Campaign Organizer, CoPIRG

CoPIRG seeks a Campaign Organizer to lead our campaigns to protect public health and to fight for more funding for safer, cleaner, and better transportation options.

Through CoPIRG we’re standing up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society. For more than 40 years, we’ve stood up for Colorado consumers, countering the influence of big banks, the highway industry, chemical manufacturers and other powerful special interests. We helped pass the 2004 Fastracks light-rail initiative in Denver and have convinced major fast food chains like McDonald’s and Subway to phase out the routine use of antibiotics on the factory farms that supply them.

About the Job

The Campaign Organizer will advocate with legislators and the Governor’s office; meet with state regulators and the Colorado Department of Transportation; plan media events and media outreach; as well as run grassroots organizing, recruitment, fundraising, and coalition-building to push for solutions that protect public health and fight the corrosive influence of big money in our political system.

The Organizer will primarily focus on these issues:

Safer, Cleaner, Better Transportation Options: Our transportation system is designed to move cars not people, which threatens our health, safety and economy. Too often the highway industry is successful in convincing decision makers to waste billions of dollars to widen highways, which quickly fill up with traffic, at the expense of transit, waking, and biking infrastructure and services. The best way to reduce deaths, improve health, increase affordability and improve the quality of our lives is to expand transit, walking and biking across the state. We also need to clean up our air by transforming our transportation system, moving away from fossil fuel vehicles to electric-powered vehicles.

Toxic-free Colorado: We are exposed to dangerous chemicals in our homes, schools, places of work and the products we use every day. The rates of serious chronic health problems like asthma, diabetes, cancer, infertility and developmental disorders are increasing in the United States, and science increasingly links the occurrence of these health problems with toxic chemical exposure. CoPIRG is organizing the public and running corporate and state legislative campaigns to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals.

Stop the Overuse of Antibiotics on Factory Farms: Medical experts, including from the World Health Organization, are warning that if we don’t stop the overuse of antibiotics, they could stop working — with potentially grave consequences for public health. While some overuse happens in health care settings, approximately 70% of all medically important antibiotics in the United States are sold for use in livestock and poultry - used not to treat sick animals but in routine low dosages to boost growth and avoid infection due to cramped, unsanitary conditions. We’re calling on major fast food restaurants to commit to only using meat suppliers that stop this overuse of antibiotics so we can move the marketplace. Our campaign has gotten companies like McDonald’s, KFC and Subway to make major commitments. But more needs to be done on a policy level.

Additionally, the Campaign Organizer will need to be nimble and ready to help represent CoPIRG on our entire legislative agenda in Denver and throughout the state.

Reponsibilities

As the CoPIRG Campaign Organizer you’ll exercise independent judgment and discretion to help develop policy solutions and implement a variety of campaign strategies to mobilize the public and influence insiders. Representative responsibilities include:

• Program Development: Help develop programs and campaigns, including researching the issue, creating viable policy solutions, and proposing the right political strategy and messaging.
• Advocacy: Represent CoPIRG in legislative meetings and hearings. Build relationships with players in key regulatory agencies, the Governor’s office, the capitol, etc.
• Campaign Strategy: Develop plans to win our campaigns; assess opportunities for building political support for our agenda through coalition-building, grassroots organizing, media coverage, and message development.
• Coalition Building: Build relationships and mobilize support with key constituencies, from health professionals, business owners, and farmers, to local elected officials and families.
• Media Outreach: Serve as the spokesperson for our campaigns through tactics like media events, press releases and editorial board meetings.
• Fundraising: Write grant proposals, build relationships with foundation staff, and meet with major donors, all to bring more resources to our campaigns.
• Managing Interns: Recruit new interns and volunteers to increase our impact and build our power. Oversee interns to develop and implement work plans, provide training and leadership development opportunities.

Qualifications

We're looking for a goal-driven and results-oriented individual who is committed to the public interest — someone with leadership, initiative, and the verbal and written skills necessary to make the case that protecting public health must be a top priority. Candidates should have at least 2 years of relevant professional experience, including (but not limited to) work in political, policy, legal, journalistic or government settings. Advanced degrees, including a J.D. or masters in related fields, may count toward a candidate's professional experience.