Job Opening: Texas Program Coordinator

Texas Program Coordinator:

Border Justice and Human Rights Initiative

The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) is seeking a full-time Program Coordinator to implement our Border Organizing Initiative, a project that is building capacity for human rights organizing and advocacy for migrants, refugees, and border communities. 

ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) is a center for human rights education and advocacy, working to defend and expand the rights of immigrants and refugees. NNIRR affirms the right of mobility, that migrants’ rights are human rights, and that no international border can be a zone of exception when it comes to human rights protections. To accomplish that, we work with local, national, and global civil society organizations and international agencies to urge governments to fulfill their human rights obligations and provide for the safety and due process of all migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

At the national level, we work with grassroots immigrant rights groups, racial and climate justice leaders, as well as labor and faith-based organizations, to redress the humanitarian crises created by immigration enforcement, and to seek long-term immigration policy reform —a reform that centers on migrants’ human rights at the core of all policy interventions. Through our office in El Paso, Texas, we are expanding our human rights work on the US-Mexico border by partnering with grassroots leaders and organizations to build platforms for capacity-building, knowledge exchange, and political action. NNIRR has chosen intentionally and deliberately to launch our rights-based movement-building initiative at the border, a region that for decades has been ground zero for anti-immigrant, hyper-militarized immigration policies. 

THE POSITION

This initiative builds upon NNIRR’s historical commitments to rights at borders, and NNIRR’s “Building a Race and Education Dialogue in the Global Economy” (BRIDGE), which anchors our popular education approach. The project coordinator will lead the next phase in our current participatory community-based initiative, Spotlight: Mapping for Human Rights on the Borderlands. Over the past year, NNIRR has worked in partnership with border groups to develop a participatory mapping project to document the effects of immigration deterrence and militarization on border communities, migrants, and refugees and to uplift the voices and stories of those working on those seeking transformative policy change.

Expanding upon NNIRR’s history of popular education, language justice, participatory research, and intergenerational organizing, the coordinator will be responsible for building local spaces where organizers and marginalized communities will foster solidarity, gain knowledge, deepen analyses, strategize and draw inspiration from each other to transform local organizing and grassroots policy into political power.

This position will be overseen by and work closely with NNIRR Director, based in El Paso, TX.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Cultivate/deepen relationships and partnerships in key border regions and engage in regular dialogue with local community organizations. 
• Lead NNIRR’s trainers’ circle composed of local organizers and experienced organizers and practitioners from key sectors, including immigrant, labor, voter engagement, environmental, reproductive justice, and others. This circle will analyze the local community landscape, review and aggregate popular education tools, design the flow of the Grassroots Human Rights Institutes, and create advocacy strategies focused on building grassroots power.
• Organize Human Rights Institutes with immigrant rights organizers and activists from the four targeted regions, by utilizing popular education strategies rooted in race, gender, class, etc. (intersectional framing). 
• Coordinate training logistics and join the team of facilitators 
• Participate in webinars and conference calls related to human rights at the border.
• Coordinate/engage in relevant advocacy initiatives for human rights at the border.
• Participate in regular staff and board meetings and prepare reports as needed; contribute to fund-development efforts for the project. 

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bilingual, Spanish/English required.
• 5 years minimum experience in the role of community organizer, and advocacy.
• Experience with curriculum development, training design, and facilitation.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Experience with Microsoft word, excel, google sheets and google docs.
• Attention to detail and creative problem-solving skills.
• Experienced uplifting work through digital and social media platforms.

COMPENSATION & CONDITIONS

Competitive salary. This position requires some regional and national travel. Day-to-day work can be based remotely as long as located in a border community in the state of Texas. This is a specific term position through the fall of 2023.

TO APPLY:

Send a cover letter and resume to: adominguez@nnirr.org no later than July, 26th, 2022. For further questions about the position, please email contact: amaquitico@nnirr.org.