Housing Justice Director

Overview

Who We Are:

Pomona Economic Opportunity Center’s (PEOC) mission is to empower low-wage immigrant workers in Pomona and across the Inland Empire (IE) – Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Since 1998, PEOC has provided a safe place and second home for recent immigrants to access services, find employment opportunities, and learn new skills to improve their lives. We work towards a vision of a more just, equitable, healthier, safer, and welcoming society for immigrants and low-wage workers where they are no longer invisible or silenced, have a positive relationship with formal institutions, and have a more effective voice with policymakers in a society where all people have ample opportunity to thrive.

PEOC utilizes popular education, leadership development, and organizing as founding principles for our educational outreach, grassroots advocacy, and direct service work. We aim to provide our base of day laborers and household workers an opportunity to find safe work at a fair wage, obtain new trades/skills that improve their employability and quality of life, and organize/advocate for themselves regarding policies that directly impact their lives. While we are a worker center, PEOC has been working with tenants doing organizing and housing justice advocacy since 2013.

PEOC furthers our values of dignity, accountability, and social justice through our three areas of work: Worker Rights (WR), Immigrant Rights (IR), and Housing Justice (HJ). More specifically, the the HJ Department engages in: education and outreach, tenant navigation, eviction defense, tenant organizing and leadership development, as well as policy advocacy and campaigns that push for improving housing justice-related policy in Pomona and the Inland Empire, conserving current housing stock by retrofitting and bringing it up to standards, and building more affordable housing.

 

Job Description:

The HJ Director will manage PEOC’s HJ department and advance PEOC’s mission to empower low-wage immigrant workers, seeking innovative solutions to the housing crisis faced by our target population. The HJ Director will supervise HJ program staff, interns, and volunteers.

Responsibilities:

• Work with program staff, management, and tenant member leaders to develop and implement a strategic plan for the Housing Justice Department (HJD) that advances the cause of housing justice for day laborers, domestic workers, and other low-wage immigrant workers in Pomona, Eastern Los Angeles County, and the Inland Empire;
• Oversee HJD, including managing areas such as education and outreach, organizing and campaigns, tenant leadership development, navigation services, case management, and policy advocacy, while ensuring compliance with all contracts and successful delivery of grant objectives;
• Provide supervision, guidance, professional development opportunities, and support to HJD program staff, and lead department meetings;
• Nurture funder relationships and develop grant proposals and budgets to support housing justice work;
• Track progress of the HJ program toward strategic goals, including activities and metrics for grant reports and monitoring department and grant budgets;
• Develop and maintain relationships with local government, housing and homelessness agencies;
• Develop and implement innovative, long-term approaches addressing housing instability in low-wage immigrant worker communities;
• Contribute HJD content for PEOC’s social media and strategic communications;
• Ensure tenants are included in organizational databases for case management purposes and internal and external referrals;
• Participate in staff meetings, leadership meetings, trainings, and contribute to overall organizational strategy;
• Support cultural events; and otherwise provide general organizational support as needed.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrates experience in tenant and/or community organizing, leading grassroots campaigns, providing housing services, case management, and/or tenant navigation, including but not limited to eviction defense, assisting with habitability complaints, coordinating with government agencies
• Experience in managing, leading, and training program staff
• Demonstrates ability and skills in grant writing and grant reporting
• Demonstrates commitment to tenant/worker/immigrant rights and social/economic justice
• Familiarity with the housing rights movement and local, state, and/or federal laws, policies, and trends related to housing justice 
• Ability to work on a flexible schedule, including evenings and some weekends
• Bilingual and fluent in English and Spanish
• Maintains comfortability, sensitivity, and cultural understanding in working with various working-class and/or immigrant communities, people of color, the LGBTQ community, students, individuals with disabilities, and seniors
• Basic knowledge of computer operations and administrative/organizational skills necessary to carry out job description responsibilities
• Experience with day laborers, domestic workers, and/or other working-class immigrant communities preferred
• Working knowledge of neighborhood unions, community land trusts, and/or community development corporations
• Knowledge of popular education techniques is also desirable