Organizing Director

HANA Center is a Chicago area community-based community organization working to meet the critical needs of Korean, Asian American, and multiethnic immigrant communities and build power toward systemic change to advance human rights. HANA has offices in Chicago and Prospect Heights, Illinois.

Launched in February 2017, HANA Center is a strategic merger of two of the oldest organizations in the Korean American community: Korean American Community Services (KACS, founded 1972) and Korean American Resource and Cultural Center (KRCC, founded 1995). HANA integrates KACS’ history of responding to the critical needs of the Korean American and local immigrant communities and KRCC’s track record of dynamic, culturally-rooted community organizing and leadership development. HANA means “one” in the Korean language, symbolizing unity and wholeness, forming a critical force to resist and build during a time of relentless attacks against immigrants. HANA focuses on developing the leadership of the most vulnerable community members, including low-income, limited English proficient, undocumented immigrants, youth, women, seniors, LGBTQ+ people, and adoptees. Led by a strong base and leadership, HANA is committed to mobilizing community power to achieve social, economic, and racial justice.

Position Summary

HANA seeks an Organizing Director who will lead a team with vision, motivation, and dedication to build community power to bring structural change toward achieving racial, social, and economic justice.

HANA’s Organizing Director provides deep understanding and experience in community leadership, power building, membership, and campaign development and implementation with a focus on empowering directly impacted and vulnerable community members to create systemic changes. The Organizing Director drives HANA’s ambitious program to build a strong base of community leaders to fight for bold progressive policies and practices at local, state, and national levels. The Organizing Director will build and sustain a strong team of community organizers to strengthen HANA’s organizing program.

The Organizing Director is a full-time exempt position that will be split between the Chicago and Prospect Heights offices.

Major Responsibilities:

Base-building and Leadership Development

  • Support organizers to build a powerful base of leaders among HANA’s multi-generations of community members by ensuring staff are equipped with necessary tools including training on: conducting one-on-ones; building leaders; developing power analyses; and developing and implementing organizing and civic engagement campaigns

  • Develop and support a leadership training program for developing a multi-generation of leaders on an on-going basis

  • Create systems to track and evaluate leadership development and strength of base

  • Oversee HANA’s membership program that engages members in on-going relationship building, political education, and skills building opportunities

  • Ensure HANA holds regular outreach programs at religious and community organizations, businesses, and area schools where community members gather

  • Ensure HANA holds regular listening sessions mobilizing membership and other key community members

Campaigns

  • Manage HANA’s organizing practice of integrating issue campaigns, civic engagement, communications, and building community power

  • Facilitate the organizing team and community leaders to create and execute campaign strategies and goals by energizing and catalyzing the community base for continued pro-immigrant systemic change

  • Champion HANA’s effective role as a leading partner in coalitions at local, state, and federal levels

Leadership

  • Work closely with the Executive Director and the Organizing team to develop and articulate overall organizational strategy, goals, and plans

  • Recruit, hire, develop, train, and supervise a team of high performing Community Organizers and Youth Program Coordinators ensuring role clarity and adequate communication and coordination between Organizing Team and across HANA’s other program areas

  • Manage program resources and budget to support achieving HANA’s Organizing Program goals

  • Build strong working relationships with partner community organizations, AAPI organizations, and immigrant justice organizations in Illinois

  • Represent HANA at various settings including coalitions, conferences, donors, funders, community partners, and the press

  • Fulfill other organizational duties as assigned

Key Qualification:

  • Demonstrated commitment to immigrant justice and racial, economic, and social justice

  • Belief in communities’ ability to support each other, organize, and achieve desired goals together

  • Proven ability to lead, motivate, and inspire community members and staff to develop into leaders and participate in organizing activities

  • 5 or more years of experience working on Korean American, Asian American, or immigrant community issues, labor, or electoral organizations with success in developing and winning campaigns

  • 5 or more years of experience supervising staff with a strong track record of building teams and developing staff leadership

  • Strong track record of developing and operationalizing a model of transformative community organizing

  • Excellent interpersonal and organizational written and oral communications skills

  • Ability to produce written plans, reports, and grant proposals in a timely manner

  • Familiarity and comfort in social media and other digital organizing tools including X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and KakaoTalk

  • EveryAction, VAN, or other CRM experience a plus

  • Ability and willingness to travel regularly

  • Bilingual in Korean and/or Spanish a plus

Reports To: Executive Director

Compensation: This is a full-time position with a salary range of $75,000-$90,000 and benefits that include paid leave, paid sick leave, health, dental, vision, short-term disability, long-term disability, life, and 401K.

Application: Applicants should submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@hanacenter.org with the subject “Organizing Director.”

HANA Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Womxn, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals are encouraged to apply.