Communications & Advocacy Associate

Benefits:

• Competitive salary
• Health insurance
• Paid time off

LORI is seeking a Communications and Advocacy Associate to join our team. This role is pivotal in elevating LORI’s voice and impact through compelling content, strategic advocacy initiatives, and leadership development. The ideal candidate will be a skilled communicator who is passionate about social justice, with a background in advocacy, media relations, community engagement, and youth leadership development. You will play an essential role in advancing LORI’s mission by creating engaging content, supporting data collection, developing annual report, and mobilizing youth leaders around immigration and refugee advocacy.

The Communications & Advocacy Associate position is a one (1) year position with the possibility of extension.

Organization Overview:
The Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants (LORI) supports refugees and immigrants in the journey of integration in Louisiana by providing programs and services to develop skills, knowledge and understanding their responsibilities to become self-reliant and civically active.

Position Overview:
The Communications & Advocacy Associate will provide collaborative leadership in the development and implementation of communication strategies and advocacy campaigns to advance LORI’s mission, vision, and goals.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities (100%)
Communications (60%):

• Develop and implement communications and advocacy campaigns that align with LORI’s mission and objectives, particularly around humane and equitable immigration policies.
• Create dynamic content for LORI’s digital platforms, including social media, website, newsletters, and press releases, ensuring a strong and consistent voice across all channels.
• Build relationships with media outlets, coordinate press outreach, and respond to media inquiries to elevate LORI’s presence and visibility.
• Nurture collaboration across LORI’s programs to strengthen cohesive communication strategies.
• Support leadership staff for external events and media interviews, including writing briefings, drafting talking points, anticipating questions, and developing supporting documents.
• Support the development of data-informed grant applications and reports to funders and donors to help strengthen the case for LORI’s impact.

Advocacy (40%):

• Track and report on the impact of LORI’s communications and advocacy efforts, using data to refine and improve engagement strategies.
• Monitor and analyze policy developments relevant to LORI’s advocacy goals
• Support data collection efforts and contribute to grant writing to advance funding for advocacy and civic programs.
• Collaborate with the team to produce materials that highlight the experiences of immigrant and refugee communities and support LORI’s advocacy goals
• Coordinate youth-focused initiatives to develop emerging advocacy leaders to help advance social change.

Required Qualifications/Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, social justice/human rights, or a related field.
• Minimum of three (3) years’ experience in communications, advocacy, or a similar role, ideally within a nonprofit of social justice context.
• Experience in data collection and grant writing to support fund development goals.
• Experience producing materials for digital communications, social media, graphic design, and websites
• Demonstrated experience working with refugees and immigrant communities.
• Demonstrated personal dedication and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Knowledge of and proficiency in Microsoft Office, Google Drive products, and other online-based digital publishing and graphic design tools.
• Creative and strategic thinker with excellent writing, editing, and interpersonal skills.
• Possess strong organizational skills, disciplined, focused, and detailed-oriented with experience in establishing and implementing systems for organizing and managing campaigns, while also being adaptive and agile.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic and fast-paced environment while being goal-oriented, ability to work independently or as a team, ability to assume multiple roles, ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines.
• Willingness to work evenings, weekends, and irregular hours when required. (compensatory time off provided in such instances).
• Ability to travel domestically as necessary.

Preferred Qualifications/Skills:

• Experience in immigration advocacy to inform communications and messaging of equitable immigration policies.
• Have an established network of local and national media contacts.
• Proficiency in Spanish, French, and/or Arabic.
• Personal lived experiences that contribute to a genuine understanding of the challenges faced by vulnerable refugees and immigrants.