WAND - Women's Action for New Directions

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES
FIELD COORDINATOR
The Position:

General Responsibilities: WAND seeks a Washington D.C.- based field coordinator to represent WAND in the field and in Washington D.C. The field coordinator will support WAND’s efforts to influence Congress through policy campaigns, chapter, state legislator and partner activities, and exercising grassroots power. The position serves as a liaison between WAND’s grassroots, grasstops, and political constituencies and she/he will coordinate all sectors of the WAND membership including local WAND chapters and activists across the country, and elected women state legislators. She/he will assume responsibility for the planning and follow-up of nationally sponsored field events such as congressional meetings, community forums, briefings, roundtables, workshops.

Essential Functions:

Help to develop a strategy to engage state chapters, WAND members, partner organizations, as well as WiLL members and women state legislators in federal policy development and advocacy activities
Recruit, train, and develop members and supporters into strong grassroots activists
Build lasting relationships with a variety of strategic allies enabling sustained efforts over the long term. Plan and execute education and outreach events
Help to generate media coverage for WAND activists and on WAND issues
Implement campaign tactics influencing key decision makers Develop, nurture, and leverage relationships with elected and appointed officials and their staffs, and with national advocacy organizations and coalitions that can influence federal policies related to WAND issues
Represent WAND at meetings and speaking engagements
Prepare (with the help from communications and policy staff) advocacy materials, including issue briefs, legislative recommendations, journal articles, letters, press statements, opinion editorials, action alerts, and talking points
Provide activity and outcome information for grants supporting WAND work
Help keep WAND website updated with latest field activities and successes related to our work (working with communications staff)
Data entry and maintaining databases
Quickly develop knowledge of WAND issues

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in related field
Minimum of 3 years experience working in community organizing and/or public affairs
Strong commitment to WAND’s mission
Proven ability to motivate people to take action
Demonstrated experience in grassroots leadership development programs a plus including curricula development, training, and tracking systems
Excellent meeting planning and facilitation skills
Superior verbal, written, and presentation skills
Detail oriented, self-motivated, ability to multi-task, provide quick responses and highly organized
Willing to work some evenings and weekends
Available for national travel
Ability to work with diverse people, communities, and cultures, with understanding of culturally competent practices
Computer literacy with proficiency in database systems, web-based communications, MS Word
Possession of a valid driver’s license

Salary commensurate with experience, plus benefits including a generous vacation, personal and holiday time-off. Pension plan options after first year.

To Apply:
To apply for this opportunity, please submit a cover letter outlining your interest in the position, your salary history, two writing samples, and a recent copy of your resume to Sharon Zimmerman jobs@wand.org. We seek diversity including but not limited to race, sex, age, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, religion, class, philosophy and culture.

The Organization:

WAND (Women’s Action for New Directions) is a national, non-profit organization which works to educate the public and opinion leaders about the need to reduce violence and militarism in society, and redirect excessive military spending to unmet human and environmental needs. WAND operates two non profit organizations with one united vision. WAND Education fund is a non partisan educational program. WAND Inc. helps us to transform our ideas into policies and real change. WAND has a staff of 12, with offices in Arlington, MA, Washington, DC, and Atlanta, GA.

WAND began as in 1981 as Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament. Today, our work focuses on several areas:
• Progress toward reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons.
• Changing national budget priorities to redirect money away from outmoded military weapons designed to fight the Cold War, and toward human needs.
• Educating and empowering women to take effective political action.
• Creating a pipeline of women leaders to run for office up to Congress and beyond. (WAND has a program for women state legislators called WiLL.)

Additional Opportunity-
WAND Representative to the United Nations NGO Working group on Women, Peace, and Security-
Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND) is a national non-profit organization that has been working for 27 years to educate women and the public to reduce violence and militarism, and redirect excessive military resources toward unmet human and environmental needs. WAND is organized as three separate entities: WAND, Inc. [501(c4)], a membership organization; WAND Education Fund [501(c3)], and WAND PAC. WANDS role as a UN domestic NGO is to broaden US public awareness of international issues that pertain to women 2) help implement the work the UN is doing to improve the lives of women around the world and 3) to educate and impact Congress.

UN Representative Basic Information:

Bi-Monthly Working Group meetings can be done in person or via conference call. (It is suggested that the WAND representative attend at least 4-6 in person meetings)
The UN meetings take place in the Working group office, 7th floor of Church building , 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017
The meetings are currently scheduled on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month in the mornings. A yearly schedule of meetings is distributed at the beginning of each calendar year
Meetings are 1.5 hours long
October is the anniversary of SC 1325 (2010 is the 10 year anniversary) and it is a suggested time of year to try and attend. There will be special events and programs with the Working Group and other participants
March is the annual Status of Women session when women coming together to discuss the progress of women around the world. Many events are planned for the Working Group and it is another suggested time of year to attend
There are occasional all day planning meetings 1 or 2 times a year

Roles & Responsibilities:

Attend Bi-monthly meetings for members
Attend occasional all day planning meeting 1 or 2 times a year
Voluntary attendance at meetings inside the UN connected with Women, Peace and Security issues
Respond to requests for assistance to draft position letters or support letters to UN committees or personnel
Respond to requests from the for WAND to sign on to actions and letters
Keep informed on positions and actions that other member groups are engaged in
Write 4-6 reports for the WAND bulletin on significant and relevant events taking place at the UN
Periodically talk with the WAND DC Policy Director and the WAND/WiLL Program Coordinator in Washington on issues related to women and security

Please contact Sharon Zimmerman for more information at :szimmerman@wand.org.

*This position is unpaid and highly selective.