Application Guide
How to Apply for Lead Organizer
at EducateUS
🏢 About EducateUS
EducateUS is unique as a movement-building organization specifically focused on advancing comprehensive sex education nationwide through voter engagement. Unlike general education nonprofits, they take a targeted political and organizing approach to create systemic change around this specific issue. Someone would want to work here if they're passionate about sex education advocacy and believe in using electoral and organizing strategies to drive policy change.
About This Role
As Lead Organizer, you'll be responsible for building and maintaining coalition relationships, running the school board candidate endorsement program, and developing strategies to fill gaps in partner organizations' advocacy efforts. This role is impactful because you'll directly shape how sex education advocacy is organized nationally, from local school boards to national campaigns, making you a key architect of the movement's growth.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might start with a strategy call with state partners to assess their advocacy gaps, followed by planning a digital pressure campaign targeting school board members. In the afternoon, you could be training volunteers on door-knocking scripts about sex education policies, then reviewing applications for the school board endorsement program while preparing for a coalition meeting about upcoming legislation.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who EducateUS Is Looking For
- Has hands-on experience with at least two political/issue campaigns where they managed both in-person organizing (door knocking, community meetings) AND digital organizing (pressure campaigns, peer-to-peer texting)
- Can demonstrate specific examples of assessing organizational gaps in strategy/skills/infrastructure and developing plans to address them
- Has managed teams (employees, interns, or volunteers) for at least one year with measurable results in volunteer recruitment or team development
- Shows experience with coalition building and representing an organization in policy/strategy sessions with diverse stakeholders
📝 Tips for Applying to EducateUS
Quantify your campaign experience: Instead of just listing campaigns, specify your role, scale (e.g., 'managed 50 volunteers for city council race'), and outcomes (e.g., 'increased voter contacts by 30%')
Highlight both in-person AND digital organizing experience separately in your resume - EducateUS specifically wants candidates who can do both
Research and mention specific state-level sex education policies or recent school board battles to show you understand the current landscape
Prepare examples of how you've helped organizations identify and fill strategy/resource gaps - this is a core responsibility mentioned twice in the job description
If you have school board or local election experience, emphasize it heavily since you'll be running their endorsement program
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Your specific experience with both in-person and digital organizing tactics and how you've integrated them in past campaigns", 'Examples of successful coalition building or partnership development with advocacy organizations', 'Your approach to identifying organizational gaps and developing strategic plans to address them', "Why you're personally committed to sex education advocacy and how that aligns with EducateUS's movement-building approach"]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → EducateUS's current campaigns and partner organizations (check their website and social media)
- → Recent state-level sex education legislation and which states have comprehensive vs. abstinence-only policies
- → School board election trends and controversies related to sex education in the last 2 years
- → The organization's theory of change - how they believe voter engagement leads to policy change on sex education
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Only highlighting digital OR in-person organizing experience when the role requires both
- Generic advocacy experience without specific examples from political/electoral campaigns
- Focusing only on sex education content knowledge without demonstrating organizing/strategy skills
- Not showing understanding of the political nature of the work - this isn't just curriculum development
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!