| AMERICORPS*VISTA with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. The Commission was created by the legislature in 1965 to end discrimination. It remains the state agency whose mission is dedicated to the investigation and enforcement of discrimination laws in the areas of employment, housing, credit, education, and public accommodation. It continues to be active in the areas of training and outreach on civil rights and diversity.
AMERICORPS*VISTA PROJECT --The project’s goals are to increase the capacity of state and local civil and human rights agencies to end discrimination and to promote and increase public awareness of civil rights and diversity in Iowa and in local communities. Through travel across the state and use of the Iowa Communications Network, this project will forge partnerships and foster ongoing communication regarding sharing of best practices and leveraging of resources among local civil and human rights organizations.
Specific expectations include:
• Serve as capacity builder (in the model of a circuit rider) to local human rights or civil rights organizations— build upon existing partnerships with the statewide League of Human Rights Agencies
• Highlight and publish best practices of ending discrimination & promoting diversity—familiarize oneself with the history of civil rights and diversity programs; identify best practices through surveys and research.
• Grant research and grant writing;
• Survey state, regional, or national trends
• Establish ongoing web based template and survey individual civil rights projects, programs across Iowa. This may be a template for other states to use
• Work with a statewide advisory group of stakeholders to receive feedback on efforts
• translation of documents
Minimum requirements:
1. One year commitment: August 11, 2008 through August 13, 2009; available evenings & weekends
2. Self starter & self-motivating; Able to work without flexible direction; able to multi-task; should have experience coordinating a project with little day to day guidance;
3. Comfortable with online and phone contacts;
4. Experience with stakeholder groups, should demonstrate being sensitive to and knowledgeable about stakeholder groups cultures;
5. Excellent writing skills;
6. Recommended, but not mandatory: Proficiency in Spanish and/or experience in English as a Second Language tutoring
JOB BENEFITS
• Annual Living Allowance: $9,996
• Health care plan coverage: at no cost to the VISTA
• Child care subsidy of up to $300/month if they are income eligible
• Education Award of $4,725 earned at the end of their term of service OR a cash stipend of $1200 earned at the end of service (the Education Award can be used to pay off qualified students loans or pay tuition costs at qualified institutions)
• Forbearance on qualified student loans (those which are federally subsidized) & Payment on the interest that has accrued during their term of service on their student loans that have been put into forbearance
• Relocation allowance of up to $550 (they must move more than 50 miles to their service site in order to be eligible)
• One year of non-competitive status for federal jobs once they successfully complete their term of service
• Life insurance (costs the member $2.07/pay period)
• 10 personal days of leave
• 10 days of sick leave
Deadline is June 23 for the ICRC position. For more information or to apply, individuals need to go to the AmeriCorps website: www.americorps.org . In the Join AmeriCorps! section on the right side of the page, candidates should select "community outreach" as your interest and "Iowa" as the state, then click on "Search." When the position listings appear, they may click on "Iowa Human & Civil Rights VISTA Project. |
