Community Organizers
Company: Our Place Initiative
Location: Toronto/Etobicoke, ON
ORGANIZE
Our Place Initiative is looking for skilled canvassers to engage the residents of Etobicoke in the process of community organizing! Our purpose is to facilitate engagement on issues that residents care about and recruit volunteers to get engaged in our campaigns. Sometimes one person calling their local representative can wield results, but what if there was way to present issues to the community and facilitate collective action? This is the premise that we operate from, along with the idea that a democracy is only as strong as how much the public is engaged.
OUR CAMPAIGNS
With that, our local campaigns include the halt of door-to-door mail delivery by Canada Post as well as campaigning around local bus routes. We are not alone in campaigning around the Canada Post issue, as little research will show that communities around the country are up in arms about this. This decision was made with zero discussion in parliament and zero consultation with the public. Vancouver in particular was able to campaign to the point of achieving a unanimously signed letter by their city council. In Etobicoke, the halt will negatively effect the high senior population as well as people with disabilities.
Our simultaneous second campaign dealing with local bus routes spawned from the growing frustration of public transit in Etobicoke. There has been a lot of industrial and home development in the area, and the bus routes have not been able to keep up. We are looking to help facilitate organizing around one of these routes.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS
Let us not forget that there are important elections coming up! For both the Mayoral elections at the end of the year and the Federal Elections at the end of next year, we are looking to engage the community in voter education and Get Out The Vote events. The success of these initiatives depends on how well we have engaged the community with our local campaigns, hence why we are looking for dynamic canvassers to inspire such involvement. We are nonpartisan, so these events will not be based around a particular candidate. They will based around issues that have arisen in the community and how the campaigns and candidates match up. This is also to increase voter turnout in the area.
REQUIREMENTS
    Experience in Face to Face: We will presenting petitions to the community, going door to door, in the plazas, and setting up booths at community events. If you have experience engaging the public either through campaigning, fundraising, or sales, this is a big plus. Keep in mind that we not only hope to gain signatures from residents, but also engage volunteerism and participation in future events.
    Able to Commute to Etobicoke: Our canvassing operations will be happening in Etobicoke Centre. The ability to get to Kipling Station and take the required bus (depending on where we are canvassing that day) is a must.
    A Team Player: We will be fostering a team-oriented environment with our canvassing operations, fostering support for the unpredictable circumstances canvassers face out there. In short, big egos need not apply.
    Ability to Be on One’s Feet all day: It may be redundant, but keep in mind that for the most part, canvassers we will either be walking around door to door or standing in the plaza. There will be times that we have a booth at an event, but not as often as the previous mediums.
    Ability to Speak From a NonPartisan Viewpoint: We are looking to engage the public into civic activities, not pursued or get in to argument. Passion is wonderful, but there needs to be the ability to respect all viewpoints you come across, no matter what they may be.
$14/hr
Full-Time
Please send in your resume, cover letter, and answer the following questions:
What do you find interesting about community organizing
How do you feel approaching people at their doorstep or in a plaza
How familiar are you with the upcoming elections

NOTE: Never make payment to any employer, person, company, contractor or agency to get hired for a Job.

E-mail: msegalemail@gmail.com