The AjA Project · 4 days ago
Director of Creative Advocacy and Partnerships (ACLS Leading Edge Fellow)
San Diego, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$72K/yr - $74K/yrThe AjA Project is an arts and social justice organization dedicated to promoting justice through participatory storytelling and the documentary arts. They are seeking a Director of Creative Advocacy and Partnerships to inform and expand their advocacy work, focusing on engaging marginalized communities through creative responses and strategic analysis of the policy landscape.
CommunitiesConsultingEducationNon Profit
Hiring Manager
Shinpei Takeda
Responsibilities
Participate in local coalitions including Transparent and Responsible Use of Surveillance Technology (TRUST SD), liaise with community allies, and stay up to date on related advocacy efforts; incorporate relevant learnings to inform Countersurveillance and Civil Liberties
Cultivate and maintain relationships with local partners, advocacy groups, and stakeholders including Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), Mid City Community Action Network, and others, ensuring bidirectional flow of information and insight
Analyze policies, technologies, and issues that impact local residents, and summarize research to identify creative tactics for AjA’s engagement and advocacy that will be further developed by AjA staff
Develop and implement creative advocacy responses at the city and county levels through community engagement in town halls, oral history sharing, and public participatory art
Work in collaboration with program staff to integrate advocacy activities into AjA programming
Assess learnings from implementation to iteratively inform future programming
Support the program team in translating analysis and advocacy messaging into public-facing materials such as social media content, infographics, and zines
Qualification
Required
PhD in any field of the humanities or interpretive social sciences
Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas clearly and accessibly to diverse audiences
Demonstrated ability to synthesize insights from primary and secondary sources
Strong project management and time management skills, including the ability to work independently, meet deadlines, and balance multiple priorities
Alignment with AjA's organizational values, including a commitment to equity, cultural humility, collaborative process, and the belief in the transformative power of art and storytelling
Preferred
Demonstrated commitment to community-engaged or applied research, including work that is collaborative, participatory, and grounded in lived experience
Experience with community-based organizations, coalitions, or advocacy groups, particularly those connected to refugee, immigrant, and/or otherwise historically marginalized communities
Experience in community organizing, especially in coalition-building roles
Familiarity with issue-based advocacy, especially related to immigrant and refugee rights, surveillance, digital privacy, and civil liberties
Proficiency in qualitative research methods such as ethnography, oral history, or archival research
Interest or experience in arts-based advocacy and creative methods such as documentary or media arts, visual art, public art, participatory storytelling, etc
Experience designing or facilitating community-based education, especially informal learning spaces like workshops, teach-ins, or participatory arts programs
Relevant linguistic/cultural familiarity (e.g., Spanish, Arabic, Somali, Vietnamese, Swahili, etc.)
Benefits
Access to employer health insurance.
Professional development funds and relocation funds provided by ACLS.
Company
The AjA Project
The AjA Project is a nonprofit organization that provides art-based youth development programs.
Founded in 2000
11-50 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageCompany data provided by crunchbase