Job description
Illinois PIRG Campaign Associate
Illinois PIRG is seeking a Campaign Associate to help lead our Right to Repair Campaign.
You buy stuff. It breaks or doesn’t work right. You could throw it away and buy new stuff, but you’d rather repair it. But then you find out you can’t do it yourself, you can’t even bring it to a third party repair shop. You have to bring it back to the original company, which can charge an arm and a leg because there’s no competition—and sometimes they just won’t fix it. And you decide to throw the thing away.
It means more cost to consumers, and also means more waste. Americans dispose of 416,000 cell phones per day, and only 15 to 20 percent of electronic waste is recycled.
We imagine a different kind of system, where instead of throwing things out, we reuse, salvage and rebuild. But that means taking on the big companies who would push us into buying more and throwing more away.
The goal of our Right to Repair campaign is to give every consumer and small business access to the parts, tools and service information they need to repair products so we can keep things in use and reduce waste.
We are building on a successful idea, with a broad coalition that appeals to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. More and more, people are experiencing this problem firsthand, especially as our smartphones struggle to last two years, and are so difficult to repair. Together with farmers—who can’t fix farm equipment without the manufacturers doing the repairs—repair businesses, and consumers who care about waste, we are working to pass Right to Repair legislation in Illinois.
Entry-level candidates are encouraged to apply; we provide training on advocacy and organizing skills, as well as oversight and on-the-ground training by an experienced advocate. Ideal candidates will have leadership experience, top-notch written and verbal skills, an eagerness to learn, and be ready for a challenge. We value organizing experience, including building campus or community groups.
TYPICAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Build powerful coalitions: Reach out to like-minded organizations and affected constituency groups to demonstrate support for our campaign goals.
- Earn traditional media and social media attention: Organize news conferences and write opinion pieces. Build a following on Facebook and Twitter for your campaign.
- Lobby elected officials: Coordinate strategy with champions in Congress. Make a convincing case to legislators who are undecided on a particular vote. When a critical vote is happening on your campaign, work to demonstrate the support you’ve been building on the ground to help line up the votes needed to win.
- Research and write reports: Catalogue and analyze data relevant to the issue and our policy proposals to help influence public debate and earn media attention for our cause.
- Identify and cultivate donors: Reach out to foundations and major donors and ask them to fund your campaign.
- Recruit new people to your team: Help build your team recruiting volunteers, interns and full-time staff.
- Run a grassroots campaign office each summer: Run a campaign office for the summer to raise money to support our campaigns, build our organization and membership, and help build critical and timely grassroots support to win key campaigns while honing your organizing and management skills.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
The target annual compensation for this position is $30,000 – $31,500 in the first year. Illinois PIRG offers a competitive benefits package. We also offer an excellent training program and opportunities for advancement.
TO APPLY
Fill out our online application:https://jobs.pirg.org/apply_356.html
LOCATION
Chicago, IL
We’re also hiring Campaign Associates to work on other campaigns in locations across the country. We accept applications on a rolling basis.
THINGS TO KNOW WHEN YOU APPLY
Illinois PIRG is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change. Visit https://jobs.uspirg.org/core-values.html for things you should know about our network when you apply.
Illinois PIRG is an equal opportunity employer.