Category Archives: Philadelphia

Community Development, Location, Philadelphia

ACTION United

ACTION United is a membership organization of low and moderate income Pennsylvanians working to build power through organizing communities to win changes on the issues that are important to them. We are a state based, membership advocacy group with chapters in Philadelphia and surrounding counties, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh. We organize to make change in our neighborhoods, our regions and our state.

ACTION United is the states’ largest low and moderate income community organization with over 54000 members statewide. ACTION United is a multi-issue organization that works to build power and a voice for its members. Our vision and goal is to build an organization that is powerful enough to have real impact on decisions that are made that effect our members and their communities.In Philadelphia, our action areas include:

ACTION United is a progressive grassroots organization is seeking, fun, talented, determined and outgoing activists to help mobilize support on economic & social justice campaigns.

Though, no previous experience is necessary, AU applicants should have:
Genuine commitment to making a difference
Energy, drive, confidence, and self-motivation
Communication skills out the whim wham
Humor obviously is a major plus
Interest in social & economic justice

A position you’ll love:
Empowering communities to take action
Help to frame and shift the debate in PA politics
Use your voice to inspire legislative victories
Reforming PA by being an action-oriented activist
Help Shape the ACTION United public brand
Real opportunity for dedicated employees to advance within the organization

Email your resume to:
rbradleyortiz@actionunited.org or drichardson@actionunited.org

Website: http://actionunited.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ActionUnited

Contact: 215-839-3390, rbradleyortiz@actionunited.org or drichardson@actionunited.org

Location: 846 N. Broad St, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19130

*This site is accessible via public transportation from the Bryn Mawr campus.

Please see transportation reimbursement policy.

Community Development, Immigrant Rights, Location, People of color, Philadelphia

JUNTOS

JUNTOS is a Latino immigrant community led organization in Philadelphia fighting for our human rights as workers, parents, youth, and immigrants.

JUNTOS combines leadership development, community organizing, and focused collaborations with other community-based and advocacy organizations to build the power of our community so may be active agents of change.  We believe that every human being has the right to a quality education and the freedom to live with dignity regardless of immigration status.

Website: http://vamosjuntos.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VamosJuntosPhilly/

Contact: 215-218-9079, Info@vamosjuntos.org

Location: 600 Washington Ave, 2nd Fl, Unit 18UA, Philadelphia, PA 19147

Community Development, Immigrant Rights, Labor Rights, Location, Media, Philadelphia, Youth

Media Mobilizing Project

MMP exists to build a media, education and organizing infrastructure that will cohere and amplify the growing movement to end poverty. We use media to organize poor and working people to tell our stories to each other and the world, disrupting the stereotypes and structures that keep our communities divided.

MMP grows out of two histories of anti-poverty, human rights and communication organizing – Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign and Indymedia. From these histories, we learned core lessons: that in an era of consolidated media that doesn’t tell true stories about poor and working people, we need a community-based media production and distribution infrastructure, and that new communications technologies offer vital platforms for disenfranchised communities to share stories and unite across powerful lines of division.

Building on these insights, MMP formed in 2005 and has since strengthened dozens of existing and emerging grassroots struggles and organizations through narrative and resource development, media collaborations, and training; educated over 1000 immigrants, low-wage workers, and youth in audio/video production, digital literacy and human rights; launched radio, TV, and web platforms reaching nearly 50,000 people; shaped the public debate around poverty locally and nationally (including producing a PBS documentary on American poverty that has been seen by over 7.5 million viewers); and led a coalition to win Philadelphia $18 million in federal stimulus funding to break the digital divide.

Website: http://www.mediamobilizingproject.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mediamobilizing/

Contact: (215) 821-9632

Location: 4534 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Labor Rights, Location, Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO

Good Jobs Now, Make Wall Street Pay © AFL-CIO. All rights reserved.
Good Jobs Now, Make Wall Street Pay
© AFL-CIO. All rights reserved.

The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO is comprised of over 100 local labor unions representing close to 200,000 working men and women in the public sector, private industry, and the building and construction trades. The mission of the Council is to bring social and economic justice to working people by giving them a voice on the job, in politics, and in the community.

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Check to America’s Workers at Bank of America
© AFL-CIO. All rights reserved

The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO is committed to strengthening the union movement by educating and motivating union members, supporting the right of workers to join unions, and creating a powerful political voice that speaks for workers.

Website: http://www.pa.aflcio.org/philaflcio/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PhillyAFLCIO/

Contact: 215-665-9800, info@paaflcio.org

Location: 22 S. 22nd St., Second Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103

*This site is accessible via public transportation from the Bryn Mawr campus.

Please see transportation reimbursement policy.

Community Development, Immigrant Rights, People of color, Philadelphia

Boat People SOS

BPSOS – Delaware Valley is the local branch of a national Vietnamese American community organization with the mission to “empower, organize, and equip Vietnamese individuals and communities in their pursuit of liberty and dignity.”

Since 1980, one in 10 Vietnamese Americans has received assistance from BPSOS while still in Vietnam, on the high seas, in a refugee camp, or after arriving in the United States.

Through our 11 office locations in the U.S. and four office locations in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, we provide a web of services to support individuals, families, and communities. BPSOS-Delaware Valley works to promote a vision where Vietnamese American and immigrant individuals and families live in thriving, connected, communities which are free from violence.  We commit to this work through developing projects under four key areas that strengthen families and our community as a whole:

Southeast Asian Youth Empowerment Program (SEAYEP) : Programs during the school year and summer season focused on  youth including School-Year Youth Leadership Chapters for high school students;  after-school tutorials; Summer Youth Career Exploration Project; Journey Home and numerous short-term community service opportunities for Southeast Asian youth.

Citizenship Initiative in Vietnamese Immigrant Communities (CIVIC): Program to support eligible Vietnamese community members, and other legal permanent residents, through the citizenship process so that they will receive the benefits of citizenship including increased access to educational and employment opportunities, engage to a greater degree both politically and socially, will be less at risk for deportation, and will be able to reunify with family members.

Health Awareness & Promotion Program (HAPP): Informing and empowering Vietnamese-Americans to take health prevention into their own hands and become health advocates in the community. We are specifically working to tackle the issue of breast cancer, cervical cancer among Vietnamese women by reducing barriers to breast care.

Community Building Projects: Each year, we work with community members, leaders, and organizations to host our “hallmark” events in Philadelphia and South Jersey, which focus on building strong community connections through culture-based celebrations and engagement. Since 2009, these have been “Da Hoi Tinh Yeu (Love Festival)” in Philadelphia which celebrate strong families, and our “Tet Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Moon Festival) in South Jersey). These events also act as fundraisers for BPSOS-DelV–with monies coming from our most important constituents–our community members!

BPSOS-Delaware Valley is invested in building and developing community-oriented leadership within the Vietnamese communities and allied partnerships in all of our work. If you are interested in working with the Vietnamese community–whether you speak Vietnamese or not–we need you! There are many opportunites and they change frequently, so please check back here.  Please note that these are generally volunteer and unpaid positions.

Contact: (215) 334-1500, philly@bpsos.org
Location: 600 Washington Ave., Suite 18U-A, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Labor Rights, Location, Philadelphia

Philadelphia Jobs With Justice

Philadelphia Area Jobs with Justice is a coalition of labor unions and student, community, and faith groups united in our shared work fighting for the rights of all working people–in the workplace, in our neighborhoods, in the media, and on the picket line. We believe in long-term multi-issue coalition building, grassroots base-building, organizing, and strategic militant action as the foundation for building a workers’ movement. We work together in solidarity and in reciprocity, showing our support for each others’ struggles, and we believe that by engaging a broad community of allies, we can win bigger victories.

The Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) is a national student organization that works with Jobs with Justice and the United States Student Association to create stronger alliances between student and workers and create a stronger and more lasting institution dedicated to fighting for economic justice. Over the last 10 years, SLAPs on various campuses have brought about successful living wage campaigns, the formation of collective bargaining rights for campus staff, and, nationally, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Philadelphia Jobs with Justice has worked with SLAP chapters and students at Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, and Swarthmore College. In April of 2010, members of the Temple University SLAP chapter worked with JwJ alongside PASNAP nurses during their four-week strike at the nearby Temple Hospital. Temple SLAP members played a feature role in the campaign, both at rallies and through their work on campus. Temple SLAP members are currently working to promote the integration of a community-based hiring plan into Temple’s 20/20 development project.

Start a SLAP chapter on your campus!

Supporting student organizing and connecting students with area campaigns is an important part of what Philadelphia Jobs with Justice does. We’re here to help student organizers!

Interested in starting a chapter, or in contacting an existing chapter? E-mail Gwen Snyder at director@phillyjwj.org.

Website: http://www.jwj.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Philadelphia-Jobs-with-Justice-507934866006693/

Contact: (407) 233-6430,  director@phillyjwj.org

Location: 1315 Spruce Street, Suite #331, Philadelphia, PA 19107

*This site is accessible via public transportation from the Bryn Mawr campus.

Please see transportation reimbursement policy.

Education, Location, People of color, Philadelphia, Youth

Youth United for Change

Youth United for Change (YUC) is a youth-led, democratic organization made up of youth of color and working class communities, with the “people” and political power to hold school officials and government accountable to meeting the educational needs of Philadelphia public school students. This is done through a process of school/community-based organizing where a diverse group of youth come together, identify common concerns in their schools/community and act collectively on their own behalf to create strategies for whole school reforms in the Philadelphia Public School System that better meet the needs of youth of color and working class communities. YUC believes that every young person deserves a quality public education that prepares him or her for success at a 4-year university, for a living wage job, and for active participation in civic life.

YUC has always followed a very specific school-based model of youth organizing; meaning students are organized through Chapters in their schools. Chapters, gain input from the general membership and the larger student body through listening campaigns. As a result of the listening campaign, YUC members identify specific issues, conduct research into the issues, develop and implement a strategy to address the issues, and hold public actions or meetings where a person in power publicly agrees to meet their demands. Our strategies around outreach, recruitment and retention have shifted to better meet the emotional and intellectual needs of the young people coming into our City Wide and Pushed Out Chapters which are not school based.

In YUC, we believe organizing for racial justice is two pronged. Leadership development/youth development must happen at the same time the technical aspects to organizing are happening. We do this by intentionally making time throughout the year where young people come and study the history of movements, how their racial, gender or cultural identities impact the individual and society as a whole, etc.

Website: http://www.youthunitedforchange.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Youth-United-for-Change-997287643671594/

Phone: (215) 423-9588

Location: 1910 North Front Street Philadelphia, PA 19122

Disability, Philadelphia

The Arc of Philadelphia

Over the past 65 years, the Arc of Philadelphia has led the way in protecting the rights of and promoting opportunities for children and adults with disabilities by advocating with and for all children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families to promote active citizenship, self-determination and full inclusion. The Arc of Philadelphia affiliated with The Arc of Pennsylvania and The Arc of the United States and is a member of SpArc Philadelphia family of organizations.

As an early pioneer, The Arc of Philadelphia advocated for the right of education for school age children, the closure of Pennhurst, and promoted integrated, community and school based services for children and adults with intellectual and other developmental disabilities.  At every step in the struggle for equal rights, The Arc of Philadelphia has been a vibrant catalyst for change at the local, state and national level.  Our relationship building with our state and national legislators is noteworthy and we are seen by them as a leader regarding disability-related system issues.

The Arc of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote and protect the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.

Website: http://arcphiladelphia.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Arc-of-Philadelphia/453547374748589

Contact: 215-229-4550, contact@arcpddc.org

Location: 2350 West Westmoreland Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140

All Opportunities, Health Care, Housing, Location, Philadelphia, Unemployment

Philadelphia Unemployment Project

“Organizing for Justice and Serving the Unemployed”

Since 1975, the Philadelphia Unemployment Project has organized the poor and unemployed to fight for economic justice, bringing diverse groups together to bring about major changes that benefit millions of unemployed and impoverished.  PUP has helped the unemployed link with coalition partners in the labor, religious, community civil rights and women’s movements to increase our power.

Our victories prove that, once organized, working people and the unemployed can be a powerful voice in the city, state, and nation. PUP’s sister organization the Unemployment Information Center has also played a important role by providing research, direct services and organizing support to jobless Philadelphians and PUP since 1976.

Volunteer:

Volunteer opportunities are available to students in different departments, such as volunteers to assist clients with using the computer lab as part of our job search services. Please contact us for more opportunities.

Website: http://www.philaup.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philaup/

Contact: 215-557-0822, lcolon-garcia@philaup.org

Location: 112 North Broad Street, 11th Floor ~ Philadelphia, PA 19102-1510

*This site is accessible via public transportation from the Bryn Mawr campus.

Please see transportation reimbursement policy.

All Opportunities, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Women

National Organization for Women (NOW)

As the grassroots arm of the women’s movement, the National Organization for Women is dedicated to its multi-issue and multi-strategy approach to women’s rights. NOW is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of contributing members and more than 500 local and campus affiliates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

NOW’s priorities are winning economic equality and securing it with an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that will guarantee equal rights for women; championing abortion rights, reproductive freedom and other women’s health issues; opposing racism; fighting bigotry against the LGBTQIA community; and ending violence against women.

NOW activists use both traditional and non-traditional means to push for social change. NOW activists do extensive electoral and lobbying work and bring lawsuits. We also organize mass marches, rallies, pickets, non-violent civil disobedience and immediate, responsive “zap” actions. NOW re-instituted mass marches for women’s rights in the face of conventional wisdom that marches went out with the 1960s. In 2004, the March for Women’s Lives became the largest mass action of any kind in U.S. history, bringing a record 1.15 million people to Washington, DC to advocate for women’s reproductive health options.

Website: http://www.phillynow.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/49646348368/

Contact: info@phillynow.org

Location: 1500 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1130, Philadelphia, PA, 19102