Careers

Posted August 4, 2026. Open until filled.

The Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization serving low-wage workers, tenants, and their families throughout the Kansas City region and Missouri. With legal representation, community education, and policy advocacy, Heartland helps tenants and workers address housing instability, eviction attempts, unsafe living conditions, wage theft, workplace discrimination, and other barriers to economic security.

HCJF carries out this mission through five major programs: the Right to Counsel (RTC) Program, which handles 600 eviction cases each year; the Safe Homes for All Program, which works to eliminate unhealthy conditions in residential rental housing; the Stable Homes Program, which challenges private business attempts to unlawfully opt out of federal affordability requirements; the Worker Power Project, which protects workers’ rights as they organize for unions and fight to regain stolen wages; and the Heartland Leadership and Action Committees, which collaborate with tenants and workers who have been our clients to lead grassroots and democratic mobilizations.

HCJF seeks a passionate and creative Grassroots Tenant & Worker Advocate to join our team. This role focuses on building strong relationships with tenants and low-wage workers to support impact litigation, expand community education, and strengthen grassroots leadership. The advocate will connect directly affected communities with legal advocacy efforts and help ensure their voices shape strategies for systemic change. We are a collaborative and supportive staff committed to winning better housing and jobs for all.

Position qualifications

• Demonstrated experience organizing communities or coalitions to advance reforms to public systems.
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing, highlighting, and building the capacity of impacted communities to organize effective initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, implement, and coordinate successful community outreach and public education campaigns.
• Strong communication skills, including public speaking, facilitation, and one-on-one engagement.
• A self-starter who can manage multiple priorities, work independently, and collaborate with coworkers.
• Deep commitment to social justice, housing rights, and/or workers’ rights.
• Ability to travel extensively to urban and rural areas around Kansas City, Missouri, with a valid driver’s license.
• Fluency in Spanish is preferred but not required.

Key responsibilities and duties

Tenant and worker organizing

• Build and maintain relationships with tenants and low-wage workers to support campaigns tied to HCJF legal program areas.
• Investigate tenant habitability complaints and worker employment issues.
• Coordinate closely with HCJF attorneys to develop and sustain a multidisciplinary, community-informed approach to advocacy.
• Conduct outreach through door-knocking, phone banking, and community events.

Community engagement, Know Your Rights, and public education

• Plan, coordinate, and implement Know Your Rights workshops and other public education events alongside attorneys.
• Collaborate with legal staff to translate complex legal concepts into accessible information.
• Facilitate meetings, town halls, and community forums with tenants and workers.

Leadership development and collaboration

• Work closely with community leaders to support a leadership committee of tenants and workers.
• Cultivate relationships with national, regional, and local partner organizations and allies to strengthen collective impact.

This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements, or working conditions associated with the job. Management may revise the job or require other tasks as assigned.

Benefits, pay, and location

HCJF offers health, dental, vision, and life insurance. Staff start with 15 vacation days, 10 sick days, 2 personal days, and 13 paid holidays annually. We also offer retirement accounts with an employer match.

Pay: $60,000–$63,000 per year.

This is a full-time, non-exempt, in-person position at our Midtown Kansas City office in the Westport area. It requires frequent travel throughout Kansas City, Missouri, and occasional travel to Springfield and other cities where HCJF has active litigation.

HCJF is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, gender identity, or gender expression.

To apply

Submit your resume and a brief cover letter describing your organizing experience and commitment to this work to andrewzonoozi@jobsandfreedom.org.

Posted August 4, 2026. Open until filled.

The Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization serving low-wage workers, tenants, and their families throughout the Kansas City region and Missouri. With legal representation, community education, and policy advocacy, HCJF helps tenants and workers address housing instability, eviction attempts, unsafe living conditions, wage theft, workplace discrimination, and other barriers to economic security.

HCJF carries out this mission through five major programs: the Right to Counsel Program; Safe Homes for All; Stable Homes; the Worker Power Project; and the Heartland Leadership and Action Committees.

We seek an experienced, skilled attorney to help drive the Worker Power Project and contribute to the Safe Homes for All and Stable Homes programs.

Description of the position

• Track bad actors in the Kansas City area with exploitative employment practices.
• Lead legal advocacy programs and build strategic litigation designed to broadly improve conditions for low-wage workers.
• Manage trial practice for class actions and a limited number of individual employment-related cases, including discovery, motions, briefs, and depositions.
• Support outreach and know-your-rights education for low-wage and immigrant workers.
• Support legal advocacy concerning uninhabitable living conditions, including impact litigation and tracking bad actors who house tenants in unsafe conditions.
• Support legal advocacy to maintain affordable housing and enforce state and federal fair housing laws in Kansas City.
• Work with litigation team members to identify additional cases that will maximize program impact.
• Share information with the press to strengthen programs.
• Collaborate with outside co-counsel.

Requirements

• Law degree with admission to the Missouri Bar, or the ability to obtain admission through waiver or reciprocity.
• At least three years of civil litigation experience and the ability to manage complex litigation and a significant workload.
• Excellent research, analytical, persuasive writing, and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct complex legal analysis and fact-finding.
• A collaborative and respectful approach to resolving obstacles and conflicts.
• Initiative, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple priorities and work well under pressure.
• Judicial clerkships, law review or journal experience, and/or civil rights and civil liberties litigation experience are desired.
• Comfort in a collaborative environment guided by belief in worker and tenant democracy, housing as a human right, and the need for societal change.

Pay and benefits

This is a full-time position paying $75,000–$85,000 depending on experience. The range is negotiable for attorneys with extensive experience. Benefits include health care, retirement, paid sick days, paid vacation, and paid holidays.

HCJF is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination.

To apply

Submit a resume, cover letter, relevant writing sample, and at least three references to andrewzonoozi@jobsandfreedom.org.

Posted July 7, 2026. Open until filled.

The Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom (HCJF) is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization serving low-wage workers, tenants, and their families throughout the Kansas City region and Missouri. With legal representation, community education, and policy advocacy, Heartland helps tenants and workers address housing instability, eviction attempts, unsafe living conditions, wage theft, workplace discrimination, and other barriers to economic security.

We believe working people of all races and backgrounds should have the power and influence to ensure everyone can live a full life free of abuse, exploitation, and poverty. HCJF creates opportunities for tenants and workers to learn and exercise their rights, realize their collective power, and develop the leadership skills necessary to advocate for a racially and economically just society.

If you want to develop strong courtroom advocacy skills while doing deeply meaningful work, consider applying. You will work with a talented team of housing-rights advocates doing cutting-edge legal work through our Right to Counsel Program.

Position and duties

• Defend tenants against eviction lawsuits by asserting defenses, negotiating settlement agreements, and connecting tenants to resources that will keep them safe and housed.
• Try cases in court, craft legal pleadings, and work to establish pro-tenant legal precedents.
• Collaborate with other legal aid organizations defending tenants and attend trainings to develop rigorous legal skills.
• Collaborate with interns, volunteers, and fellow staff members.

Qualifications

The attorney must be licensed in Missouri, be able to work with diverse populations in crisis, and manage a fast-moving caseload. This job requires grit, skill, ambition, and tenacity, and is also exciting and rewarding. The workplace is highly collaborative, friendly, and supportive. Relevant experience and/or proficiency in a second language is a major plus but is not required.

For more information about Kansas City’s transformational Right to Counsel law, see the KCUR article linked in the source posting: https://www.kcur.org/housing-development-section/2022-10-03/in-three-months-kansas-citys-right-to-counsel-program-has-helped-nearly-400-tenants

Kansas City is a diverse city with a lively arts, theater, food, and music scene and a rich history of worker and tenant organizing. Because the Midwest and South play an important role in determining the direction of our nation, it is an especially impactful place to do social justice work.

Pay, benefits, and location

Pay: $70,000–$85,000 per year.

Benefits include a 401(k) with employer matching, dental, health, vision, and life insurance, a health savings account, paid time off, parental leave, professional development assistance, and a retirement plan.

This is a full-time, non-exempt, in-person position at our Midtown Kansas City office in the Westport area. It requires frequent travel throughout Kansas City, Missouri, and occasional travel to Springfield and other cities where HCJF has active litigation.

HCJF is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination.

To apply

Submit your resume, a cover letter describing your relevant experience and commitment to this work, and at least three references to andrewzonoozi@jobsandfreedom.org.

The Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom (HCJF) is a nonprofit legal organization that enforces housing and workplace rights for low-wage workers. It is our mission to create opportunities for tenants and workers to learn and exercise their rights, realize their collective power, and develop the leadership skills necessary to advocate for a racially and economically just society.

HCJF carries out this mission through five major programs: the Right to Counsel (RTC) Program, which handles roughly 600 eviction cases each year; the Safe Homes for All Program; the Stable Homes Program; the Worker Power Project; and the Heartland Leadership and Action Committees.

HCJF is seeking post-graduate legal fellows to join our team through project-based funding applications. These fellowships are ideal for candidates interested in public interest law, movement lawyering, and building advocacy and impact litigation that advances economic and housing justice. Ideally, fellows will work in at least one of the legal programs below.

Programs

• Worker Power Program — building advocacy and impact litigation on behalf of low-wage workers, including wage theft and unlawful termination cases, supporting worker organizing, and conducting know-your-rights education.
• Safe Homes Program — impact litigation, class actions, and demand letters to ensure families across Missouri have access to safe and healthy homes.
• Stable Homes Program — preserving stable, affordable housing and preventing displacement in collaboration with partner organizations.
• Eviction Defense Program — direct representation of individuals and families facing eviction.

Qualifications

• J.D. or expected J.D. by spring 2027.
• Must take the July 2027 Bar exam and seek admission to the Missouri Bar; or, if already admitted elsewhere, be eligible for Missouri admission under SCR 2.110 or 2.111.
• Exceptional research, writing, and oral communication skills, with the ability to conduct complex legal analysis and fact-finding.
• Ability to work well under pressure, manage multiple priorities, and work both independently and collaboratively.
• Willingness to occasionally work outside regular business hours and to travel within Missouri.
• A deep commitment to social justice, housing rights, and/or workers' rights, with cultural humility and community-centered adaptability.
• Fluency in Spanish is preferred but not required.

Compensation

This position is not funded by HCJF. Instead, it seeks a candidate interested in pursuing funding from an external source such as Skadden, Equal Justice Works, Justice Catalyst, or law schools. HCJF will work with candidates to craft the application and explain a proposed project.

To apply

• Email a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and three professional references to patriciaokonta@jobsandfreedom.org.
• Put “Legal Fellow” in the subject line of your email.
• List all fellowships you are eligible to apply to, including law-school-specific fellowships.
• In your cover letter, note where you saw this posting, your HCJF program interest(s), and any potential fellowship project ideas.

HCJF is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination.