We are seeking to hire a full-time Coordinator!

Not a desk job or a non-profit management job- this is hands-on work
similar to community organizing for a people person who has a strong sense
of social justice, is not afraid to ask people to do hard things, persuasive and
clear in oral and written communications, well-connected in our community
and a curious observer and learner. Some travel for training and some
evening work involved.

To apply:

1. Review job description, responsibilities and "a day in the life" essay
2. Send cover letter that addresses your interest in this position based on “the real job” essay, along with your resume and references to Rufus Addison at caathens@gmail.com
3. We will not review resumes without your cover letter attached

Coordinator Job Description:
The Citizen Advocacy Coordinator initiates and supports independent, freely given, one-to- one relationships between people with developmental disabilities and local citizens. These citizen advocates protect, defend and represent their partner’s interests as if those interests were the advocate’s own, thus bringing their partner’s gifts and concerns into the circles of ordinary community life. The Coordinator duties include implementing the seven key activities involved in making and supporting advocacy matches, administering a small office, maintaining records, submitting plans and reports as required, and adding to the body of knowledge about Citizen Advocacy by contributing new ideas.

Coordinator Responsibilities:
● Ensure accessibility of protection and advocacy to individuals with developmental disabilities who need it most.
● Recruit, orient, and match citizen advocates with partners.
● Provide support and on-going training of Citizen Advocacy advocates.
● Maintain folder notes and programmatic reports regarding the status of the matches.
● Request necessary support from the Board of Directors to implement Citizen Advocacy in Athens-Clarke County.
● Develop written goals and objectives for Citizen Advocacy Athens Clarke with the Board of Directors and the state coordinator to insure a systematic approach to recruitment and match support.
● Work with the Board of Directors, core group members, and friends of the office to foster conditions under which Citizen Advocacy can grow in Athens-Clarke County.

A Day in the Life of a Coordinator
Thank you for your interest in the Coordinator position at Citizen Advocacy Athens Clarke (CAAC). You are probably thinking, “I wonder what this job is really all about?” Well, I am going to try and answer that now. I hope that you will ask and answer this question very seriously: Is this something that I can dedicate myself to? That’s the question I hope you will ask yourself very seriously.

This job is one where you will ask a lot of people to make a personal decision about entering into the life of another person. You will be an “asker.” I have been an asker for more than 30 years. I meet with people over lunch, over coffee, in their living rooms after work, and in their offices at work, and ask them to consider becoming a citizen advocate for a person whose life is being diminished because of our community’s response to people who have developmental disabilities. Many times, I ask five or six or ten people before the right person says YES. That means hearing a lot of people say no in a lot of different ways.

If you apply for this job, you are applying for a job where you have to get appointments with people and invite them to become a voluntary citizen advocate. You are NOT applying for a job where you do referrals or do interagency cooperative gatherings. You will not be referring the person anywhere or counseling them in any way.

You will only have one tool - to invite a local person to step up and into a voluntary citizen advocacy relationship with another person.

You will be spending some time with individual people who have a disability. You will be learning his or her story, especially the parts where an interested citizen could step forward and maybe make a good difference. You will then be thinking of who would be the right person to share the story with and will go and ask them to consider becoming a citizen advocate for the person. You will be asking a friend of yours, an acquaintance of yours, or someone a board member or other friend of our office has suggested to consider becoming a citizen advocate for the person. You will be building wider and wider networks of people in the community from which to recruit citizens to be voluntary advocates by telling more and more people the story of Citizen Advocacy in Athens.

​There is plenty more to the job than this, but this is the job. You will “make Citizen Advocacy matches” by matching one person with another. Some of the matches will become real relationships between the people involved. Others will not.

The Job Description tells you what the job is; this description tells you what the job really is. This is the part that you have to do, otherwise the rest of it is not there to be done. You are being asked to be an asker. If you don’t like asking people to do things, don’t apply for this job. Thank you for allowing me to be so straightforward about this with you.