Urban Rural Action's Mission

Urban Rural Action (UR Action) is a national grassroots movement that brings together Americans across divides to tackle our country's most urgent challenges.

Program Overview

The Uniting to Prevent Targeted Violence (UPTV) in Southeast Wisconsin program is a nonpartisan civic engagement effort that will bring together 28 community members (“Uniters”) in 5 counties (Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee, Walworth, and Waukesha) to build relationships across differences, and collaborate to prevent targeted violence, i.e. physical violence against people because of their group identity. These Uniters - from different ideological, racial, generational, and geographic backgrounds - will form teams to design, implement, and evaluate projects that seek to reduce targeted violence and advance the work of county-based partner organizations.

For reference, targeted violence is defined as 'intentional physical violence against a pre-identified target based on their perceived identity of affiliation, whereby the act is intended to intimidate or coerce or generate publicity about the perpetrator's grievance.'

We follow a ‘public health’ approach to preventing targeted violence, ideally seeking to prevent before violence occurs. This means we look at reducing broader societal risk factors such as increased social isolation and sense of powerlessness, as well as decreased social connectedness and economic stability.

Our consortium consists of the following organizations:

• Urban Rural Action
• The Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies (the CommNS) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Common Agency
• Kenosha Human Development Services (Kenosha County)
• New Beginnings (Walworth County)
• Near West Side Partners (Milwaukee County)
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Southeast Wisconsin (Waukesha County)

Main Responsibilities of UPTV Communications & Program Officer

As the Communications & Program Officer, you will work closely with a core team of four County Coordinators and two Program Co-Directors. You will be the primary UR Action team member focused on sharing our stories with the public, and you will help all the internal stakeholders stay connected. You will also support event logistics and other administrative tasks. You will engage the broader community to join us to prevent targeted violence!

In more detail, your responsibilities will include:

• External Communications (50%)
  • Develop and lead a communication strategy that helps communities in each of the target counties understand UPTV and its successes, as well as support its mission
  • Collect photographs/videos, create content, and publish stories through social and traditional media about the Uniters and broader work in the local violence prevention ecosystem
  • Represent UR Action at local events and gatherings
  • Support implementation of Digital Neighborhood Hubs in partnership with Common Agency
• Internal Communications (30%)
  • Act as the internal communication ‘glue’ amongst the Core Team, Uniters, and Community Partners
  • Send out program-wide and individual communication, using email, phone, text, and other medium preferred by partners and Uniters to share updates and program information, and gather feedback
  • Serve as a point of contact with Uniters to ensure their support and participation throughout the program
• Program Administration (20%)
  • Coordinate in-person program gatherings, especially logistics like finding venues, ordering food, and procuring supplies.
  • Schedule and participate in weekly Core Team meetings to connect and problem solve with the County Coordinators and Program Co-Directors
  • Support with miscellaneous tasks such as: book-keeping, reimbursing, note taking, and updating the work plan.

Experience & Qualifications

• Commitment to UR Action's mission of bringing Americans together across divides to address our country's most urgent challenges
• Interest in learning the back-end of an early-stage program. Able to wear ‘many hats’ as both a communicator and administrator
• Passionate about story-telling and able to communicate across generational, racial, socioeconomic, formal education, and ideological viewpoints. Sense of humor welcome!
• Experience with graphic design software (e.g., Canva) and social media (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram).
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Ability to set aside personal ideological views in service of achieving program goal: collaborating across differences to prevent targeted violence
• Locally based (within one of the five counties) preferred, but not required.
• Fluent English speaker. Other language skills are a big plus.

Hours and Schedule: Estimated ~20 hours/month, with fluctuations. Generally flexible hours, but with the need to participate in (1) program gatherings in person on several Saturdays (9:30am-3:30pm, dates to be decided by you and other Core Team members), and (2) weekly Core Team planning meetings, including during the business day.

Compensation: ~$700/month (based on $35/hour wage and estimated 20 hours/month). You will be paid twice monthly (on the 15th and 30th). All program-related transportation expenses will be reimbursed.

To Apply: Please fill out the written application at https://forms.gle/7fLZGMQCkLJQAY3k6. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and decisions will be made as soon as an appropriate candidate is identified.