Organizer In Training 2025 - Baton Rouge

Step Up Louisiana Organizer In Training Program

12 weeks paid apprenticeship – advance your skills and fulfill your passion!

Title: Organizer in Training

Location: Baton Rouge, LA

Job Type: Hourly, seasonal, 12-week program

Reports To: Organizer

Salary: $750 per week

Application information: The deadline to apply is August 11, 2025. Please submit your resume through the BambooHR link

Mission:

Step Up Louisiana, along with our sister organization Step Up for Action, is a community based organization committed to building power to win education and economic justice for all.  We work with multiracial and intergenerational Louisianans to “Step Up” by campaigning, organizing from a racial justice perspective, and holding public officials accountable. We organize with parents, workers, students, and community members to disrupt systemic oppression in our schools and workplaces through voter education, advocacy, and action.

About the Organizer in Training Program:

The Organizing In Training program is designed to recruit and train Louisianans who are committed to challenging inequality, organizing from a racial justice perspective, and building base and power for the long term. By equipping participants with essential organizing skills and political education, we will empower them to lead direct action, voter mobilization, and cultural organizing projects in their communities. By creating a virtuous cycle between base building and electoral/civic engagement work, we aim to empower our participants through voting and fostering an understanding of our collective power as organizers. This will foster lasting change for climate, education, and economic justice by building the long-term membership of Step Up Louisiana.

Position Overview: 

The purpose of the Organizer In Training (OIT) program is to take people with a passion for justice and a willingness to get out there and talk to people to learn how to Organize, the Step Up Louisiana way. OITs will develop their skills and knowledge of how to engage people directly in changing their own lives for the better. Graduates of the program will receive a certificate. 

OITs will receive training, education, coaching, and mentoring. They will spend their days in the community talking with residents, formerly incarcerated people, parents, low-wage workers, neighbors, and Step Up members bringing them together to take action. By the end of the program, OITs will support Step Up's campaigns, meetings, demonstrations, and other activities.

Duties and Responsibilities:

OITs will successfully achieve or complete the following:

• 10 days of classroom and field training.


• Working with teams organizing in neighborhoods and worksites.


• Additional training days throughout the program after 10 day classroom period.


• 8-hour days, including breaks.


• Hours and days will be determined by campaign needs, evenings no later than 8pm and weekend work should be expected including most Saturdays throughout the program.


• Door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, and conversations with Louisiana residents.


• 1on1 conversations to build relationships and develop leaders


• Certificates upon completion.

Our top-line objectives for the program are as follows:

1. Develop a team of OITs who possess the skills and knowledge necessary to recruit, develop leadership, engage, and mobilize their communities effectively.


2. Each OIT will establish a network of Community Ambassadors, each Community Ambassador will build a committee of dedicated voters and volunteers.


3. OITs will mobilize their Community Ambassador and voter-volunteer structures to engage in various activities such as early voting, actions, phone banking, door-to-door resident canvassing, events, data entry, candidate forum organizing, demonstrations, voter registration, and political and organizer education.


4. Participate in team-building exercises that will help in establishing trust and influence collective leadership among the cohort 


5. Expanding and strengthening the base of Step Up Louisiana long-term, keeping folks engaged in the organization even after the end of the program

What OITs will learn:

1. The history and current context in the U.S., the South, and Louisiana. Some people are in poverty and distress, while others have great wealth and privilege.


2. How to listen and engage people to find out about their lives, their needs, and what they care most about.


3. How to build hope and influence people to shift how they see their choices and possibilities;


4. How to connect people with each other so that we feel less isolated and more powerful;


5. How to be organized and focused while managing multiple tasks;


6. The importance of the OIT as part of a larger program and plan that leads to long-term change.


7. How to work in a team to support each other to achieve common goals


8. A deeper understanding of Step Up Louisiana’s priority issue areas of climate justice, economic justice, and education justice.

Requirements for Graduation

1. Consistent and dependable attendance and participation


2. Behavior consistent with Step Up Louisiana Values and Norms


3. Initial self-assessment and self-development goals, mid-term self-assessment and feedback, with goals, and end-of-program self-assessment and feedback. 


4. Successfully complete all fieldwork assignments, including proficiency in using organizational tools
   
   

You will be amazed at the progress you make and how much you learn and grow over 12 weeks!  It will fly by and you will build relationships that last a lifetime and have experiences you will never forget.

OIT Commitment:

1. To have a valid Driver’s License, access to a reliable, insured vehicle. The vehicle must be available for work use throughout the program.


2. To arrive at all scheduled workdays, training, and meetings on time and maintain consistent attendance.


3. To notify the designated Lead Organizer of any inability to be on time or attend as soon as it is known.  


4. Be prepared for and attend regular meetings with your Lead Organizer. 


5. To co-develop and follow a written schedule, with goals


6. To represent Step Up Louisiana in the community in a positive light, and to embody positive characteristics as a representative of Step Up Louisiana.


7. To communicate your needs directly to your Lead Organizer.


8. Commitment and alignment to the mission and values of Step Up Louisiana and a positive, cohesive team culture

Working Conditions and Physical Environment

The position is based in Baton Rouge, LA. Work is generally performed from a field office setting, outside in the communities where we work, or at other locations to complete the required assignments of the position. Evening hours and weekend work will be required.

Step Up Louisiana is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and actively recruits black, indigenous people of color (BIPOC), women, individuals with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ community.