Community Organizer

NewVue Communities seeks a motivated and mission-driven Community Organizer to join our team.

NewVue Communities is a nonprofit community development corporation (CDC) based in Fitchburg (MA), and serving 22 communities in North Central Massachusetts. We are dedicated to creating strong and healthy neighborhoods where residents choose to live, work, and invest.

Our Organization and Our Activities

NewVue Communities is a resident-led organization. We believe that the people living in North Central Massachusetts know how best to improve their lives and their neighborhoods. Our staff, board and volunteers work with local residents to build people-to-people connections and cultivate a network of leaders that are empowered to initiate action and drive change in our communities.

Through our four program lines--community organizing, homeownership services, small business development, and real estate development--we foster civic engagement, build new homeowner skills, create economic opportunities, and develop affordable housing in North Central Massachusetts communities, from Athol to Harvard. We aim to create long-term solutions to economic and community development needs, by strengthening the sustainability of the entire region.

With offices in downtown Fitchburg, NewVue Communities has a staff of twelve, a 39-year history and an annual operating budget of approximately $1.2 million dollars. We are a chartered member of the national NeighborWorks America network. We are one of the key partners in the Re-Imagine North of Main initiative, a collaboration with Fitchburg State University, City government, and other local nonprofits, that is designed to transform Fitchburg’s North of Main neighborhood into a community where many people will want to live and work.

NewVue is currently working on several high-profile development projects, including the transformation of the former BF Brown School into an arts community for the North of Main neighborhood. Through our Liabilities to Assets initiative, we are acquiring foreclosed properties and renovating them for affordable housing. We continue to train homebuyers and help people start new businesses.

Community Organizing at NewVue Communities

The Community Organizer will work together with community residents and stakeholders, NewVue staff and board members, City councilors, the Police, the DPW and other City officials to develop and implement our community organizing strategy. They will be supervised by New Vue’s Program Officer (who was previously the Community Organizer), and work directly with a Community Organizing Committee.

The Community Organizer will create spaces and moments that foster connection, mutual support, positive action and cooperation between residents, both in our North of Main activities and in our larger community efforts. Recent successes include the community safety campaign which emerged from resident conversations in the North of Main area, and led to coordinated efforts at increasing safety in targeted areas together with the local police. The garden box containers competition also came from community conversations and has contributed to ongoing neighborhood beautification efforts.

The Community Organizer will:

• Employ a wide variety of outreach strategies to connect with neighborhood residents and stakeholders, including door knocking, networking, social media, email, mailings and phone calls
• Draft basic outreach and marketing materials, including press releases, social media posts and flyers
• Work with residents to plan and execute neighborhood events including volunteer projects, community meetings, social events and neighborhood celebrations
• Manage resident-led campaigns including a neighborhood safety campaign and a campaign focused on improving the local park
• Engage residents in current NewVue housing development initiatives
• Oversee the work of resident volunteers and community organizing interns/fellows 
• Connect residents to leadership opportunities in the community
• Represent NewVue at meetings and events of partners, funders, and related companies
• Plan and participate in organizational events and meetings, and
• Assist with fundraising for the community organizing department.

Our Ideal Candidate

Our ideal candidate enjoys working with a wide range of people. They will be motivated to accept complex challenges, and to learn and grow in work. They will be open to ongoing training and leadership development opportunities at a local and at a national level.

Our ideal candidate will have many of the following skills and qualifications:

• Passion for social justice
• Strong commitment to community-based development
• Solid interpersonal and listening skills, including an ability to connect with a diverse range of people in both group and one-one-one settings
• Skill communicating in English, both orally and in writing
• Ability to juggle several tasks while meeting deadlines
• Comfort using technology including spreadsheets, databases, word processing, computer graphics, and social networking software
• Spanish language skills and cultural competency preferred
• Able to work flexible hours including some nights and weekends
• At least two years of work experience, preferably in related work, and
• A minimum of a B.A. in a related field or the equivalent in work experience.