Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund are seeking an Environmental Justice Organizer to work in our Philadelphia office on health-related environmental issues in Philadelphia and southeast Pennsylvania. We are looking for an experienced organizer who knows how to plan and implement community engagement strategies that recruit and empower residents to take actions that win issue campaigns and make a real difference in people’s lives. Applicants must have a passion for organizing around clean water and environmental justice issues. Clean Water Action’s local organizing campaigns are focused on work in communities of color and lower-income neighborhoods, and experience in these communities will be highly preferred.
Clean Water Action (CWA) is a national, grassroots environmental organization that seeks to protect the environment and safeguard public health, promote passage of strong environmental laws, and help communities address local environmental problems affecting them. Clean Water Fund (CWF) is a national research and education organization which promotes the public interest on issues related to water, waste, and toxics.
This position will involve coordinating and organizing local campaigns for clean water, clean air and a healthy environment in southeast Pennsylvania, and to assist with CWA’s state and national campaigns. The primary responsibility of this position will be to work with community partners and residents in low-income communities of color in Philadelphia on the hazards of lead exposure. The position will have the additional responsibility of organizing in Environmental Justice (EJ) communities to help residents build political power and obtain the necessary resources and knowledge they need to address disproportionate threats from water pollution, climate change and a multitude of environmental toxins exacerbating health issues. The main focus of CWA’s state campaigns is to stop fracking/gas production from putting our climate at risk, protecting children state-wide from lead exposure, and working for a state environmental justice policy that protects communities of color from excessive pollution. At the national level, CWA is focused on restoring clean water protections that the Trump Administration removed, and to ensure major federal action to address climate change. Clean Water Action works at the federal, state, and local levels to elect pro-environment candidates
Responsibilities:
- Conduct community outreach and education on the hazards of lead exposure from drinking water, dust, soil, and paint in low-income communities of color in Philadelphia.
- Organize residents within regional EJ communities to identify the environmental threats affecting them and pressure policymakers to make addressing those issues a priority.
- Work with community partners to promote current and on-going educational and recreational opportunities that better connect residents within EJ communities to local waterways.
- Provide support for environmental justice activities and events that arise from the collaboration among CWA’s partners.
- Assist other local campaigns that help residents address pollution problems that threaten their health.
- Support identified state and national campaigns.
- Assist with voter education efforts on environmental issues, and through Clean Water Action, help elect pro-environment candidates.
- Help coordinate media and public relations activities in southeast Pennsylvania.
- Help with local fundraising activities.
- Provide support for Clean Water Action’s field and phone canvasses.
- Paid or volunteer experience in issue organizing or community/neighborhood-based campaigns. Must have experience in community outreach and campaign strategy and development. Over one year’s paid experience preferred.
- Experience working in low-income and communities of color preferred.
- Experience with canvass programs, including management of field outreach staff/volunteers highly desirable.
- Strong oral and written communication skills.
- Knowledge of environmental policy and public health issues.
Send your resume to Myron Arnowitt, Pennsylvania Director, Clean Water Action by email to [email protected]. Application taken until position filled. Internal candidates should contact their supervisors first.
Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund values a diverse workplace. People of color and those from economically disadvantaged communities are particularly encouraged to apply. Clean Water Action is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic.
