Now Hiring! Organizing Director

Position: Organizing Director
Reports to: Executive Director/Deputy Director
Classification: Full time, Exempt
Priority Deadline: 10:00am February 3, 2025 but applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
Ideal start date: March 2025
Salary: $88,000 – $95,000 with room to grow
Location: Seattle, WA (hybrid; mostly in-person)

Please submit cover letter, resume and three references to:

Email: [email protected]
Subject: Organizing Director (FULL NAME)
No phone calls please.

FEEST is an Equal Opportunity Employer. People of color, queer, gay, lesbian and/or bisexual people, transgender, genderqueer and/or non-binary folks are encouraged to apply. Work is performed in a hybrid setting, partially from home and increasingly on-site at the office as well as in schools and community settings. Some heavy lifting and physical labor is required during special events. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

FEEST’s Vision for Society:

We envision a society where working-class youth and families of color are thriving in vibrant, politically powerful communities. We see this society built on values that include, but are not limited to:

Transformative racial, economic, and environmental justice
- Eliminating oppression at its roots, prioritizing equity, and ensuring that everyone can live a healthy life on a sustainable planet
Interdependence and Collective Liberation
- Recognizing that our struggles are linked and that we need to build trust with each other and work together to achieve liberation for all people
Self-determination
- Those most impacted by injustice should be the primary decision makers on how to address it
Creativity and radical joy!
- We embrace our natural impulses for happiness and creativity to connect with each other, build community, and energize our movements

FEEST’s Vision for Schools:

We envision a today where youth of color and working class youth exercise their power to change systems that serve them so that they can thrive physically, mentally, and emotionally. In our vision, schools are vibrant learning centers that reflect the students they serve and support the long-term growth and holistic wellness of students and our communities.

Our Mission:

FEEST trains youth of color and working-class youth to build collective power and organize for transformative and systemic change in their schools.

About FEEST:

FEEST trains youth of color and working-class youth to build collective power and organize for transformative and systemic change in their schools. Our power comes from building a strong base, developing youth leaders, and running dynamic, radically joyful campaigns for systemic material change. Our work is both youth-led and multigenerational.

Our roots started in food justice and through that, we have won systemic improvements in school food in Highline and Seattle Public Schools. Since the 2020 campaign to remove police from Seattle Public Schools, we have expanded our campaign goals to include a wide range of systemic solutions that improve student wellness at school.

Primary Job Responsibilities:

Responsible for the overall success of FEEST’s youth organizing programs. Includes management of FEEST’s organizing staff, youth organizing strategy (in partnership with the ED), team budget management, and campaign-related partnerships. Reports to the Deputy Director.

ORGANIZING (30%) – FEEST’s youth and staff team is equipped with the political education, organizing skills, and campaign plans that are building a movement and attaining concrete wins for access to healthy food and mental health resources in schools.

Strategy: Work closely with Executive Director (ED) to cultivate and sustain FEEST’s organizing strategy quarter to quarter in alignment with the ED’s year-to-year organizing and policy strategy
Campaign Plan: Engage in collective visioning with staff and youth to develop and lead FEEST’s grassroots, school-based community organizing campaigns, with support and guidance from the Executive Director

Support the leadership and decision-making among community members and youth
Integrate FEEST’s ongoing culture shift work into campaign strategy and tactics.

Partnerships: Work with the ED to establish and maintain relationships with organizational and individual partners who will support FEEST’s campaigns.

Represent FEEST with teachers, school district staff, county government, and organizational partners.

Writing: Lead author on policy memos necessary for FEEST’s campaigns and writing necessary for projects (e.g. one pagers about work, stories about successes)

PROGRAM TEAM MANAGEMENT (40%) – Program staff are supported and successful in their roles at dinners, in campaigns and in supporting youth leaders.

Supervise 3-4 FTE program staff and additional short-term contractors as needed
Provide weekly management, including individual work plans and tracking professional goals to keep staff aligned to programmatic goals
Conduct 90-day new hire and annual performance evaluations for program staff
Identify and coordinate team professional development opportunities

ADMIN & OPERATIONS (30%) – Programs are safe, legal, tracked and evaluated to ensure overall success and sustainability.

Oversee all operations related directly to youth programming (i.e. youth risk management, youth employment contracts and payment). Work with ED and Deputy Director (DD) to address major issues
Work closely with the Development Team to ensure consistent data entry of all youth related information (e.g. attendance)
Work closely with the ED and DD to prepare data, stories and program summaries
Lead any hiring process for program team positions and support with all onboarding and exiting of employees
Support with Board committees and presentations related to programs and strategic planning
Participate in team-wide activities including phone-banking, fundraising asks, and community engagement events
Identify and coordinate professional development opportunities related to community organizing for staff and youth
General team collaboration, task management, and time off.

Required Experience:

Minimum 3 years of experience (paid or volunteer) leading or participating in a community, political, or union organizing campaign. This could include: base building, one on one recruitment, coalition building, campaign development, intentional leadership development and creating creative tactics alongside member leaders.
Minimum 3 or more years of team supervision experience, including staff, interns and/or volunteers and mentoring youth leaders.
Commitment to building youth power, leadership, creativity, and joy
Unapologetically rooted in social justice, equity, and committed to apply racial, gender and economic justice lenses in both personal and workplace context
Experience in or a demonstrated commitment to incorporating the arts and cultural work in campaign organizing.
Lived experience or demonstrated professional skills working with racially and economically diverse individuals and communities, including working class, immigrant/refugees, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ populations

Ability to build strong interpersonal relationships
Strong critical thinking skills, creative problem solver, adaptable and flexible
Effective writing, attention to detail
Ability to take initiative and be assertive, strong time and project management skills
Integrates and offers feedback in a growth-oriented way; willingness to practice principled struggle

Desired Qualifications:

Experience working with youth, in school systems, or in South Seattle/South King County
Experience working with youth-led groups or organizations and/or taking leadership from youth.
Experience with budget management, data management and analysis
Training and/or experience in trauma informed care
Bilingual or multilingual, especially in Spanish, Vietnamese, Khmer/Cambodian, Tigrinya, Amharic, Arabic, Somali and Samoan
Creative facilitation style reflective of a sense of humor and playfulness

Additional Information

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is currently a partially remote-work position but candidates should be prepared for daily work in the office and on campus at Franklin, Chief Sealth, Rainier Beach, Tyee, and Evergreen High Schools.
Access to a vehicle is highly recommended. Our program sites are far-reaching across White Center, South Seattle, Rainier Beach and Sea-Tac and our office is not very accessible by transit.
Salary: $88,000 – $95,000 with room to grow
We provide full medical, dental and vision benefits, generous paid time off, temporary work from home stipends, and access to professional development each year.
We follow COVID-19 guidelines provided by our school partners and funders in our current contracts, which requires all staff to present documentation confirming they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a medical exemption.