Eastern Shore Organizer

A spirited grassroots faith-based climate organization seeks a smart and passionate soul to oversee our Eastern Shore organizing for a NOAA-funded project to build resilience in faith communities across the East Coast.  Through this project, we will create networks of faith communities that are educated on the realities of climate change and able to serve as hubs of social and physical resilience for their communities. The project, led by Creation Justice Ministries, is a partnership with us, Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA) in Maryland, and with North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light, and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light.  

See press release:

https://www.creationjustice.org/blog/creation-justice-ministries-receives-funding-from-noaa-environmental-literacy-program

"The communities living on Maryland's Eastern Shore are among the first to be facing the threats and harms of our damaged climate," says Joelle Novey of Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA). "We also know that Black church communities like those in Salisbury bring tremendous spiritual resources and wisdom to this moment. We're delighted to have the opportunity to learn together through this project as all of us prepare to navigate a stormy future."

IPL-DMV is looking for a climate organizer located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, particularly in the Salisbury region. Ideal candidates should be familiar with organizing within BIPOC communities, and comfortable with traveling within the Eastern Shore.  A passion for learning about climate resilience and equity is required for this position, as the role aims to advocate for historically marginalized and underserved faith communities.

Who we are

We are a small but impactful organization working specifically to engage religious communities of all faiths in climate action. We do this by supporting congregations in:

Education: We support congregations in incorporating environmental concerns into worship, teaching, and preaching.

Greening: We support congregations and congregants in becoming models of environmental stewardship by saving energy, going solar, buying clean energy, and greening their grounds.

Advocacy: We support congregations in raising up their collective faith voices in the public sphere as part of local and national efforts to protect our neighbors and our Common Home. 

We are housed inside the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington and work as one of forty grassroots affiliates of Interfaith Power & Light which form a national religious response to climate change.

The hallmark of our work is grassroots engagement with hundreds of “green sheep,” lay environmental leaders in congregations across Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia whom we equip and encourage in their ongoing work to engage their faith communities in climate action, and with over a dozen grassroots groups through which such communities work together. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been able to bring on a Director for Climate Equity who focuses full-time on climate organizing in Black churches and on environmental justice education, and we are also making focused investments in climate organizing work with Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu/Jain communities.

Our Interfaith Power & Light affiliate is respected as a strong partner in state environmental coalitions, and over the last several years has become a leader in regional efforts to advocate moving beyond gas-burning by electrifying our buildings and homes.

These are our guiding principles as an organization: 

·      Our work affirms the sacred value of all religions and undermines religious bigotry by undertaking multi-faith collaboration.

·      We strive to bring a radical imagination and a prophetic voice to our work.

·      We bring our whole selves to the work and make space for others to do the same.

·      The climate movement is stronger when everyone is at the table, in the fullness of our diversity.

·      We focus on relationship-based community organizing, knowing that climate change is a spiritual, emotional, and moral challenge to all people.

·      People already have the values they need to fight climate change; our work invites people to be more fully themselves by living into those values.

·      Everything we do demonstrates a fierce commitment to operating in a moral framework.

·      Building and navigating work in broad coalitions is worth the hard work.

·      We focus on winnable campaigns that will have a real impact and in which faith voices can make a strategic difference. 

In this role, you would help connect with faith communities in Wicomico County and deliver IPL-DMV’s resilience and climate education in the region. Initial commitment of 6 months after which the work could be extended by a year or more.

Qualifications* 

° You’re local to the Eastern Shore, within driving distance of Salisbury.

° You have a strong interest in climate activism; an understanding of environmental justice is strongly preferred.

° You have a passion for climate justice and are comfortable engaging with congregations serving BIPOC and low-income communities.  

° You are skilled at relationship-building and coalition work, with experience both in grassroots and/or congregational organizing.

° You are comfortable working in religious communities and have an interest in diverse religious traditions, especially in the Black Church.

° You have knowledge of environmental/climate justice and are willing to stand up with environmentally overburdened and underserved communities that are entitled to have a seat at the legislative decision-making table.

° You have a friendly voice in communicating by email, phone, or in person, with our members about programs and events, responding to inquiries with helpful information, and maintaining key relationships with partner organizations.

° You have excellent oral and written communication skills and can draft emails in a “faithful” voice to our folks.

° You’re organized, with the ability to keep track of multiple projects at the same time and attend to non-urgent tasks with the same attention as urgent ones.

° You pay attention to detail while also keeping track of the big picture and the different moving parts.

° You are absolutely reliable – when you say you’ll do something, it’ll get done.

° You can work collaboratively and independently in a small organization, where tele-work is common and good communication is critical.

° You’re able to work sometimes on evenings and weekends, to be in our congregations when their events, worship services, and meetings take place.

We’d love it if you also:

° Have experience as an active leader in a religious community — with or without seminary training — and/or have passion for faith-based activism

° Already have relevant relationships in the Eastern Shore of Maryland

° Bring experience with state/local-level legislative campaigns 

° Have experience working with communities of color and other communities most impacted by climate change

° Have knowledge of climate challenges, resilience (preparation for what’s to come) and adaptation (reacting to what’s happened) in coastal communities

Responsibilities

Our part-time Eastern Shore Organizer will build out our relationships and programs in the Salisbury, MD vicinity. Our organizer will:

• develop an outreach strategy and implementation plan for the BIPOC congregations in Wicomico County
• help arrange and provide climate and energy education in congregations, through workshops and speaking engagements
• support greening programs that equip folks in faith communities to go solar, green their grounds, undertake energy upgrades, at their congregations or at home
• conduct outreach for our programs through phone calling, emailing, social media, tabling
• attend, table, and speak at our congregations’ events, on behalf of the organization

Terms, Salary, and Benefits

This position can be largely remote, with regular in-person program responsibilities across Wicomico County, particularly in Salisbury.  Our staff cultivates a culture of flexibility that respects the staff’s prerogative to set work hours and schedules that meet the responsibilities of their role and work best for them.

We have a budget of approximately $1,500/month for this part-time position of 10-16 hours of work per week. Depending on the candidate, compensation is commensurate with experience and hours. 

We are committed to working with the right candidate to find a good arrangement -- please don't hesitate to get in touch!

How to Apply

Please send a paragraph describing your interest and pertinent experience, and the names and contact information for three references to Anjali Gulati (anjali@ipldmv.org) with the subject line: “IPL-DMV Eastern Shore Organizer Position.” Please, no calls. 

* A note on equity: Systemic inequities have caused many women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. If you don’t have all of the qualifications listed here but love rallying folks to take action for change, are passionate about our mission, and believe you have applicable and transferable skills, we encourage you to apply.