Community Organizing Jobs in Texas (NOW HIRING)

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center is Hiring! 

Texas Organizer – Houston or San Antonio, TX 

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is seeking up to two full-time Texas Organizers in Texas. This is an exempt position that reports to the Director of Texas Campaigns and Organizing. This is a bargaining unit position represented by the National Legal Services Workers (NOLSW), Local 2320. 

The ILRC currently has a hybrid work model requiring two in-office days per week. 

Who We Are:  
The ILRC is a leading immigrant rights organization headquartered in San Francisco with staff in Washington, D.C., Texas, Southern California, the Central Valley of California, and Washington state. Since 1979, our mission has been to educate, support, and empower immigrants, community organizations, and legal practitioners to build a more just, inclusive, and democratic society. Our team is passionate, collaborative, and committed to equity and innovation in all we do. Additional information about our organizational values is available here.   

The Opportunity:  

The ILRC supports local and state campaigns to reduce involvement of local law enforcement in immigration enforcement and reduce deportations, while building the capacity of organizations and coalitions to broadly address the criminalization of communities of color.  We partner with criminal defense and immigration attorneys, grassroots organizations, and coalitions across the country, but with a deeper focus in California, Texas and Washington, D.C.  

In Texas, over the next several years we seek to advance, and support coordinated local campaigns that address the overcriminalization and incarceration of communities of color, with a particular focus on the impact on immigrants, to reduce deportations, build power within immigrant communities, strengthen local intersectional alliances, hold elected officials accountable, and move closer to a vision of a more inclusive and equitable Texas.    

The Texas Organizer, in deep collaboration with ILRC partners, will: 

• Create defenses to arrest, prosecution, criminalization, incarceration, and deportation, and other forms of criminalization, taking ideas from our resource “Moving Texas Forward: Local Policies Towards Inclusive Justice;” 

• Support education efforts for elected officials, stakeholders and the public on the many ways the arrest-to-deportation-pipeline harms our communities  

• Hold local elected officials accountable to our communities and ensure that we have local leaders that not only say they are protecting and being inclusive of our communities, but taking meaningful action to do both; 

• Advocate for and implement local policies and practices that strip away the ability of the criminal and immigrant enforcement systems to continue to criminalize, oppress, and banish immigrant communities; and 

• Work to use all tools available, such as direct action, advocacy, civic engagement, and education.  

Responsibilities:  

• Co-lead strategy development with local partners, including goals, objectives, tactics, and timeline of the campaigns; 

• Co-facilitate meetings for existing local coalitions and support coalition’s operations as needed  

• Support the policy research and implementation phases of the campaigns; 

• Map the local political and legal landscapes of designated localities, which includes participating in ongoing meetings with local elected officials, other city and county officials, advocates, and others; 

• Build relationships and advocate with key stakeholders and targets in the campaigns; 

• Facilitate the implementation of policy advice through technical assistance and training from the ILRC Texas attorneys; 

• Coordinate with the ILRC Texas team to conduct training for local organizers and advocates that build campaign skills and the understanding of issues involving the intersection of the criminal and immigration systems (“crim-imm”);  

• Work with local partners and the ILRC Texas team to produce community education materials that break down crim-imm and enforcement issues; 

• Review community-facing documents, when applicable;  

• Support communications work for local policy campaigns, when applicable; 

• Explore/ maintain relationships with leaders of intersecting local organizing, especially criminal justice advocates; and 

• Travel to ILRC San Francisco office twice a year, annual Texas team retreat, and other locations as needed. 

Qualifications: The qualifications for the Texas Organizer include: 

• Educational requirements: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience;
   

• At least five years in campaign managing experience for a political or advocacy campaign;   

• At least five years in community organizing, preferably in immigrant rights, related criminal and racial justice issues;    

• Experience leading and coordinating coalitions/ strategic alliances;   

• Experience with campaign planning and project management;   

• Proficient in Spanish; 

• Proficiency in a language is a plus  

Skills and Attributes: The skills and attributes for the Texas Organizer include:
 

• A commitment to building grassroots power to combat the criminalization of immigrant communities in Texas;   

• The ability to create strategic alignment among diverse stakeholder groups;  

• Proactive at building relationships with organizers, advocates and elected officials in new areas;  

• Excellent facilitation and training skills;  

• Strong written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills; and 

• Demonstrate flexibility in a changing work environment while maintaining effectiveness and efficiency. 

• Excellent communication, particularly writing, skills with the ability to craft clear, concise, and compelling narratives; 

• Passion for advancing equity and improving life outcomes for marginalized Texans; 

• Excellent organization and prioritization skills; 

• Keen attention to detail and ability to ensure accuracy and rigor to the highest standards; 

• Creative and strategic thinker;  

• Recognizes ways that race and ethnicity, gender, and other identities intersect in the communities that we serve; 

• Growth mindset and commitment to demonstrating results and gathering feedback to inform experimentation, iteration, and improvement; 

• Flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to anticipate needs, prioritize, and juggle multiple projects at once; and 

• Conflict resolution and mediation skills are a plus. 

Compensation/Benefits: 

Pay is commensurate with experience, with an expected range between $85,000 - $95,000 annually. The ILRC offers excellent benefits, medical/dental/vision insurance, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) sessions, a flexible spending account for medical and dependent care, vacation, and sick leave. The ILRC also sponsors a retirement plan contribution upon fulfillment of eligibility. Additionally, we offer an annual professional development stipend of $2,500 and, from 2025 – 2027, an annual wellness stipend of $2,500. ILRC also offers a sabbatical program: employees are eligible to apply for an 8-week sabbatical after five years of service and a 12-week sabbatical after ten years of service.   

Applications:  
This position will remain open until it is filled and is currently available. We will consider applications on an ongoing basis beginning immediately. To ensure consideration of your application, please submit a cover letter explaining your qualifications for the position, your salary requirements, a current resume, and the contact information for three professional references, one of which must be a supervisor.  

The ILRC is an equal opportunity employer and does not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious beliefs, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability age, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state or federal laws. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and other similar state laws and local ordinances, ILRC will also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records.