Voting Rights Advocacy Coordinator in New York, New York at LatinoJustice PRLDEF

ABOUT LATINOJUSTICE PRLDEF:

Founded as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund in 1972, LatinoJustice PRLDEF uses and challenges law to create a more just and equitable society. We transform harmful systems, empower our communities, fight for racial justice, and grow the next generation of líderes. Headquartered in New York City. LatinoJustice focuses on six pillars of work: Economic Justice (i.e., education, employment, and housing), Immigrant Rights, Voting Rights, Puerto Rico, Policing and Prison Reform, and Leadership Development. And our Racial Justice Project engages in advocacy and litigation on behalf of Afro-Latino and Indigenous-Latino members of our communities. LatinoJustice utilizes a variety of strategies—including litigation, advocacy, and community education and empowerment—to achieve strategic priorities on the issues that are most critical to the advancement and wellbeing of the Latino community.

Since its inception, LatinoJustice has brought groundbreaking litigation in key areas including establishing a right to bilingual education in public schools, providing bilingual ballots and language assistance to Spanish-speaking voters, and fighting anti-immigrant ordinances. Our current litigation docket includes demanding greater law enforcement transparency and accountability; advocating for fair pay of home care workers; defending school districts’ efforts to diversify the student body of magnet schools and specialized high schools; challenging local law enforcement agencies that cooperate with federally immigration authorities and illegally detain and hold immigrants for ICE; and challenging redistricting plans that dilutes the votes of Black, Latinx, and Asian voters.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Voting rights is one of LatinoJustice PRLDEF’s (LJP) core pillars of work, along with economic justice, immigrant rights, policing and criminal justice reform and pipeline leadership programming. LJP utilizes multiple strategies, including litigation, advocacy, and community engagement and education, to protect and advance the voting rights of Latine and other communities of color across the country.

Our voting rights work includes challenging vote denial practices, such as failure to provide bilingual assistance at polling places, discriminatory voter roll purges, and unnecessary voter challenge practices. LJP also targets at-large election structures and unfair redistricting plans that attempt to dilute the power of the Latinx vote.  Finally, LJP’s Cada Voto Cuenta, a bilingual election protection program created in 2016, identifies and mitigates election protection related violations in our target states (NY, PA, FL, and GA) during key election cycles, with a specific focus on language-access related complaints.

LJP seeks a dynamic, creative, and committed advocate and organizer to further LJP’s goals in the areas of voting rights and election protection in the Southeast Region.

This full-time position is based in the Southeast Region (ideally Florida or Georgia) and will entail travel throughout Florida, Georgia, and other priority states in the Southeast region. The SE Coordinator is a member of the Advocacy team and reports to the Chief of Advocacy in New York City. This role is under hybrid work model, with 60% flexible remote work and regional and local travel as work requires.

The start date for this position is on or after January 4, 2027.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Primary job responsibilities will include, but are not limited to the following:

• Identify states and local jurisdictions in the Southeast that are ripe for progressive voting rights legislation (including state Voting Rights Acts) and vulnerable to voter repressive legislation and formulate and execute related advocacy campaigns and community education, in collaboration with LJP’s advocacy and communications teams.
• Build and maintain relationships with coalitions, election protection tables, state voices tables, organizations, community stakeholders, academics, and thought leaders in the Southeast region to engage them in LJP’s work and implement collaborative projects.
• Provide training and workshops, especially during legislative sessions in identified states, about how the legislature works, and other related topics; create workshop agendas and content.
• Represent LJP and speak at conferences, meetings, rallies, hearings, and community events.
• Collaborate with LJP’s advocacy, communications, and legal teams to engage in legislative advocacy activities before state and local legislative bodies.
• Advocate in support of LJP's priority voting rights bills by identifying and convening supporters and testifying in support of LJP's priorities and in opposition to bills that harm our constituent communities.  
• Work cross-functionally with internal stakeholders in creating content for posting on various social media platforms and create and disseminate voting rights-related social media toolkits to partners.
• Guide and participate in LJP’s Cada Voto Cuenta bilingual election protection program in Southeast Region states, including Florida, Virginia and Georgia, in cross-functional collaboration with LJP’s advocacy and communications teams.
• Collaborate with LJP’s advocacy and communications teams to develop educational materials and public service announcements regarding voting rights and protections afforded by federal and state law and processes, ideally also in Spanish, and distribute this information to community-based groups in various states.
• Work on special projects and other duties as assigned.