Join our new Activista Team – working on global hunger, biofuels, land grabs

We’re looking for dynamic young leaders to help launch the US presence of a global youth campaign – Activista. Activista is a global network taking action around hunger and climate change, with members in dozens of countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. The Activista-US campaign is a new joint project of Americans for Informed Democracy and Action Aid USA. This is a virtual, volunteer position open to youth in the US.

A quick snapshot of the problem:
A few years ago, biofuels were touted as the miraculous answer to our energy shortages and climate change woes. They even promised to bring development to poor countries where biofuel crops could be produced on cheap land. Governments and industry alike ran out to jump on the biofuel bandwagon. Whilst governments began setting huge targets for the amount of biofuel required in petrol and diesel, companies started buying up land to grow them on in poor countries. But in the last few years the evidence has mounted to expose biofuels as disastrous for both poor people in developing countries and the environment. This fall, we’re joining with Activistas across the global to fight land grabs. We need to act to prevent the US government from making the problem bigger, and make our voices, as youth, heard. A first opportunity is around World Food Day on October 16.

Our work will include:

• Identifying a strategy for this work, deciding which elements of the global campaign we can incorporate, and which domestic priorities are most urgent. This includes pinpointing targets, political opportunities, allies, activities and more.
• Planning and Implementing outreach activities, for example blogs and social media.
• Planning and executing actions, ranging from events students can do on campuses to popular mobilizations at the national level. A first opportunity is World Food Day, in October.
• Implementing a campaign that’s youth-driven, effective and sustainable.

What we’re looking for:
The most important things are interest, motivation and availability. This is a tremendous opportunity to build campaign, outreach, organizing and communications skills. We’re looking for team members to play the following roles:

• Issue Analysts: monitor the issues, write timely and original analysis
• Social Media Team: oversees our online presence, particularly on Facebook and Twitter
• Actions Team: plans actions youth can take at the campus and national levels.
• Team Leaders: Recruit, support and train other team members.

Team Members will be expected to contribute 10-12 hours/month. These are all virtual positions that can be done from anywhere.

Interested? Please send a resume and short statement explaining why you’re interested in this position to: opportunities@aidemocracy.org. Applications accepted on a rolling basis, and the team will begin work immediately.