Posted August 2021
The People’s Lobby is a membership-driven organization of people across the Chicago region that work together to build widespread support for public policies and candidates – including people from our communities – that put racial and gender justice and the needs of people and the planet before the interests of corporations and the very rich.
We train leaders to build bases in our communities, organize support for progressive legislation, elect candidates and take direct action to pressure elected officials and other powerful people to act in our best interests.
Powerful stories move us to action, challenge our ideas about how the world works and expand our ideas about what is possible. The Communications Director is responsible for ensuring staff and leaders tell powerful stories about our issue and electoral campaigns that inspire our members to take action, reach new audiences with our worldview and ideas, and put pressure on elected officials and other power brokers to act in our best interests.
Leadership in the political education of staff, members and other audiences
The People’s Lobby is committed to organizing a multi-racial working class base in order to challenge and dismantle the system of racial capitalism. In racial capitalism wealthy people, who are overwhelmingly white, gain wealth, profit and power from the exploitation and oppression of working class and poor people of all colors. Black, Indigenous, other people of color and women are exploited and oppressed more intensely under racial capitalism, which also makes it difficult to build the multiracial working class power we need to win the universal rights and public goods we all need. Racial and gender inequality are built into the structure of the economy. And race, class and gender inequality are also advanced through government policies and cultural norms.
The stories and messages we tell should address the intersection of race, class and gender to help build the multiracial base we need to win. They should also help our members and audiences understand the root causes of our problems, our theory of change, and motivate them to action.
Strategic leadership on issue and electoral campaigns
Organizing staff and member-leaders are primarily responsible for cutting and running issue campaigns, making electoral endorsements and executing field work in support of endorsed candidates. The Communications Director is responsible for ensuring every issue and electoral campaign has a core message and a communications strategy, either by doing this work directly or by training, supporting and agitating staff and leaders to develop their communications skills.
The communications director should be able to do, and work with others to do, the following:
- Develop communications and digital organizing strategies to build our people and money power and put pressure on our campaign targets
- Develop powerful messages and stories
- Develop and maintain relationships with members of the press and get earned media coverage of issue and electoral campaign work
Move our messages to hundreds of thousands of people by overseeing and improving the organization’s communication infrastructure, including:
- Relationships with reporters who cover our issues and politics, as well as assignment editors at TV/Radio news desk
- Social media channels on platforms used by our members
- Digital strategies and advertising campaigns to reach potential members with our message and opportunities to take action
- Website
- Email list
- Customer Relationship Management Tool (CRM)
- Time sensitive print and digital materials like annual reports and campaign demands
- Other as needed
Other organizational leadership:
This is a senior level position at The People’s Lobby. We are seeking someone who demonstrates commitment to
- The methodology of the organization, including clarity about your own stake (or self-interest) in our work, a commitment to regular reflection and risk taking, and a willingness to agitate and be agitated about overcoming personal obstacles to effective leadership.
- Work with senior staff team to develop overall organizational strategy
- Diversity, equity and inclusion
- Working as a team and developing the leadership of others
- Raising money for the organization
Qualifications:
- Capable of supervising part-time or temporary communications contractors and training, supporting, and holding accountable junior organizing staff for executing key communications tasks for their issue campaigns
- Demonstrated success in working with people from diverse race, class and gender identities
- Demonstrated success in working with volunteers to complete group projects
- Demonstrated success using social media tools to bring new people into an issue or electoral campaign or as organization members
- Demonstrated success getting mainstream media coverage
- Ability to create simple, compelling messages and stories about complex ideas and issue campaigns
Salary range: $65,000-$70,000 depending on experience plus employer-paid health and dental and 3% retirement contribution.
To apply: Email cover letter and resume to Kristi Sanford at kristi@thepeopleslobbyusa.org with subject line “Communications Director Application”.