Career

Humanitarian Director

The Humanitarian Director will manage and expand the powerful and talented HBA humanitarian staff who are on the front lines of providing humanitarian aid and managing mutual aid to Haitian and Afro-descendent migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The Director will lead a team of passionate individuals with a commitment to fostering an inclusive, trauma-informed, and sustainable approach to helping our communities who are facing rampant anti-Blackness, violence, and lack of access to service provision. The Director will lead an expansion of the humanitarian department, hiring between one and three border organizers, and will work with the development and operations department to quantify reporting. 

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate for this role will be a collaborative leader with excellent management skills who is undaunted when facing emergencies. With a keen sense of diplomacy and a can-do attitude, the Humanitarian Director must be a strong manager, recruiter, motivator, and be comfortable working in movement coalition settings. The candidate must be fluent in Haitian Kreyol. Spanish and French speakers are a plus. 

Responsibilities

• Assess emergency situations and work closely with local staff and coalition partners to identify practical, achievable needs and solutions
• Manage a growing organizing team including an organizer based in Tijuana, another on the Guatemala-Mexico border, and two based in San Diego, ensuring they have clear goals, responsibilities, and deliverables
• Recruit, hire, train and manage three organizers to join the Haitian Bridge Alliance in Mexico 
• Recruit, hire and manage a volunteer coordinator 
• Manage staff responsible for our emergency hotline 
• Serve as the eyes and ears of the organization on the border to identify emergencies before they escalate
• Ensure staff and volunteers follow safety and security procedures

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of management and leadership experience
• Experience hiring, training, onboarding, and setting goals 
• Frontline humanitarian and/or social work experience in high-stakes, humanitarian disaster situations and/or with vulnerable and underserved populations 
• Alignment with HBA’s values and role in the broader movement; commitment to empowering migrants, volunteers, and power building with coalition partners
• Fluent in Haitian Kreyol; Spanish and/or French skills a plus
• Experience working with immigrant, migrant, and asylum seeking communities a plus 
• Ability to receive and provide constructive feedback with an eye towards growth 

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and three references to info@haitianbridge.org with the subject line [Humanitarian Director]. Only applicants considered for an interview will be contacted. 

HBA is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from Black immigrants, Indigenous people, people of color (BIPOC), Latinx people, people with disabilities, LGBTQAI+ people, women, and members of underrepresented communities.

Immigration Staff Attorney

HBA is looking for an immigration staff attorney who is highly motivated and self-directed and can manage a caseload of asylum and other types of immigration cases. The attorney will collaborate with the managing attorney and legal director on their cases as well as other staff attorneys, legal assistants, fellows, interns, and/or volunteers. The immigration staff attorney will provide support for TPS holders and those eligible for TPS, work with asylum seekers in detention, and help manage a pro bono legal referral project with the National Bar Association and AILA. The working environment is fast-paced but flexible.

Responsibilities

• Conduct legal screenings and intake interviews with asylum seekers across the United States;
• Provide legal consultations and direct representation to immigrants including asylum seekers in detained and non-detained cases;
• Provide remote, limited scope legal assistance to asylum seekers in removal proceedings, including assisting with credible fear interviews, bonds, and parole requests, and filing motions to change venue, asylum applications, and notices of appeal;
• Provide legal consultations and direct services to TPS holders and those eligible for TPS;
• Build and maintain strong relationships with legal services providers around the country;
• Assist in placing cases with legal service providers, including helping manage a pro bono legal referral project with the National Bar Association and AILA;
• Strategize and collaborate with other legal service providers on how best to meet the needs of the Black immigrant population and improve access to legal representation, particularly in detention centers near the U.S.-Mexico border;
• Maintain client communication;
• Identify, analyze and advocate for fair immigration policy that affect asylum seekers and other immigrants, and lead immigration policy advocacy campaigns;
• Attend national and international coalition policy meetings;

• Provide training and outreach to Black immigrant communities, partner organizations, and allies in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Haiti;
• Assist legal director in research and preparation of white papers and legal/policy reports;
• Other duties as requested based on the team and/or organization’s needs.

Qualifications

• English fluency is required; French or Haitian Kreyol fluency is strongly preferred;
• Must have a J.D. and be licensed to practice law in any jurisdiction;
• Minimum 1-3 years of asylum or immigration law experience is required (salary will reflect experience);
• Strong research and writing skills;
• Strong oral communication skills, including in both legal advocacy and client communications;
• Applicants should be self-directed and self-reliant, highly organized, flexible, able to juggle multiple projects at once, and able to work in a fast-paced and often stressful environment;
• Willingness to live and work in Southern California is strongly preferred;
• The ability to travel within the United States and Mexico is preferred.

How to Apply

Humanitarian Organizer

The Haitian Bridge Alliance is hiring three Humanitarian Organizers to work with the Haitian and Black im/migrant community in Reynosa, Mexico. 

Responsibilities

The Organizer will also have a wide range of duties that will be largely driven by the evolving needs on the ground. For example, the needs differ depending on the seasons. 

• Assessment & reporting: Identify emergencies and the evolving needs of an exceptionally vulnerable population and report out to the HBA humanitarian, legal and operations department 
• Direct Service Provision: Provide meals, personal sanitation kits, clothing, diapers, and general service orientation to migrants 

• Donation Management: Work closely with the HBA operations, development and fundraising team to receive and distribute donations

• Relationship Building: Build upon and strengthen existing relationships with key community leaders and stakeholders 
• Volunteer Recruitment: Recruit volunteers (including migrants) to scale direct services on the ground
   

Ideal candidates will have a can-do, solutions-oriented attitude who approach humanitarian work through the lens of dignity and empowerment. The position will report into the Humanitarian Director and must be comfortable working independently. The Organizer may need to work some evenings and weekends depending on the needs of migrants on the ground. 

Qualifications: 

• Native Haitian Kreyol speaker and conversational Spanish required
• Ability to handle a fast-paced environment where emergencies often arise; ability to troubleshoot effectively and tackle unexpected challenges 
• Experience working collaboratively with persons of diverse racial and ethnic  backgrounds, socioeconomic status, ages, and sexual orientations 
• Ability to lead, motivate and inspire others to volunteer with Haitian Bridge Alliance
• A strong commitment to social, racial and economic justice. Alignment with HBA’s mission and values 
• Humanitarian, social work, and/or experience working with people facing significant trauma, ability to use a gender-informed lens when empowering migrants in need
• Proactively ask questions when unclear or have doubts; ability to receive and provide constructive feedback with an eye towards growth 

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and three references to info@haitianbridge.org with the subject line [Field Organizer / Humanitarian Organizer]. Only applicants considered for an interview will be contacted. 

HBA is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from Black immigrants, Indigenous people, people of color (BIPOC), Latinx people, people with disabilities, LGBTQAI+ people, women, and members of underrepresented communities.