The Field Coordinator will be a key member of Hamkae Center’s Civic Engagement Team that develops and implements year-round voter engagement and organizing projects in Virginia’s Asian American communities to educate and protect voters, promote voter turnout, and build base to advance policies towards social, economic and racial justice. They will work alongside and with supervision from the Civic Engagement Manager to manage part-time canvassing staff and volunteers, create necessary educational materials, and implement voter engagement campaigns.
Responsibilities
Civic Engagement and Organizing (85%)
- Recruit, train, and manage part-time canvassers, interns, staff, and volunteers on engagement tactics and technology to carry out field work (e.g. phone banking, texting, canvassing, literature drops, relational organizing, etc). Build a culture of accountability and have difficult/corrective conversations with staff and volunteers.
- Collaborate with translators and vendors to design and create relevant printed civic engagement materials (e.g. mailers, door hangers, leave behinds, etc).
- Work with coalitions’ data staff to prepare field work campaign logistics in a timely manner.
- Work with digital organizer to develop multilingual shareable graphics and digital content for social media.
- Stay up-to-date on best practices for scripts, tactics, volunteer recruitment, and engagement, and effective strategies to run various field programs.
- Implement relational organizing campaigns for voter registration and GOTV
- Build relationships and collaborate with other local community organizations and student groups that are interested in supporting our work and mission.
- When applicable, supervise, train, and support the Field Captain to ensure implementation of the field program, proper following of safety protocols, and coordination between Field Captain, canvassers, and volunteers.
- Develop field work protocols including COVID-19 safety guidelines and making sure canvassers have necessary materials.
- Lead on data entry using VAN (e.g. pledge cards, updating contact information, etc), troubleshoot and resolve technical difficulties for voter engagement platforms as necessary.
- Support field work capacity as needed through phonebanking, canvassing, texting, etc.
- Assist with reporting as needed.
- Assist in the development of a comprehensive direct voter contact program as needed.
- Attend in-person and virtual coalition meetings as needed.
Miscellaneous (15%)
- Attend weekly staff meetings and relevant team and strategy meetings.
- Participate in year-round organizing, civic engagement, and fundraising campaigns with the rest of the Hamkae Center team.
- Carefully track time and communications to ensure appropriate assignment to c3, c4 or PAC, direct and grassroots lobbying, electioneering, and IE.
- Other duties as assigned.
Key Skills & Qualifications
- Mission alignment: Commitment to Asian American communities, immigrant rights and social, economic and racial justice. A belief in the community’s ability to support each other, organize and achieve desired goals together.
- Project management skills: stays on top of multiple projects through prioritization and organization; plans backwards and anticipates obstacles; identifies and involves stakeholders; organizes work plans.
- Coaching orientation: ability to work well with others or in a team; takes the time to teach and offer useful and actionable feedback, makes sure the people feel their efforts are appreciated and expects that people will make mistakes and see those as opportunities for learning.
- Follow Through: self-motivated to meet deadlines; stays on top of all specific tasks, follow-up items, and general areas of work; does routine and small tasks promptly; drives work forward.
- Flexibility: adapts quickly as things change.
- Attention to detail: ensures all external communication is polished and precise and appropriate for the given situation.
- Communication and relationship building: strong verbal communication skills; able to connect with individuals across diverse and marginalized populations; in the face of obstacles, being quick to offer solutions.
- Quick/enthusiastic learner: can learn how to use and set up different platforms; open to learning and trying new experiences.
- Comfortable with numbers, technology, and spreadsheets.
- Ability to work some weekends and evenings.
- A valid driver’s license, car, and car insurance.
- Based in Northern Virginia.
Preferred (not required):
- Experience working on Korean American, Asian American, immigrant community issues and/or social, economic and racial justice issues.
- Experience with civic engagement and GOTV campaigns and voter outreach, especially with Asian American voters.
- Experience working with community members through service, education, organizing and/or advocacy.
- Familiarity with the following platforms: VAN, MiniVAN, NewTalk, Scale to Win, Spoke, ThruText.
- Bilingual in English and an Asian language.
Additional Details
Starts: June 2023
Location: hybrid (primarily virtual with some in-person work required in Northern Virginia)
Job Type: full-time
Reports to: Civic Engagement Manager
Pay + Benefits: $44-47K (negotiable; commensurate w/ experience). Full health, dental, and vision insurance. 401(k) matching. Also, paid time off, vacation, sick days (if you, a partner, or a family member are sick), and other leave time customized to your unique circumstances. We close December 25 – January 1 to recognize end-of-year stress and time for reflection and rejuvenation.
To Apply Applications are closed.
Send resume to Sami Watson (swatson@hamkaecenter.org) with the subject “Hamkae Center Field Coordinator.” Please indicate on your resume and/or an optional cover letter with what civic engagement platforms you are familiar with. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with a deadline of 11:59pm on April 18, 2023.
About Hamkae Center
Hamkae Center organizes Asian Americans in Virginia to achieve social, economic, and racial justice. Through community organizing, public policy advocacy, civic engagement, and youth leadership development, Hamkae Center works to build a future in which low- and middle-income, immigrant, people of color, and marginalized communities can fully participate in U.S. society and work together as makers of lasting change. We are the Virginia affiliate of the NAKASEC Network. Other members include HANA Center (Illinois), Woori Center (Pennsylvania), MinKwon Center for Community Action (New York), and Woori Juntos (Texas).
Hamkae Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. People from a wide range of backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. We are committed to a diverse workplace and supporting our staff with ongoing career development opportunities.
