Join Our Team: Organizing Systems Consultant

Co-op Dayton is seeking an experienced organizer to set up systems that will enable us to engage and develop people and organizations who are striving to build a new world.

INTRODUCTION 

Co-op Dayton is a non-profit organization founded in 2016 to build a more equitable and sustainable local economy. We organize Black and working class residents of Dayton, Ohio to identify economic gaps and challenges, and then to co-create cooperative enterprises that address them. These cooperatives meet our collective needs, remain rooted in and accountable to our community, and offer dignified jobs through shared ownership. 

Since our founding, we have supported the development of a cooperative grocery store, makerspace, doula and perinatal health provider collective, and a mushroom farm. In the next few years, we anticipate the development of a micro-manufacturing cooperative, additional food systems and care economy cooperatives, and support for the exploration of cooperative housing. To reach these ambitious goals, we need systems and training in place to bring many more people and organizations into our ecosystem.

PURPOSE 

We have many people who are interested in the concept of a new future economy, but don’t see how they can collaborate in these efforts. We want to focus our efforts on building community with many more natural organizers who are early adopters in the new economy. We need to build capacity for them to be future leaders who will move even more people to join the just economy. We want someone who can build the infrastructure to enable us to see all of the potential opportunities for acting collectively toward community wealth. 

Co-op Dayton is seeking an experienced organizer to set up systems that will enable us to engage and develop people and organizations who are striving to build a new world. We want someone to create an intake system to bring people into the work and grow them as future leaders- building within opportunities within our organization, our network of cooperatives, and other opportunities to support building community wealth. 

We expect this person to have a deep understanding of how to work within our community with cultural humility, trust building, and network weaving. At the same time, they also know of and have used various tools to build an infrastructure so we can all work smarter and more efficiently. 

SCOPE OF WORK 

We are looking for someone to work internally to build our systems, and then there may be opportunities to continue work by organizing within the community. 

Outcome: Build and pilot systems and trainings that will enable Co-op Dayton to cultivate cohorts of emerging leaders in the new economy and support them in leading projects to pilot and/or scale community mobilizing opportunities. 

• Build an infrastructure to track and engage interested individuals

• A tool to track people who are interested in working with us (within our work tools- Monday.com)

• A tool to track opportunities to plug people into (within our work tools- Monday.com)

• Method/process & templates for engaging with those who are interested

• Method for placing/connecting people into those opportunities

• Talking points- create shared language for inviting people in 

• Test the process with the first cohort of emerging leaders

• Identifying the roles & accountability structure needed to maintain this work

• Create a pipeline

• Identify, compile, and track existing movement spaces & partner organizations in Dayton to find early adopters, and begin to identify those who are interested in growing further

• Create plan for how we intentionally form value-exchange agreements with partners to create ongoing and lasting pipelines of emerging leaders

• Plan a series of conversations to co-develop our community’s pathway to community wealth

• Relationship building strategy & pilot

• Develop a plan to cultivate relationships through inviting people to community spaces 

• Nurture natural organizers’ and community leader’s interest in becoming the front line responders of the just economy

• Build training program to move early adopters to a place where they can implement a program

• Identify training/education necessary to bring people into this work (which could lead to future projects)

• This may involve interviewing people to understand the needs and opportunities

• Develop a training program to guide early adopters through a program moving them to a place where they implement a plan/project

• Consult with IUE-CWA & other partners to plan ongoing part-time organizer operating structure

We are looking for a contract to begin over the summer and be completed by December), with the possibility to extend based on future work that is identified. We would pay up to $25,000 over the course of the contract based on the outcomes and deadlines we have collectively identified. 

Co-op Dayton is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion or belief, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by law (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions). 

People of color, women, those with disabilities, LGBTQ and gender nonconforming applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

LOCATION 

Our staff meetings are primarily  conducted online, and we  have a weekly meeting in person, which you may be invited to attend as needed. Our team has a private office and co-working space in Dayton on Salem Avenue near Cornell.

TIMELINE 

We would prefer a start date in August 2024. 

Applications will be collected through June 15th, 2024 and then reviewed on a rolling basis after that. 

RFP Instructions

Please submit a proposal with the following:

• A statement of interest and an explanation of why you would be a good fit for the project

• A list of projects or past experiences that are relevant to this project (this could be a CV or resume)

• An outline of your approach to fulfill the scope of work

Please submit your proposal to contact@coopdayton.org