Digital Democracy is looking for an Earth Defenders Toolkit Community Steward for a 12-month contract (with potential long-term), starting as soon as possible.
You will steward community engagement for the Earth Defenders Toolkit, and crosscutting outreach projects by Digital Democracy’s Programs team. Your role will be to expand community engagement with the Earth Defenders Toolkit, building a network of community members, developers, allies, and others both in virtual and physical spaces, where possible. You will also be responsible for fielding inquiries from communities for the tools featured on the Earth Defenders Toolkit (such as Mapeo and Terrastories).
This is initially a 12 month role with possibility of extension. This position can range from 24 to 32 hours per week (we define full-time as 32 hours a week).
The Context
The Earth Defenders Toolkit is a collaborative space for earth defenders and their allies. The Toolkit provides a growing collection of resources and training materials for communities on the frontlines of the struggle to defend their territories around the world, and community networks for users to connect and share their experiences.
We’ve seen firsthand that change does not come from technology, but from how people use it. The goal of the Earth Defenders Toolkit is to help communities explore how they might use available tools. We are co-building tools with our partners, which they are using to achieve transformative change. We are dedicated to working towards a world where all people can participate in the decisions that govern their lives.
The Role
Initially, the Earth Defenders Toolkit Community Steward will be responsible for the following tasks:
- Active online outreach and communications with existing networks and communities of practice whose values are aligned with the Earth Defenders Toolkit project.
- Responding to inquiries from communities about the featured tools and resources on the Earth Defenders Toolkit.
- Providing training sessions on the Earth Defenders Toolkit at conferences and workshops for the benefit of community members and allies.
- Preparing training materials and resources such as slide decks, scripts, and instructional guides for the sharing and usage of the Earth Defenders Toolkit.
- In collaboration with other team members at Dd, organizing an in-person retreat for earth defender communities from Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
- Writing blog posts on the Earth Defenders Toolkit featuring community stories from across the world.
- Adding tools to the Toolfinder on the Earth Defenders Toolkit website.
The position may evolve throughout the course of the year depending on your interests and skill sets. This is a highly collaborative position that will involve frequent collaboration with both the Dd Programs team and a network of allies and partners.
What we’re looking for
You have excellent community engagement and project coordination skills, and you are passionate about social justice, decolonization and share our organizational values. Previous familiarity with digital tools being used by communities to defend their lands or human rights is a plus.
This is initially a 12 month role with possibility of extension.
Qualities we’re on the lookout for
- Communication and engagement skills. You have excellent community engagement and project coordination skills. You will also be coordinating virtual exchange events and meetings with institutional partners and specified community contacts as well as drafting agendas and note taking.
- Inspired. You are excited about the use of technology in communities as much as you are about Land Defenders realizing their visions for their communities.
- Values-based. You share our belief in building tools that prioritize the self-determination and autonomy of our partners, and challenge legacies of colonization and extraction.
- Self-directed. You are comfortable with managing your own priorities and tasks in coordination with a small, remote team.
- Hablas español. You speak more than one language, ideally Spanish.
Benefits
- 4-day work week. We consider “full time” to be 32 hours per week. Some people work 8-hour days, and others distribute their hours organically across the week.
- Flexible schedule, location and hours. As an organization we embrace working smarter, not harder. We are happy for you to work from where you live, on a schedule that works for you.
- Opportunity to visit our partners in the field. Although much of the job is desk based, this role will involve organizing an in-person exchange for earth defender communities (location TBD), and may also include travel to our partner communities for workshops.
- Opportunity to play a key role at a ground-breaking organization. You have the opportunity to make a big impact in a small team.
- Compensation commensurate with experience. The range for the role is $5,000 – $6,500 USD per month full-time equivalent. We know that experience comes in many ways and we want to know about what makes you stand out.
Our Team
Our small but growing team is based in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Peru, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and we welcome candidates from around the world, especially South America. We embrace distributed working, and are happy for you to work from where you live. The Indigenous communities we work with have lived through colonization and deal with its effects everyday, along with marginalization and discrimination against their language and culture. It is therefore particularly important that we build a diverse team with individuals who understand and empathize with their situation. Indigenous people, people of color, women, LGBTQ folk and others who identify as coming from a marginalized identity are strongly urged to apply. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
How to Apply
Please apply to the position here: link