About the Training

Seven Day Classroom Orientation

Each spring, DART will hire 15 – 20 Organizer Trainees to begin training in mid-June. Training starts with an intensive 7-day classroom orientation led by experienced organizers from across the country. The orientation includes over 75 interactive classroom workshops covering the philosophical and practical concepts necessary to launch a career in congregation-based community organizing.

DART will pay for travel to the 7-day classroom training (usually plane fare) and provide room and board at the conference center where the orientation is held. Also, Organizer Trainees will be officially added to DART payroll on the first day of training. They will receive their first stipend payment at the end of the week and then on the first and fifteenth of each month thereafter. The $6,500 stipend is expected to cover living expenses during infield portion of the training (see below).

Four Month Infield Training

Immediately after the 7-day classroom orientation, Organizer Trainees will continue to develop their skills by working at one of our twenty-one affiliated organizations. As part of their infield training, Organizer Trainees will expand the power of the local organization, read over 500 pages of written material related to organizing, undergo regular infield training sessions, and write reflections on their experience. All of this will occur with weekly coaching and mentoring from local organizers and DART Center staff.

During the four month training, trainees will learn to:

• Initiate relationships of trust
• Engage religious leaders of various faiths around the scriptural basis to do justice
• Surface community problems
• Build networks capable of large-scale mobilization
• Launch winnable issue campaigns
• Plan and manage time effectively
• Create a financially independent organization

Organizer Trainees could potentially be placed with any of the local DART affiliates including organizations in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky. We will take into account the Organizer Trainees’ preferred location, but placements will be determined in order to provide the best training experience possible. Organizer Trainees will learn of their infield training location six weeks before the start of training. DART will pay for hotel and gas expenses in route to their placement, as well as, provide a stipend of $6,500 over the course of the 4-month training to cover living expenses. DART will also reimburse any work related travel costs incurred during training.

After completion of the 4 month in-field training, DART will work to place successful graduates into fulltime, salaried positions with a DART affiliate. Initial salaries start at $30,000/year, plus benefits including health and paid vacation. They will also be placed onto a two-year advanced training track to ensure ongoing support and professional development.

If you are looking to launch a career building power and winning justice, then you have just discovered the best place to get started.