Salary Range:$48,635.00 To 61,769.00 Annually

FAIR HOUSING INVESTIGATION AND OUTREACH COORDINATOR—FULL-TIME

This is a unique opportunity to champion fair housing and make an impact in the community! Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (“MMLA”) is seeking a full-time Fair Housing Investigation and Outreach Coordinator for its Housing unit in the Minneapolis office. The Housing unit provides advice, full representation, and pursues litigation on behalf of renters. The Fair Housing Investigation and Outreach Coordinator will work on the Housing team’s Housing Discrimination Law Project (“HDLP”) and report to the Assistant Supervising Attorney project lead.

One unique type of investigation that HDLP uses is “testing” – a process in which volunteers pose as home-seekers and report back on their interactions with landlords, property managers, and leasing agents. The information gathered by testers assists housing attorneys to evaluate complaints about possible violations of local, state, and federal fair housing law. MMLA operates the only fair housing testing program in the state of Minnesota, and testing is an integral part of our Fair Housing Initiatives Program grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Employees at MMLA enjoy a flexible schedule, collegial office setting, and healthy work/life balance. This a hybrid position, where the Coordinator works 2 or 3 days remotely and remaining days in the downtown Minneapolis office. On Fridays, the office closes at noon and employees enjoy a half day of paid flex time. MMLA provides on-the-job training and mentorship, with opportunities for growth within the organization.  

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Apply the principles of Legal Aid’s Racial Justice Values Statement in all interactions
• Recruit and manage volunteer testers to pose as prospective home seekers and gather information about rental housing practices
• Track and organize information about our volunteer testing pool and interested volunteers
• Train testers based on established protocol and training manual
• Update tester training materials as needed
• Send out a periodic fair housing newsletter to volunteer testers with news about our work, our community, fair housing news, and more!
• Set up quarterly, in-person volunteer retention events for testers
• Design and control fair housing tests
  1. Design tests
  2. Assign volunteers
  3. Review, analyze, and summarize the details of the reports from volunteer testers
• Conduct ongoing volunteer outreach in the community to ensure that there is a diverse group of testers reflective of all classes protected under local, state, and federal fair housing law
• Conduct outreach to partner organizations to recruit volunteer testers and provide trainings on fair housing with Housing team attorneys
• Work with the housing team to develop a database of properties to be tested
• Work with the housing team to coordinate tests and investigation for ongoing discrimination work
• Work with other Mid Minnesota Legal Aid offices and our partners at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services to identify properties to be tested and recruit testers

QUALIFICATIONS:

-Mastery of Microsoft Office suite, including Outlook and Excel

-Excellent written and verbal communication skills

-Ability to work independently and as a part of the greater housing team

-Experience working in diverse communities

-Experience recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers

-Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience preferred

SALARY: $48,635 to $61,769 annually depending on experience, plus benefits. MMLA offers a robust benefits package, including family medical and dental insurance, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, 403(b) with employer match, FSA, employee assistance programs, and generous paid time off.

APPLICATIONS: Submit résumé and cover letter expressing interest at https://mylegalaid.org/employment. 

If you require a reasonable accommodation for completing this application, interviewing, or otherwise participating in our employee selection process, please contact Megan Cook at mcook@mylegalaid.org.

Please direct all other inquiries to hiring@mylegalaid.org.

Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.