Travel 

• The workweek is Monday through Friday, with some flexibility required for weekend and evening events, actions, and campaign deadlines.
• This position requires regular in-person fieldwork, attendance at chapter events, and travel across assigned regions. Reliable transportation, a valid driver’s license, a phone, and a laptop are required.

Salary and Benefits

• Salary Range: $50,000–$65,000 commensurate with experience.
• Benefits Include:
• 100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental insurance
• 403(b) retirement plan with employer match
• Two weeks paid vacation
• Six personal days and fifteen sick days
• Paid holidays
• Progressive Maryland is a unionized workplace represented by UFCW Local 1994. This position is part of the bargaining unit.

To Apply

Please submit your resume and a cover letter explaining:

• Why you want to be a community organizer
• Why you want to work for Progressive Maryland

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