Project Organizer

Community Service Society of New York’s Legal Department has been in the forefront of leading social justice coalitions that successfully advocated for legislative reforms to mitigate the negative impact of the criminal legal system, including the NYS Clean Slate Act (2023) and the NYC Fair Chance Act (2015). CSS’s Legal Department seeks a Project Organizer to support the Next Door Project (NDP), a direct services program for people with criminal histories that helps them obtain, correct, and understand their conviction histories. NDP primarily partners with workforce training programs and educational institutions to ensure their students with criminal histories do not face related barriers upon graduation. When they do, we engage in formal and informal advocacy to challenge illegal employment, licensing, and housing discrimination. NDP’s goal is to put people with conviction histories in the best position possible as they seek jobs, licenses to practice trades, stable and safe housing, and full participation in the economic and civic life of this City.

The Project Organizer will be supervised by the Vice President of Legal Services, and after training and in consultation with other Legal Department staff.

Job Description:

• Develop and maintain NDP’s relationships with community-based partners and impacted communities.
• Organize and coordinate the provision of NDP services at social service agencies, community-based organizations, and neighborhood events.
• Actively participate in coalitions devoted to mitigating the harm caused by the criminal punishment system through legislative and administrative reform on the City and State level, particularly to advance access to housing, employment, and education for people with criminal records.
• Maintain a small docket of direct-service work for NDP by, under the direction of an attorney, helping clients gather information to fix mistakes on their criminal histories; apply to have convictions sealed; and create a portfolio of positive change in support of applications for employment, housing, and certificates that demonstrate rehabilitation.
• Maintain accurate records of all invoices and client work and input data into the Salesforce platform.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications:

• Experience working with individuals who are low-income, formerly incarcerated, or who have been harmed by the criminal punishment system.
• Strong organizational skills, curiosity, and the ability to work independently.
• Intuitive and empathetic interpersonal skills.
• Willingness to pitch in and accomplish goals through teamwork.
• Clear and precise oral and written communication.
• Ability to travel via public transportation throughout New York City.
• Fluency with Microsoft Office products, particularly Microsoft Word and Excel.

Salary and Benefits: This position is union-represented by local 1199 SEIU with an annual salary of $75,200. Community Service Society provides a comprehensive employee benefit package including health, dental, and vision coverage, life, AD&D, and long-term disability insurance, 403b retirement savings plan, defined benefit retirement plan, flexible spending accounts, commuter benefit plan, EAP, and more in addition to paid holidays, vacation, sick, and personal days.

CSS is currently operating in a hybrid work environment consisting of two days in the office and three days remote.