The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) works to improve the food environment for all Americans. CSPI led efforts to win passage of many state and local policies to improve school food, remove sugary drinks from children’s menus, and require calorie labeling on chain restaurant menus.  National policy successes include the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (to improve school food), Food Safety Modernization Act, and Food Allergen Consumer Protection Act.

Unhealthy food and beverages are the leading contributors to death in the United States, contributing to over 600,000 premature deaths each year, primarily through heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.  The typical American diet is low in fruit, vegetables and whole grains and too high in sugar-sweetened beverages, red and processed meat, full-fat dairy, refined grains, sodium, and saturated fat.  The ubiquity, amounts, and aggressive promotion of sugary drinks and unhealthy food in the food supply are hazardous to the public’s health.

CSPI has four open positions for Community Organizers to work on cross-functional teams to mobilize organizations, health professionals, and the public to support national, state and local policies and corporate campaigns to improve the U.S. food system.  This work will especially include initiatives to support historically disenfranchised communities that experience health disparities and are disproportionately targeted by unhealthy beverage and food marketing.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Work with policy team and coalition partners to implement campaign goals and strategies.

• Identify, build meaningful relationships with, and engage activists and partners in impacted communities to influence decision-makers and advance food and nutrition policies.

• Build and strengthen coalitions, grasstops support, digital members, and social media followers.

• Develop, implement, and measure the success of a variety of engagement strategies, including events, meetings between community members and policymakers, briefings, conferences, webinars, email campaigns, and tweet chats.

• Organize and participate in field activities as needed including press events, rallies, and hearings.

• Research, write, and design letters, fact sheets, social media content, email action alerts, and other advocacy and web‐based materials to urge companies and policymakers to strengthen food and nutrition policies.  Help keep web content updated.

• Schedule meetings and calls, manage list serves, taking notes and tracking action items from meetings.

• Other organizational and programmatic support tasks as assigned.