PB CLE is hiring!

Participatory Budgeting (PB CLE) is hiring! This organizer will lead our campaign to win our ask of bringing participatory budgeting to Cleveland through community engagement, PB education, and campaign advocacy efforts starting in late-August/September. Please share!

Learn more about participatory budgeting in this brief, fun video.

Job description:

Title: PB CLE Community Organizer Reports to: PB CLE Coordinating Committee 

Hours: 30 hours per weekDuration: ~6 months (September 2022 - February 2023). Start and end dates are flexiblePay: $25 / hour (for a total of $18,000 over 6 months) 

Description: 

PB CLE is a grassroots coalition of Cleveland residents and 50+ endorsing organizations asking the City of Cleveland to set aside $30.8 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for residents to decide how to spend recovery dollars through a participatory budgeting (PB) process. PB CLE is seeking one (1) part-time Community Organizer to lead a campaign to win our ask through a coordinated series of community engagement, PB education, and campaign advocacy efforts for approximately 6 months starting in September 2022.

Fall 2022 will be critical for our campaign as Cleveland City Council will decide how remaining ARPA dollars will be allocated. As the PB CLE coalition continues to build political support on Cleveland City Council and work with the Bibb administration to set the stage for a PB process, the organizer will play a key role in planning a series of campaign events and leading outreach efforts to activate hundreds of Cleveland residents. The primary goal of this work is to build political pressure on Cleveland City Council and Mayor Bibb’s administration so they designate $30.8 million of ARPA funding for residents to decide how to spend through a PB process. 

The organizers’ job is to help PB CLE win! The organizer’s role is to build people power. That means recruiting new volunteers to PB CLE’s campaign. It means inviting the people currently involved with PB CLE to step into roles of greater responsibility. It means creating opportunities for residents to act on their desire to bring PB to Cleveland by, for example, contacting their members of City Council, or hosting a PB event in their neighborhood. The other goal of the organizer’s work is to help PB stay true to our values of building a representative, democratic coalition. 

The organizer will work to build PB CLE’s membership, prioritizing groups and neighborhoods that have intentionally and historically been excluded from civic engagement in Cleveland. These include public housing communities, communities of color, immigrants, non-English speakers, youth, formerly incarcerated individuals, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and individuals with disabilities. Deeper outreach will help PB CLE build the people power to win our campaign, while actively growing a base of Cleveland residents who can go on to participate in a PB process once the $30.8 million is formally allocated and PB implementation begins. You can read earned media coverage on PB CLE’s campaign and our 2022 Action Plan at our website: www.pbcle.com 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Expand the capacity of PB CLE by developing new leadership (e.g., invite members of the Steering Committee, and residents who support PB CLE, to take action that advances PB CLE, such as organizing community events, speaking to their Councilmembers, and recruiting other new volunteers)
• Keep careful written records of your progress, building PB CLE’s database of supporters
• Organize volunteers to host community events that demonstrate the power of PB
• With the Coordinating Committee, co-create a work plan that details specific actions you will take to support this campaign

Key skills and experiences:

• We are looking for candidates with the ability to:
  • Communicate clearly and respectfully with members, board and staff from diverse class backgrounds, racial identities, communities, geographies and cultures;
  • Use a CRM database system;
  • Be highly relational and meet people where they are in an engaging and authentic way;
  • Be self-directed and organized, with the ability to prioritize competing projects;
  • Coach people with a variety of skills and backgrounds to feel confident and dignified in their participation
• Strong candidates will have experience related to the following: 
  • Experience coordinating volunteers;
  • Experience supporting people in participating in community advocacy work
  • Experience working as organizer or volunteer in a base-building organization
  • Knowledge of previous campaign or organizing experience is preferred but not required

Hiring process timeline 

Compensation 

The Community Organizers will be contract consultants paid through our fiscal sponsor, Cleveland Owns, at a rate of $25 / hour for 30 hours per week. Process Please email a resume and one paragraph interest statement to pbclecoalition@gmail.com by 4pm on Friday, July 15. If you have any questions about the position, please email questions to pbclecoalition@gmail.com or call/text (216) 714-2341.