Open Staff Jobs
Court Watch Volunteer Coordinator
Position Overview
The Abolitionist Law Center (ALC) Court Watch program is hiring a full-time volunteer coordinator to join our team. ALC Court Watch organizes volunteers who observe and document courtroom proceedings. We aggregate qualitative data collected through court watching and quantitative data from the dockets. We correlate, analyze and publish our findings to share with the public and policy makers in order to hold the courts accountable and bring about systemic, transformative change.
The ALC Court Watch Volunteer Coordinator will be responsible for recruiting, training and engaging volunteers and will help to turn their observations into actionable items. We seek a candidate who works well with people and preferably has a background in volunteer management, project coordination and/or leading large groups of people. This person has excellent communication skills, is detail oriented, and a working knowledge of G Suite, Slack, and Telegram.
This position reports to the Court Watch Director, and collaborates with staff attorneys, organizers and the communication teams.
The Court Watch Volunteer Coordinator will be based in ALC’s Pittsburgh office.
Requirements
- A commitment to decarceration, the elimination of jails and prisons and an abolitionist shift to transformative justice.
Possess strong interpersonal communication skills, be able to collaborate in a team environment yet poses self motivation to complete tasks independently as well. - Is detail oriented, able to manage time, handle multiple assignments and meet deadlines.
- Strong research, writing and editing skills to produce and revise forms, social media posts, newsletter content, etc.
- Ability to manage and improve system infrastructure.
- Activism, organizing and/or volunteer experience is a plus
Responsibilities
- Manage/recruit/train volunteers to assist in regular activities and special projects, including periodic check-ins.
- Recruit and support court watch volunteers
- Manage new volunteer sign-ups, including
- Documenting statistics
- Messaging before and after training
- Adding new volunteers to Slack & Every Action
- Scheduling
- Match volunteers with tasks and projects that align with their interests, skill sets, and capacity, including lines of work such as:
- Scheduling team
- Ambassador team (who accompany new volunteers to court)
- Observation and data review team
- Writing for the Court Watch blog
- Organizing events
- Spreadsheet and / or data management & review
- Co-create and facilitate Court Watch team meetings and orientations
- Court Watching
- Monitor, update and / or respond to various communication channels
- Support/coordinate with Court Watch Program Director creating and coordinating processes involved in supporting court watch volunteers, including:
- Consistent meetings with supervising staff, general staff and volunteers
- Manage court watch volunteer onboarding, scheduling & collection
- Provide statistics on court watching program
- Maintain / improve documentation
- Maintain, update / improve reference materials for volunteers
- Creation of programming to develop volunteers
- Streamline / automate processes
- Work together with supervisor to develop and initiate court watch projects
- Support comms work including newsletter, website, & social media
- Work collaboratively with ALC staff to develop initiatives and campaigns
Compensation
This is a full-time position with a starting salary of $50,000 per year. Benefits include employer-sponsored life, medical, dental and vision insurance options (premium 100% covered by organization); options for traditional 401k and Medical Flexible Spending
Account; holiday time off; and 280 hours of paid time off annually.
Application Process
Please send your resume, three professional references, and a detailed cover letter explaining your interest in the position as a single PDF to info@alcenter.org. We are considering applicants for an immediate opening, so applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible to receive priority consideration.
Abolitionist Law Center is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, LGBTQI-GNC people, and formerly incarcerated people are strongly encouraged to apply.
Statistics show that people from structurally marginalized communities are less likely to apply if they feel they do not meet 100% of the requirements. If you have a strong feeling in your gut about this position, no matter who you are, we strongly encourage your application.
Internships
Summer Legal Internships
ALC accepts applications from October 1st thru January 31st for our summer legal internship positions.
The 10-week summer internship program is for law students interested in abolition and movement lawyering, who successfully complete their first year of law school and want to work with us in defending the human rights of incarcerated people and their communities in Pennsylvania.
Our casework includes solitary confinement litigation, direct representation of those seeking medical transfer under the state “compassionate release” law, post-conviction criminal representation, prison conditions litigation, and class action litigation against Philadelphia and Allegheny County Jails over their treatment of the incarcerated population.
ALC is accepting three Philadelphia-based interns who will be asked to work in ALC’s Philadelphia office at least two days a week, and two remote interns who can work from any location.
Statistics show that people from structurally marginalized communities are less likely to apply if they feel they do not meet 100% of the requirements. If you have a strong feeling in your gut about this position, no matter who you are, we strongly encourage your application.
Apply: Applications should be sent in a single email with one PDF attachment including all materials (listed below) with the subject line “Legal Internship Application” to Rupalee Rashatwar, Staff Attorney, at rupalee@alcenter.org.
Applicants are required to submit the following:
- Cover Letter: No more than two pages double-spaced. Include name and contact information; current law school or legal education; whether you are interested in a Philadelphia-based position or a remote position; your interest in prison abolition; why you want to work with the Abolitionist Law Center; and what experiences, skills, or attributes of yours make you suitable to work with ALC.
- Resume: No longer than one page in length to reflect most recent work history. Previous internships and volunteer and organizing experience may also be included.
- Professional References: Please provide three professional references. These can be prior employers, volunteer coordinators, or other people with whom you have worked. These should be from people who can attest to your ability to handle challenging intellectual work, learn new material, work well in a collaborative setting, and communicate effectively.
- Legal Writing Sample: no longer than five single-spaced pages or 10 double-spaced. This can be an excerpt from a longer writing.
Decisions: Decisions will be made on a rolling basis.
Funding: There is no guaranteed funding available from ALC for these positions; students will be required to finance their internship via grants or fellowships.