Application Guide

How to Apply for Senior Field Director for May Day Strong

at Action Center on Race and the Economy Institute

🏢 About Action Center on Race and the Economy Institute

The Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) and ACRE Institute are unique for their explicit focus on campaigns that center racial and economic justice, specifically prioritizing Black, brown, and poor communities. They operate with a clear 'people over profit' philosophy and drive change through strategic partnerships between community and labor movements. Someone would want to work here to be part of an organization that directly challenges corporate power and billionaires while building grassroots power from the ground up.

About This Role

As Senior Field Director for May Day Strong, you will be the key connector between national strategy and local implementation in assigned geographies, building and maintaining relationships with community and labor partners. Your work directly enables the execution of major 2026 initiatives like strike schools, national actions, and campaigns targeting corporate bad actors. This role is impactful because you'll be coordinating the on-the-ground power-building essential for achieving the movement's ambitious goals.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might involve virtual check-ins with community and labor partners in your assigned geographies to assess alignment and support needs, followed by strategizing with internal working groups on implementing strike school curricula or planning for upcoming national actions. You'd likely spend time analyzing local political landscapes, preparing updates for the Steering Committee, and coordinating the deployment of May Day Strong resources to bolster local campaign capacity.

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🎯 Who Action Center on Race and the Economy Institute Is Looking For

  • A seasoned organizer with 12+ years in social change, including 5+ years specifically building and navigating state/local community-labor partnerships.
  • Someone with a proven, demonstrable track record of practicing anti-racism and earning trust within teams and partnerships led predominantly by women of color.
  • A strategic operator who thrives in high-pressure, politically sensitive environments and can translate national campaign strategies into effective local action.
  • A relationship-builder who can identify anchor organizations, assess local readiness, and coordinate resources to strengthen alignment for major mobilizations like May Day.

📝 Tips for Applying to Action Center on Race and the Economy Institute

1

Quantify your 12+ years of organizing experience: break it down by campaign types (e.g., labor, racial justice, policy), your specific role in community-labor partnerships, and measurable outcomes of those partnerships.

2

Explicitly detail your experience with 'anti-racist practices'—don't just state it. Provide concrete examples of how you've operationalized this in team dynamics, campaign strategy, or partnership building, especially in contexts with women of color leadership.

3

Tailor your resume to highlight experience with the specific tactics mentioned: coordinating 'strike schools,' planning large-scale actions, and running campaigns targeting corporations or wealthy individuals.

4

Demonstrate your understanding of 'landscape analysis' by briefly mentioning in your cover letter how you assess political alignment, organizational capacity, and campaign readiness in a new region.

5

Show you've done your homework on ACRE's campaigns; reference a specific current or past campaign (e.g., their work on housing, climate, or finance) and briefly connect it to the May Day Strong mission.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your deep, demonstrated commitment to anti-racist practice and a specific example of building credibility and trust within a team or partnership of predominantly women of color.', 'Your direct experience in forging and maintaining community-labor partnerships at the state or local level, highlighting a successful campaign outcome from such collaboration.', 'Your ability to operate strategically under pressure, with an example of navigating a politically sensitive environment to advance a campaign goal.', 'Your vision for how you would approach building alignment and readiness in an assigned geography for the key 2026 May Day Strong strategies.']

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → ACRE's current and past campaign portfolios (e.g., 'Cancel Corporate Debt,' 'Homes for All,' climate finance work) to understand their strategic targets and theory of change.
  • → The 'May Day Strong' initiative itself—search for any public statements, past actions, or partner organizations involved to grasp its scope and goals for 2026.
  • → ACRE's key organizational partners in the labor and racial justice movements to understand the ecosystem you'd be engaging.
  • → The backgrounds of ACRE's leadership and staff (via website/LinkedIn) to understand the organizational culture and the 'predominantly women of color staff' context.
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💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 "Walk us through a complex community-labor partnership you built or managed. What were the challenges, and how did you navigate differing priorities or political sensitivities?"
2 "Describe a time you had to conduct a landscape analysis or assess organizational readiness for a major campaign. What factors did you evaluate, and how did you use that assessment?"
3 "How do you operationalize anti-racist principles in your daily organizing work, particularly in relationship-building and campaign strategy development?"
4 "May Day Strong involves coordinating 'strike schools' and actions. Based on your experience, what are key elements for making these events successful with strong labor and community involvement?"
5 "How would you approach identifying 'anchor organizations' and building an aligned table in a new geography where ACRE has less existing presence?"
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Submitting a generic application that doesn't explicitly address the required 12 years of social change organizing and 5 years in community-labor partnerships.
  • Using vague language about 'diversity' or 'inclusion' without providing concrete, actionable examples of your anti-racist practice and experience in the specified team context.
  • Focusing only on national-level campaign experience without demonstrating your ability to translate strategy into local implementation and build relationships with grassroots partners.

📅 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:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Action Center on Race and the Economy Institute!

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