[ASU] Careers in Community Organizing for Social Justice

[Fletcher Ziwoya]

------------ Forwarded Message ------------
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 11:12 AM -0500
From: Melissa Pluss <melissa at thedartcenter.org>
To: asu at ohio.edu
Subject: Campus Leader - Careers in Community Organizing for Social Justice 
for African Student Organization members at OU!

Dear Campus Leader,

I hope you are doing well.  My name is Melissa Pluss and I'm a community
organizer with the

Direct Action and Research Training (DART) Center.  I noticed on the
student activities website that you are associated with African Student
Organization, and

I was hoping you may be able to help me identify graduating students or
alums interested in

a career in community organizing. We will be visiting the OU

campus on Monday April 6 @ 7:00 PM in the Baker University Center, Room 341
to recruit spring graduating students and alums

interested in careers in community organizing.

As you may know, the DART Center has been conducting a paid training
program for those

seeking a career in community organizing for the last several years, and
has enabled dozens

of people to launch permanent salaried positions in the field.

You may remember my associates, Ben MacConnell or Sunil Joy, who had
successful visits to

OU in the past.

It's an excellent opportunity for people interested in organizing at the
local level around

common issues affecting low-moderate income communities like affordable
housing, immigrant

rights, access to healthcare, quality public education, youth services,
crime, etc.  Let me

know if you know of any direct referrals to certain students involved with
the . I would be happy to provide a personal invitation to our Info Session
by

phone or email anyone that you know that will graduate this spring with an
interest in this

area. Though I have learned over the years that the personal invite seems
to work the best,

I was also wondering if you could make an announcement during an upcoming
meeting or pass

along an announcement to any relevant list serves.   I have provided a
brief description

below and a flyer attached for the DART Center, and our efforts on campus.
Please feel free

to forward this announcement to available list serves, fellow student
groups leaders,

interns, or to anyone you know that might be interested in pursuing this
line of work.

Thank you for your help, and please let me know about certain students you
could recommend.

Sincerely,

Melissa Pluss
DART Network
ph: (785) 841-2680
email: melissa at thedartcenter.org
www.thedartcenter.org

Message to forward to graduating OU students and alums:

**************************************************
Social Justice Jobs Available to OU graduating students and alums!

Direct Action & Research Training (DART) Center will be on the OU

campus on Monday April 6 @ 7:00 PM in the Baker University Center, Room 341
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 if you are interested by contacting Melissa Pluss at
melissa at thedartcenter.org or

calling 785.841.2680 with your name, phone # and email address.

DART 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. 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
• 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: Melissa

Pluss, DART Network, 820 New York Street Lawrence, KS 66044 or by email:

melissa at 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:

www.thedartcenter.org.

Melissa Pluss
DART Network
ph: (785) 841-2680
email: melissa at thedartcenter.org
www.thedartcenter.org

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From: "Melissa Pluss" <melissa at thedartcenter.org>
Subject: Campus Leader - Careers in Community Organizing for Social Justice
	for African Student Organization members at OU!
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:12:26 -0500
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