Job Title: Director of Movement Building
Reports To: Senior Director of Organizing
Organization and Position Description: ICIRR is an over 30-year-old coalition composed of 130 member organizations and allies. Membership is broad based and includes community-organizing groups, ethnic associations, unions, refugee organizations, churches and mosques, school districts and community colleges, and direct service organizations that work with diverse immigrant communities. ICIRR builds power with our members through local, state and federal grassroots organizing campaigns and provides our members with organizing and advocacy strategy, training and technical assistance on issues that affect their respective immigrant constituents, and up-to-date information and policy analysis on immigrant- and refugee-related issues. ICIRR intentionally provides ongoing leadership development opportunities and organizing capacity building for our membership, builds community power, promotes citizenship and civic participation, monitors and analyzes immigrant-related laws and policies and forms cross ethnic and intersectional alliances to advance an equitable and pro-immigrant agenda throughout Illinois and the U.S. ICIRR is a justice organization serving vulnerable immigrant communities; excellence in pursuit of ICIRR's overall mission is expected of all employees.
ICIRR is seeking a full time Director of Movement Building to build the organizing and cross movement capacity of both ICIRR and its membership across Illinois. The Director of Movement Building will oversee the development of ICIRR’s Organizing Institute (IOI), a new project that will house the coalition’s community organizing training, capacity building and professional development arm. The Director of Movement Building will also play a leadership role in our cross movement building efforts at the intersection of racial and economic justice, wealth and health equity and immigrant rights.
The Director of Movement Building reports to the Senior Director of Organizing. They will work closely with the Senior Director of Organizing to lead in the oversight and execution of ICIRR’s Organizing Institute. The IOI’s success will be measured by our ability to build the organizing capacity of our membership through training, coaching and individualized support. The Director of Movement Building will build relationships with a diverse set of members including service providers, community based organizations and external partners. As ICIRR’s Organizing Department grows in the future, the Director of Movement Building will provide guidance and leadership to incoming Organizing staff around their work plans and priorities. Additionally, the Director of Movement Building will be a core member of the department, providing organizing support and leadership as needed around ICIRR’s campaigns and activities including coalition wide event planning with members, organizing strategies around individual deportation cases and other issues we engage in with external partners. Like all of our staff, the role will be ultimately accountable to our member organizations, Action Council and Board of Directors.
Note: ICIRR operates within a hybrid in-person/remote structure. The Movement Building Director would be expected to be at the ICIRR downtown Chicago office a minimum of one-day-per-week and would be working remotely the remainder of the week.
Specific Responsibilities:
The Movement Building Director will be responsible for the following tasks:
- Develop and build out ICIRR’s emerging “Organizing Institute” which provides training, professional development, coaching and capacity building for ICIRR membership.
- Build out an “organizing fellowship” program to provide comprehensive professional development, planning, and strategy support for emerging organizer fellows.
- Work in close collaboration with ICIRR’s Senior Organizing Director, Political Director, Communications Director and Policy team to provide support around ICIRR’s state, local and federal campaigns. Specifically assist in the development and execution of campaign strategy, organizing events, supporting within partner tables as needed, and more.
- Work closely with ICIRR’s Family Support Network (FSN) Coordinator to ensure that FSN hotline cases are integrated into ICIRR’s campaigns and/or leadership development efforts led by our membership.
- Provide support for ICIRR’s yearly platform engagement efforts to engage our members around our campaign priorities on a yearly basis.
- Actively build relationships with ICIRR’s Action Council (AC) members and other partners and members who are engaged within ICIRR’s organizing and advocacy efforts as part of our collective base building efforts, and bring new institutional members into ICIRR’s formal membership structure.
- Help execute Springfield legislative strategy including supporting the execution of legislative advocacy in district and in Springfield, electoral organizing activities through ICIRR’s Immigrant Voter empowerment program known as Democracy Project.
- Support in the creation of leadership development opportunities for directly impacted leaders from ICIRR’s membership throughout all of ICIRR’s organizing activities.
- Support, initiate and drive organization-wide initiatives in partnership with the organizing team and the organization as a whole.
- Provide support to engage the ICIRR Action Council (AC) around campaign updates and other AC related issues.
- Provide strategic guidance and support to ICIRR’s growing organizing team.
- Represent ICIRR as needed in external organizing tables.
- Maintain working knowledge of the entire range of issue areas addressed by ICIRR.
Qualifications: We are looking for someone who is self-sufficient, reliable, reflective, comfortable with accountability, highly communicative, high energy, excellent at building relationships, bilingual (English/Spanish) and is a self-starter. This is a Director role. While the Senior Director of Organizing will be fully invested in supporting the Movement Building Director to ensure their success, the Movement Building Director will be expected to take charge of driving their own work, develop their own implementation strategies, meet tight deadlines, and make their own schedules.
Additionally:
- The Movement Building Director would have a minimum of 7 years of community organizing experience and a willingness to build upon their experience to potentially take on Senior Director level responsibilities in the future.
- We seek to hire people with deep experience living and/or working in immigrant communities, especially immigrants themselves and the children of immigrants.
- Bilingual language capacity in Spanish is required.
- Experience designing and leading effective and engaging organizing trainings is strongly preferred.
- Excellent interpersonal and writing skills; experience and comfort in public speaking in English and Spanish; excellent leadership abilities and superior organizational skills; detail-oriented with the ability to juggle many different tasks simultaneously and complete them in a timely manner; A good sense of humor is a definite plus.
- Knowledge and awareness of policies, and experience working with immigrants and/or refugees, and knowledge of the legislative and public policy processes at the local, state or federal levels strongly preferred.
- A car and valid driver’s license are required. Because the organizer must be available when our leaders are, evening and weekend work are a part of this job.
Benefits of ICIRR: Employer paid Medical, Dental and Vision HMO insurance. 403(b) Plan + Company match. Two month paid sabbatical after 4 years.
Salary: Commensurate with experience and qualifications, plus generous benefits.
ICIRR is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.
To apply: send cover letter with your resume to No phone calls, please.