Canvassing Fellowship Lead

Title: CANVASSING FELLOW LEAD Location: Kalamazoo (Michigan) - In-person Annual Compensation: $25/hr (40 hours per week) Retention Bonus: $1,250 (must remain on staff through Nov 6th, 2026) Position Duration: This position is considered temporary and will conclude on November 6, 2026. FLSA Classification: Non-Exempt Position Summary Are you someone who has an interest in how politics shapes our lives? Have you ever seen or experienced systemic oppression and felt a calling to dismantle it? Are you someone that doesn’t feel wholly represented by business as usual politics? Are you looking for a high energy political home focused on justice for the 2026 election cycle and beyond? The Movement Politics Fellowship is a recruitment and training program for rising organizers who are passionate leaders of all social justice movements; especially economic equity, immigrant rights, workers rights. Fellowship graduates will be connected with other professional development opportunities, job opportunities, academic support, and join a growing alumni network. MI United / MI United Action is going to conduct outreach to hundreds of thousands of voters in 2026 with strategic resolve and an ambitious voter contact strategy. In 2022 and 2024 we were the source of the largest voter contact program not affiliated with organized labor or a political party. In 2025, MUA scaled our electoral outreach program to effect change in the Detroit municipal elections by electing 2 movement candidates to the Detroit City Council. In 2026 we are going to build power in every corner of Michigan and we need you to help us to once again execute an incredibly large and complex independent voter canvassing campaign. We are looking for a team of high energy individuals to become our Movement Politics Lead Fellows. Under the mentorship and supervision of Michigan United staff, lead fellows will be proficient in all the responsibilities of fellows: conducting extensive outreach (primarily through door to door conversations) into the community to register, educate and mobilize voters for the coming 2026 election cycle. Additionally, lead fellows will be expected to provide daily support to the management team in the following ways: setting the standard in terms of metrics and door conversation quality, shadowing fellows and giving feedback on door conversations, supporting launches and onboardings, and providing other support in the turf as necessary. Our electoral program differs from most because our Fellows and Managers will participate in an ongoing training program to learn how to motivate others toward action, to learn the history of and challenges facing the social justice movement, and to develop a systems‑based analysis of the power structures at the local, state, and federal level. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS As a Canvassing Fellowship Lead, your responsibilities will consist of executing our electoral canvassing program by using door to door canvassing tactics and supporting Canvassing Fellows in the field. You will report directly to a Canvassing Fellowship Manager. Your typical week responsibilities could look similar to this: Splitting time between shadowing fellows, training and retraining fellows, supporting launches/onboarding and personally door knocking Time will be spent in turf shadowing and giving feedback to canvassers, providing material support to fellows and frequently communicating with the canvass manager(s) to successfully execute each day’s canvass Participating in a daily briefing with the canvassing team to receive daily instructions and updates Preparing and organizing materials for daily canvassing Once on turf you will be responsible for completing the canvassing of that list and recording details of that conversation in the MiniVAN app Debriefing daily with the canvassing team Practicing and learning organizing skills through a specific training curriculum Programmatic responsibilities would include: Setting the standard for door knocks and conversation quality Shadowing fellows on doors and giving feedback after conversations with voters Supporting launches and onboardings Leadership on the team, building team culture and morale Troubleshooting on turf as necessary Executing a high energy electoral canvass rooted in MI United / MI United Action’s theory of change Ensuring canvass data integrity Receiving and providing feedback on training materials and curriculum Collecting stories, videos, photos, and other multimedia to use for promotion Attending staff development trainings and fellowship training opportunities Occasional relational outreach via SMS to family and friends to engage them around issues and the election At the end of the election you will be transitioning new and newly activated leaders to a permanent organizer REQUIREMENTS A commitment to MI United Action’s theory of change and a strong commitment to racial, gender, and economic justice and their intersections, both inside and outside the organization Impeccable integrity and commitment to setting the highest standard for the rest of the team A desire to learn and grow as a leader or as an organizer Previous experience working with a culturally, religiously, and economically diverse staff A bold desire to talk to people you meet, hear and share stories, and ask people to take action Able to stand and walk for extended periods of time Effective communication skills and comfortability working with the public, talking to strangers, and asking people to take action Reliable transportation/ability to drive to and from canvassing locations A data‑capable smartphone Not required, but would be advantages to success in this role: A high energy, highly organized, self‑starter capable of executing plans and implementing creative solutions to problems, ability to work with a team to achieve a common goal, multlingual (particularly Spanish and Arabic), familiarity with MiniVAN, and previous canvassing experience WORK ENVIRONMENT Employees must be in person to execute a door to door canvassing program. There will be in-person events, meetings, and activities. Our work schedule is standard business hours with flexibility. Evenings and weekends are occasionally required. BENEFITS Health Insurance and a $1,200/year Health Savings Account or monthly Health insurance stipend are available after 90 days of employment Paid time off policy Paid sick time policy beginning at 16 hours and accruing up to 80 hours 1.5x overtime pay after 40 hours Mileage reimbursement policy An internet stipend of $34.62, and phone stipend of $23.08 per pay period if you use your own device OUR COMMITMENTS MI United / MI United Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer; womxn, people of color, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQI people are strongly encouraged to apply. TRAINING MI United / MI United Action has a robust training program that will be made available to all Lead Canvassing Fellows as part of their work schedules. Training may include developing organizer skills such as how to properly do 1:1’s and cut issues strategically, storytelling, and self interest. DEVELOPMENT MI United / MI United Action believes in transformational, not transactional, organizing. We take our duty to develop our members, volunteers, leaders, and staff into the next generation of this movement’s leaders very seriously. Previous staff and current members, volunteers, and leaders are strongly encouraged to apply. #J-18808-Ljbffr