Community Outreach & Language Justice Advocate

Skagit Legal Aid seeks a Community Outreach & Language Justice Advocate to strengthen access to civil legal services for immigrant, farmworker, Indigenous, and other historically underserved communities throughout Northwest Washington.

The Community Outreach & Language Justice Advocate will help connect community members with Skagit Legal Aid’s services, provide in-person interpretation for clients, conduct outreach and community education, assist clients in navigating legal and social-service systems, and support the organization’s broader language justice work.

This is a highly community-based position. The Advocate will regularly work alongside Skagit Legal Aid attorneys, paralegals, and advocates at community clinics, farms, outreach events, and other locations throughout Northwest Washington.

This position is particularly suited for someone who is deeply connected to immigrant, farmworker, Indigenous, or multilingual communities and who believes that language access is an essential component of access to justice.

Primary Responsibilities

The Community Outreach & Language Justice Advocate will:

• Provide in-person interpretation for clients receiving legal services, helping ensure clients can communicate directly and meaningfully with Skagit Legal Aid attorneys, paralegals, and advocates.
• Regularly provide interpretation and client support at Skagit Legal Aid’s community-based clinics and outreach locations, particularly the Catholic Community Services Farmworker Center, Watered Garden Community Center, clinics throughout the San Juan Islands, farms and agricultural workplaces, and other locations where community members live and work.
• Provide interpretation and language-access support at community events, legal clinics, Know Your Rights presentations, workshops, meetings, and other events as needed.
• Conduct outreach to immigrant, farmworker, Indigenous, and other underserved communities throughout Skagit Legal Aid’s service area.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with community members, community-based organizations, schools, service providers, faith communities, cultural organizations, and other community partners.
• Help community members identify potential legal needs and connect them with appropriate Skagit Legal Aid programs, attorneys, advocates, or outside resources.
• Assist clients with completing intake, gathering documents, understanding legal processes and next steps, and communicating with their legal team.
• Provide culturally responsive support to clients throughout their interaction with Skagit Legal Aid.
• Help develop and maintain Skagit Legal Aid’s network of interpreters, particularly for Indigenous languages and other languages for which qualified interpreters may be difficult to locate.
• Assist with managing Skagit Legal Aid’s social media presence, including creating and sharing content about legal services, community clinics, Know Your Rights information, upcoming events, and other resources.
• Develop culturally responsive, multilingual social media content to help ensure important information reaches immigrant, farmworker, Indigenous, and other underserved communities.
• Help document community outreach activities and events through photographs, videos, and other content, while respecting client confidentiality and obtaining appropriate consent.
• Collaborate with staff to develop creative ways to use social media and other digital platforms to increase community engagement, share legal information, and strengthen Skagit Legal Aid’s visibility.
• Maintain appropriate records regarding outreach, interpretation, referrals, community education, and services provided.
• Participate in staff meetings, trainings, community meetings, and collaborative projects.
• Perform other duties consistent with the position and Skagit Legal Aid’s mission.

Language Justice & Community Engagement

Skagit Legal Aid recognizes that language barriers can prevent individuals from meaningfully accessing courts, government agencies, legal services, and other essential systems. Language access is therefore an integral part of our legal services rather than an additional or secondary service.

The Advocate will play an important role in strengthening Skagit Legal Aid’s ability to serve communities whose primary languages are not English. This includes directly providing interpretation, building relationships with community interpreters, improving translated resources, and helping identify and address language-access barriers experienced by our clients.

Our goal is to move beyond basic language access toward a language justice model that recognizes community members’ ability to communicate, understand, and participate in the language in which they are most comfortable.

Desired Qualifications

We recognize that strong candidates may bring relevant experience from many different backgrounds.

Formal legal experience is not required.

Preferred qualifications include:

• Strong commitment to access to justice and serving historically underserved communities.
• Fluency in Spanish, English, and another Indigenous language combination relevant to the communities Skagit Legal Aid serves.
• Experience interpreting or communicating across languages in community, professional, educational, medical, legal, or other settings.
• Experience working with immigrant, farmworker, Indigenous, low-income, or multilingual communities.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and appropriately handle sensitive client information.
• Ability to work independently while also collaborating closely with attorneys, paralegals, advocates, interpreters, and community partners.
• Comfort working in community settings rather than exclusively in a traditional office environment.
• Lived experience relevant to the communities Skagit Legal Aid serves is valued.

Spanish proficiency and fluency in an Indigenous language spoken by communities in Northwest Washington—including Mixteco, Triqui, Mam, or another Indigenous language—is required.

Professional Development

Skagit Legal Aid is committed to investing in the professional development of community-based language-access professionals.

No court interpreter credential is required to apply. We particularly welcome applicants who are interested in developing their interpretation skills and pursuing Washington court interpreter credentialing. Skagit Legal Aid will support an interested employee in pursuing appropriate training and credentialing opportunities.

The Advocate will also have the opportunity to become a Notary Public and use that credential as part of Skagit Legal Aid’s community-based services. Skagit Legal Aid can support the employee in obtaining the necessary notary commission and training.

Work Location & Community Presence

This is a highly community-based position and is not primarily a desk or office role. The Advocate will work from Skagit Legal Aid’s Mount Vernon office while spending significant time providing interpretation, outreach, and client support in the communities we serve.

Regular travel will include the CCS Farmworker Center, Watered Garden Community Center, farms and agricultural workplaces, the San Juan Islands, community events, legal clinics, partner organizations, and other outreach locations throughout Northwest Washington.

The Advocate may also attend additional community events and outreach opportunities as needed to provide interpretation, connect community members with legal resources, and represent Skagit Legal Aid.

Some evening and weekend work will be required based on clinic schedules, community events, and outreach opportunities.

Because in-person interpretation and community engagement are core functions of this position, the Advocate must be comfortable traveling regularly and working in a variety of community settings.

Compensation

Starting wage: $30.00 per hour or higher, depending on qualifications and language proficiency.

Skagit Legal Aid recognizes multilingual ability as a substantive professional skill that is essential to this position. Starting compensation above $30.00 per hour may be offered based on the number of languages spoken, level of proficiency, interpretation experience, and Skagit Legal Aid’s need for those languages.

About Skagit Legal Aid

Skagit Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to individuals and families throughout Skagit, Whatcom, Island, and San Juan Counties and works in partnership with Tribal communities throughout Northwest Washington. Our work includes housing, immigration, reentry, Tribal law, debt and consumer matters, family law, and other civil legal needs.

Our approach is grounded in community partnership. We work to bring legal services directly into the communities we serve, reduce linguistic, geographic, and cultural barriers to accessing justice, and develop programs in response to needs identified by community members themselves.

Skagit Legal Aid is committed to building a workplace that reflects the communities we serve. We strongly encourage applications from people with lived experience in immigrant, Indigenous, farmworker, low-income, multilingual, and other historically underserved communities.

Pay: From $30.00 per hour

Expected hours: 16.0 – 40.0 per week

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance

People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply

Language:

• Spanish (Required)
• Indigenous language (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $30