COMMUNITY RESEARCHER/ORGANIZER — LOS ANGELES
POSITION DESCRIPTION
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition is excited to be part of a nationwide research and education project exploring data rights, digital privacy and economic inequality in the United States supported by a generous grant from the Digital Trust Foundation. We are working with a network of grassroots organizations—including the Center for Community Transitions in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Detroit Community Technology Project and an international team of researchers. Our goal is to conduct a participatory study of data and discrimination in Los Angeles, and to explore strategies for protecting and expanding the data rights of poor and working class people across the country.
The research in Los Angeles will focus on the impact of digital technology and data collection on poor and working class communities. The primary goal of this project is to understand the different meanings of privacy for poor and working class people, the context that informs their privacy expectations and the processes and practices in which they engage to confront privacy concerns and their privacy needs.
We seek an individual to be employed January 2016 – March 2018, 20 hours per week, working with community organizations and individuals in Los Angeles’s neighborhoods with pre-dominantly poor and working class residents. Responsibilities will include mapping community interactions with state and private data systems, performing one-on-one interviews and focus groups, contributing to a “popular guide” and workbook of community education activities based on research results, organizing events, working with community organizations serving poor and working class neighborhoods and other individuals to create educational workshops that demystify data, and working collaboratively with project partners in Detroit and Charlotte, and research team to create bottom-up policy analysis and recommendations for data justice.
This individual will work closely with the coordinating team of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition under the supervision of Hamid Khan, coordinator of the coalition, and with the two co-principal investigators – Virginia Eubanks and Seeta Peña Gangadharan. Stop LAPD Spying Coalition is a grassroots community organization engaged in community education, grassroots organizing, coalition-building, and policy advocacy efforts focused on the goal to dismantle government-sanctioned spying and intelligence gathering in all its multiple forms. The Coalition is comprised of individuals from every sector of the community including youth, immigrants, formerly incarcerated people, academics, un-housed community members, artists, lawyers, journalists, students, faith-based and community-based organizations.
KEY TASKS
Training will be provided for each of these tasks. The position involves:
1. Leading a community process to map interactions with state and private data systems;
2. Performing one-on-one interviews and focus groups;
3. Develop participatory research as a community organizing, and community empowerment and leadership development tool;
4. Performing analysis of mapping, interview, and focus group data using qualitative data analysis software Dedoose;
5. Contributing to a “popular guide” and workbook of community education activities based on research results;
6. Travel to yearly research convenings will be required (and paid for by the grant);
7. Contributing to the development of community education and self-advocacy materials and programs;
8. Reporting as required by the grant and Stop LAPD Spying Coalition on the progress of the project;
9. Relating to and connecting different communities; and
10. Other duties, as assigned.
SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE (Key Selection Criteria)
1. Knowledge of and commitment to poor and working class neighborhoods and communities in Los Angeles;
2. Ability to work collaboratively but also manage self-directed projects and deliverables;
3. Experience in organizing community events;
4. Strong interpersonal skills;
5. Desire and ability to work in diverse communities;
6. Basic computer skills;
7. English/Spanish bilingual strongly preferred, but not required.
8. Knowledge of popular education approaches and methods a plus;
9. Ability to work with people from different groups and different communities.
TO APPLY
Email applications preferred. Send a resume, cover letter, and the names of three references to: stoplapdspying@gmail.com . When applying by email, the subject line should read: “Community Researcher/Organizer position” Please combine resume, cover letter, and names of three professional references into one PDF document and attach it to the email.
KEY DATES AND OTHER INFORMATION
Applications will be accepted until November 15, 2015. Interviews will take place in early December with hiring decisions completed by December 20, 2015. Position begins early January, 2016. The organization is seeking additional funding in hopes of making this a full-time position.