Organizing Director

Founded in 2000, ForestEthics is a nonprofit environmental organization with staff in Canada and the United States. Our mission is to protect Endangered Forests and wild places, wildlife, and human wellbeing. We catalyze environmental leadership among industry, governments and communities by running hard-hitting and highly effective campaigns that leverage public dialogue and pressure to achieve our goals. 

Our current campaigns focus on climate change, wild places in Canada and in California's Sierra, and on industries that use products that come from these places. Our efforts have helped secure the protection of more than 65 million acres of forest and transformed the environmental practices of Fortune 500 companies including Dell, Staples, Office Depot, Victoria's Secret, Williams-Sonoma, and many others.

Position Overview:

ForestEthics is seeking an enthusiastic, motivated, senior-level organizer with a proven track record to manage and grow our Organizing Department.  We have recently added 2 exciting campaigns to our roster -- the Tar Sands and Do Not Mail campaigns -- and we need someone with experience and insight to guide the organizing strategies and help us grow our grassroots base in the process with these and our other campaigns. 

The Organizing Director will be in charge of all aspects of the department, including, but not limited to, strategic planning and budgeting, personnel management, fundraising, and implementing organizing strategies.  This is a management position that is also expected to be hands-on and engaged in grassroots organizing on all levels.  This is a full-time position with excellent benefits, located in one of ForestEthics' hub offices in San Francisco, Portland or Bellingham. 

Responsibilities:

Department and Staff Management:

• Oversee Organizing Department, including creation and implementation of an annual strategic plan and management of the department's budget;
• Manage U.S. organizing staff;
• Assist the Development Department in organizing-based fundraising efforts;
• Oversee knowledge management of activists and allies using Salesforce (online database) and other methods.

Base Building:

• Develop organizing strategies to cultivate, develop and diversify our current base of local, regional and national grassroots activists and to mobilize that base to advance our campaign objectives;
• Assist in planning and organizing annual activist leadership summit and regional trainings and conferences;
• Work with top activists on higher-level campaign organizing;
• Travel to target regions to recruit and mobilize organizations and individuals;
• Act as a spokesperson for ForestEthics as needed;
• Manage the activist listserv.

Campaign Support:

• Work with Campaign Directors and Online Communications team to develop campaign strategies, with an emphasis on the Do Not Mail, Save the Sierra, and Stop the Tar Sands campaigns;
• Provide hands-on support for large organizing pushes, including national weeks of action;
• Assist in the creation of campaign materials, such as factsheets, postcards, and activist toolkits.

Qualifications:

• 5-10 years organizing experience, with experience in markets campaigns strongly preferred
• Independent, self-motivated with a desire to advance ForestEthics' mission
• Enthusiasm and passion for campaign organizing
• Experience managing staff
• Proven ability to mobilize large numbers of activists
• Demonstrated success managing staff, identifying organizational needs, and problem solving with minimal supervision
• Highly organized, flexible, creative, able to prioritize multiple tasks, and able to thrive in a fast-paced and ever-changing environment
• Experience with online organizing preferred
• Knowledge of SalesForce (or similar relationship donor database) a plus
• Excellent project management, follow-through, and time management skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to travel nationally and internationally
• Experience with media and fundraising a plus.

To Apply:

Please send cover letter with resume and salary requirement with Organizing Director-[your name] in the subject line. No phone calls please.  This position will be open until filled.