Application Guide
How to Apply for Senior Organizer or Organizing Manager
at Detention Watch Network
🏢 About Detention Watch Network
Detention Watch Network is a national coalition that works collectively to abolish immigration detention through grassroots organizing, strategic communications, and advocacy. What makes DWN unique is its focus on building power with directly impacted communities and its commitment to abolitionist values, offering a role where your work directly contributes to dismantling an unjust system.
About This Role
As a Senior Organizer or Organizing Manager, you will lead DWN's campaigns like Communities Not Cages, driving strategy, outreach, and evaluation to expand the movement against immigration detention. This role is impactful because you'll build and support local coalitions, grow the base of grassroots organizations, and empower communities most affected by detention to lead the fight for abolition.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might start with a virtual check-in with campaign team members across the country, followed by a call with a local coalition partner to strategize an upcoming action. You might spend time developing organizing materials, analyzing campaign data to evaluate outreach efforts, and attending a webinar on detention conditions to inform advocacy. Evenings could involve a virtual base-building phone bank or a meeting with directly impacted leaders.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Detention Watch Network Is Looking For
- Has at least 3-5 years of community organizing experience, specifically in immigrant rights, student organizing, or related fields, with a track record of leading successful grassroots campaigns.
- Demonstrates ability to build and maintain relationships with diverse grassroots organizations, fostering collaboration and shared strategy toward abolitionist goals.
- Possesses excellent communication skills for coalition coordination, public speaking, and strategic messaging, with experience in campaign evaluation and data-driven decision-making.
- Is comfortable with 30% travel, including to communities impacted by immigration detention, and adaptable to remote work while maintaining strong virtual collaboration and organizing skills.
📝 Tips for Applying to Detention Watch Network
Highlight specific successes in growing a coalition or base of grassroots organizations, including metrics like new member groups or increased campaign participation.
Mention any direct experience with immigrant detention or abolitionist organizing, and explicitly align your values with DWN's mission to end detention, not reform it.
In your resume and cover letter, use language that shows you understand power-building and collective advocacy, such as 'base-building,' 'campaign strategy,' and 'community-led.'
Tailor your examples to show you can work remotely and coordinate across time zones, including use of virtual organizing tools (e.g., Slack, Zoom, action networks).
Include a brief mention of your willingness to travel and any experience organizing in multiple regions or states.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
['Emphasize your commitment to abolition and ending immigration detention, not just reforming it, and connect your personal or professional experiences to this vision.', "Detail your experience in grassroots organizing campaigns, especially coalition-building and base expansion, with concrete examples of strategies you've implemented.", "Show how you've worked with directly impacted communities, centering their leadership in campaign decisions and actions.", "Explain your approach to campaign evaluation and how you've used data or feedback to adapt strategies for greater impact."]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Review DWN's current 'Communities Not Cages' campaign materials, including their demands, strategy, and recent actions or wins.
- → Read DWN's annual reports or blog posts to understand their coalition structure and key member organizations.
- → Familiarize yourself with the broader movement to abolish immigration detention, including key partners like Freedom for Immigrants and the National Immigration Project.
- → Look at DWN's social media (Twitter, Instagram) to see how they frame their messaging and engage with supporters.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Avoid framing immigration detention as a problem to be 'fixed' or 'reformed'—DWN is abolitionist, so use language that aligns with ending detention entirely.
- Don't focus solely on your own accomplishments without showing how you've built power with communities; highlight collective wins and relationship-building.
- Avoid generic statements about 'passion for social justice' without connecting specifically to immigrant rights and detention abolition.
📅 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!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Detention Watch Network!