United Students Against Sweatshops

National Organizer Application

Fall 2016

Job Description

United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) is hiring a full-time National Organizer to be based in Washington, DC. This position requires a two-year commitment and a willingness to work flexible hours including nights and weekends. This position offers a full-time salary, a comprehensive health benefits package, and a union contract including flexible vacation time and a cost of living adjustment. This position begins December 5th with some flexibility. Applications are due October 7, 2016.

Formed in 1997, USAS is a grassroots membership organization run entirely by youth and students. USAS uses the strategic leverage of students to support worker justice movements in the US and around the world. As a National Organizer, you will oversee the coordination of USAS’ campaign work by doing the following:

1. Coordinating and supporting national campaigns, including:

●Campaign support and guidance

●Materials development

●Maintaining and developing relationships with ally organizations

●Development and guidance of nationally-coordinated campaigns

●Development of policy related to national campaigns

●Support the development of the overall organization through fundraising and creating relevant digital media

2. Leadership development, including:

●Extensive travel and campus visits

●Outreach to new schools

●Training and supporting students and youth

●Supervision of student regional organizers

●Facilitating spaces in which student leaders are able to take on increased responsibilities for national campaign coordination and organizing work

●Leadership development of students from marginalized communities and identities

This position begins December 5, 2016.

Application Instructions

In addition to answering the questions below, please submit a resume and cover letter. E-mail completed applications in a single PDF file to with “Staff Application-[your last name]” in the subject line by October 7, 2016.

You are encouraged to include at least one letter of recommendation from employers, people you have worked with, mentors, etc.

Please send us a resume that highlights desired qualifications and experience and includes:

  1. Organizing experience
  2. Positions of responsibility or leadership that you have held
  3. Past internship experiences
  4. Relevant academic coursework or research
  5. Two professional references, and two additional references with whom you’ve organized with (i.e. from your student group, union, community organization, etc).

Please provide short answers to the questions below. Answers to the questions should total no more than five single-spaced pages.

______

Organizing Experience

  1. How do you define organizing, and what, concretely, does an organizer do? Drawing from your own experiences, what lessons have you learned that you would like to pass onto future organizers?
  1. Describe a local social justice campaign you have worked on. Define your role and provide an overview of your strategy and the tactics you employed. Describe any challenges in the campaign and how you overcame them.
  1. What campaigns, strategies, or new organizing initiatives do you think the student labor movement should prioritize?

Collective Liberation

  1. How have you made it a priority in your organizing to develop the leadership of students of color, working class students, women, transgender/non-binary, queer or disabled/neuroatypical students?
  1. USAS organizes very closely with other national movements for social, economic, and racial justice, one of those being the black lives matter movement. How have you been involved in the movement for black lives and how has it impacted your organizing?

Personal Experiences

  1. Describe an experience when you had with working with a team. How did you deal with any disagreements that may have arisen?
  1. Describe an experience you had with building a coalition and/or working closely with an organization of which you are not a member. Focus specifically on the development of those relationships, and how you dealt with any difficulties that may have arisen.
  1. Describe a time you faced a situation in your organizing work that you didn’t know how to deal with or struggled with. What was most challenging and how did you learn what to do?

Skills and Misc.

  1. What languages do you speak? Are you fair, proficient, or fluent in speaking, listening, reading, and writing?
  1. What computer, web, or accounting skills do you possess? Do you have any other technical skills that would be useful for running a non-profit organization?
  1. Attach one example of your writing including a blog post, organizational email, or article.
  1. Attach one or more samples of your creative work on a campaign. This could include a flyer you designed, photos of a prop or creative action you worked on, video, meme, etc.
  1. Do you identify as a person of color, mixed-race, working class, a woman, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, non-binary, or disabled/neuroatypical? [OPTIONAL]
  1. When are you available to start working for USAS?