Tenant Organizer — Tierras Comunitarias

Community Power Collective’s (CPC) mission is to build power with tenants and street vendors in working-class communities of color in Los Angeles, to create a solidarity economy, gain community control of land and housing, and form dignified public systems that facilitate a culture of collective care. We are a member-led organization, established in this formation in May 2020, carrying a 25-year legacy of economic and housing justice organizing on the Eastside. CPC participates in and leads housing justice and street vendor justice coalitions and movements across Los Angeles. CPC is also a sister organization of Fideicomiso Comunitario Tierra Libre (FCTL), a community land trust in Boyle Heights, and the two organizations share a staffing structure.

Tierras Comunitarias is a housing justice program run jointly by CPC and FCTL. The program brings together two strategies: tenant organizing and tenant rights defense, and housing decommodification through the community land trust model. Tenant organizing builds the base, defends people in crisis, and develops the political consciousness needed to fight for structural change. The land trust model is the material expression of that change, removing land and housing from the speculative market and placing it under permanent, resident-governed community control. In practice, the Tenant Organizer works as part of a shared team with FCTL’s organizer, co-facilitating joint membership meetings, developing curriculum together, cross-referring members, and holding shared program goals, so that tenant association members and FCTL residents see themselves as part of the same movement.

The Tenant Organizer reports to the Tierras Comunitarias Program Lead and implements outreach, education, base-building, and campaign strategies for Tierras Comunitarias, with a focus on developing tenant associations in corporate-owned buildings that have potential for conversion to social housing. FCTL leads property acquisition and development; the Tenant Organizer’s role is to keep the member base engaged in that process, not to manage it.

Job Responsibilities

Base Building & Member Development 

• Develop and sustain tenant associations in priority corporate-owned buildings, working toward the program goal of active associations in buildings with potential for social housing conversion.
• Recruit tenants and identify member leaders through door-to-door canvassing, one-on-ones, personal visits, and phone banking.
• Build a culture of collective governance within tenant associations, moving buildings toward self-governing committees that can transition into cooperatives.
• Build members’ capacity to mobilize for housing advocacy actions and to support one another during landlord harassment and lockouts.
• Co-coordinate, with the FCTL Organizer, two Governance Exchange events per year between tenant associations and FCTL resident councils, covering collective decision-making, conflict resolution, and communication.
• Maintain outreach, organizing, campaign, and leadership development plans, and track recruitment and leadership development in the Tierras land database.

Community Programming & Political Education 

• Prepare and facilitate the monthly Tenant Rights Membership Meeting, which includes political education, campaign updates, and mutual aid breakout groups on tenancy issues.
• Co-design and co-facilitate the monthly Social Housing Membership Meeting with the FCTL Organizer.
• Train tenants and member leaders in core organizing skills (recruitment, facilitation, public speaking, issue analysis, and campaign strategy and tactics), along with political analysis, power analysis, and an anti-racist, anti-oppression worldview.
• Support FCTL-led outreach for social housing development.
• Co-develop curriculum on social housing development with the FCTL Organizer.

Campaigns & Policy Advocacy 

• Represent CPC and FCTL in coalition spaces, including United to House LA, Homes for All California, and Right to the City Alliance, and participate actively in coalition organizing committees and working groups.
• Coordinate actions and mobilizations for policy hearings and public campaign moments.
• Train and mentor member leaders to represent the organization with policymakers, press, and campaign targets and in mobilizations, including helping them prepare talking points, agendas, and logistics plans.
• Mutual Aid & Collective Case Work 
• Manage tenant case intake and triage for active CPC members, and refer members to existing resources.
• Facilitate collective case work within tenant associations, handling cases together as acts of union solidarity rather than as individual services, and build member-to-member support so that relief does not depend on staff intervention.
• Develop introductory (“101”) materials on common tenant issues and strengthen case management protocols, coordinating with FCTL so that referrals move in both directions.
• Internal Operations & Professional Development 
• Participate in CPC staff meetings every two weeks, Tierras Comunitarias program staff meetings twice a month, monthly planning check-ins with the FCTL Organizer, and weekly supervision.
• Maintain proactive communication with the FCTL Organizer about priorities, conflicts, and member needs across the two organizations.
• Support CPC organizational events, planning retreats, trainings, and outreach, and work with staff across program areas to identify and respond to organizing opportunities.
• Participate in professional development, evaluation, and staff development planning.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Commitment to social and economic justice work that empowers communities.
• 3+ years of experience in community-based organizing.
• Strong commitment to organizing through leadership development and an anti-oppression worldview.
• Strong base-building skills, including one-on-ones, personal visits, leadership development, and direct action.
• Strong meeting planning and facilitation skills, and the ability to motivate tenant members to take action.
• Knowledge of tenant issues and tenant rights in Los Angeles.
• Strong content development, presentation, and writing skills.
• Detail-oriented, self-motivated, and highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Proficiency with database systems and web-based communication tools, as well as Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and Zoom.
• Ability to work independently while maintaining close communication with the Tierras Comunitarias Program Lead and remote team members.
• Flexibility to work evenings and weekends for membership and tenant association meetings, within a 40-hour work week.
• Bilingual fluency in English and Spanish, and cultural competency.
• Ability to work in person several days per week, at our office in East Los Angeles and in the field.
• Preferred Experience & Qualifications
• Experience using CRM database tools.
• Experience organizing tenant associations or tenant unions.
• Familiarity with community land trusts, cooperative housing, or social housing development.
• Experience working across organizations or in joint programs with shared staff and shared goals.
• Experience participating in coalition spaces.

Compensation & Benefits

This is a full-time, non-exempt, salaried position reporting to the Tierras Comunitarias Program Lead. The role requires a flexible schedule that includes evening and weekend work; total hours will not exceed 40 per week. CPC uses a set salary structure designed to support lateral leadership; the annual salary range for this position is $69,000–$74,000.

CPC is fiscally sponsored by Right to the City Alliance (RTTC), which offers a comprehensive benefits package, including 100% employer-paid medical and dental insurance for employees and their dependents, as well as short- and long-term disability and life insurance for employees. Employees become eligible for an employer-matched 401(k) retirement plan after one year of employment.

To support a healthy work-life balance, CPC observes a three-week paid winter break and a one-week paid summer break. In addition to these seasonal closures, all employees receive 9 paid holidays with set dates, 3 floating holidays, and 80 hours of PTO (increasing after year two), front-loaded at the time of hire.

Right to the City Alliance is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Applicants from communities heavily impacted by gentrification, displacement, and housing insecurity are strongly encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, familial status, sexual orientation, national origin, ability, age, or veteran status.