The Direct Action & Research Training (DART) Center is now accepting applications for the 2009 DART Organizers Institute, the paid, four-month field school for people interested in launching a career in community organizing.
DART will be on UVA grounds on
Thursday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Marks Lutheran Church, 100 Alderman, (across
the street from grounds) to discuss careers in the field of community
organizing, and to schedule interviews with students interested in empowering
their communities and working for social change.
Please
RSVP by contacting Sunil Joy at sunil@thedartcenter.org or calling 785.841.2680 with your name, phone number, and
email address.
Participants will undergo a combined classroom and field
training covering such topics as entering a community, Identifying and training local leaders, Strategic planning and issue cutting, Relationship and community building, Direct
Action on community issues, and Fundraising
The DART
Center, has built coalitions throughout the country that have won important
victories on a broad set of justice issues including: Education reform in low-performing public schools, Job
Training, Drugs
and Violence, Criminal Recidivism, Living
Wage, Neighborhood Revitalization, Predatory Lending, Affordable Housing, etc.
The DART
Organizers Institute combines a 7-day classroom orientation with 15 weeks of
infield training at a DART host organization. This is a paid training program
that includes: a $7,000 living stipend, transportation to the classroom
orientation and host city, and mileage reimbursement during the infield
training. Room, board, and tuition will also be paid by DART during the 7-day
classroom training. After successful completion of the program, DART will work
to place graduates into permanent full time salaried positions ranging from
($27-30,000/year for Associate Organizers and $30-34,000 for Lead Organizers).
Graduates
from the four month DART Organizers Institute have gone onto accept Executive
Director and Associate Community Organizing positions throughout the country.
The 7-day
classroom orientation and 15 week infield training starts July 12, 2009 and
runs through November 7, 2009. Training locations will include placements in
several states around the country.
Although
it may be helpful, no direct experience is necessary. Organizer Trainees (OTs)
hired to participate in the DART Organizers Institute must demonstrate a desire
to pursue community organizing as a long-term professional career. A master's
degree or similar life experience is preferred though unnecessary. Candidates
must have a college degree or be graduating prior to June 1, 2009.
Also,
candidates must display a workmanlike diligence, be driven to produce sustained
results, have proven capacity to build relationships of trust, create and
execute a plan, act professionally, feel comfortable working with religious
institutions, be accountable and willing to hold others accountable,
demonstrate disciplined thought and action, and work in a team setting.
OTs must also have access to a car during their training and be flexible
regarding relocation. Fluency in Spanish/English is a plus and people of color
are encouraged to apply.
To find out
more about DART or to apply, we encourage you to send your resume to: Sunil
Joy, DART Network, 820 New York Street Lawrence, KS 66044 or by email: sunil@thedartcenter.org. If you have any questions, please call: (785) 841-2680.
Also, you can download applications or view profiles from previous OTs at the
DART website.
Students may also wish to download the attached flier (pdf), which contains more details on the information session: Download Community Organizers Wanted @ UVA.