Durham Beyond Policing is seeking a skilled Communications & Cultural Work Coordinator to broadcast a compelling visionary narrative that resonates with our communities to build power, to streamline organizational communications with our volunteer base and supporters, and to create art that heals and transforms. The primary focus of this role will be to integrate Durham Beyond Policing’s abolitionist principles into our communications strategy. The ideal candidate brings strong writing and copy-editing, social media management, public relations, a high level of creativity, and a passion to connect with people across all backgrounds through cultural work and storytelling.
Durham Beyond Policing (DBP) is a grassroots abolitionist formation devoted to the end of policing in all forms, and the creation of systems of safety rooted in care and community accountability. We are pro-Black, we are Black and Brown-led, and we trust the leadership of Black women, trans, and gender non-conforming people. We are survivors of state-sanctioned, interpersonal, racial, sexual, and gender-based violence, and these experiences root our commitment to abolition.
In your role as Communications & Cultural Work Coordinator, you will be responsible for developing a forward-facing communications strategy and narrative focus, while creating easily accessible and engaging content. The ideal candidate should exhibit a strong ability to coordinate across multiple communication channels and platforms, and a commitment to being a team player. We are looking for someone who is innovative in the area of cultural work, with an eye on cutting edge technologies, storytelling, and deconstructing harmful narratives that impact those on the socio-economic margin.
Experience
You are an artist, performer or practitioner at heart, with an ability to get messaging across to many audiences, regardless of background, life experience or social upbringing.
You are focused on people, and sharing the stories of those who have been actively silenced.
You move easefully through your tasks, and find fulfillment in amplifying organizing and advocacy work.
You embody leadership through love, listening, respect, and a bold commitment to liberation.
When you represent Durham Beyond Policing, you honor the humanity of those you interact with. The way you practice rigor and care in relationships reinforces DBP as a respected community organization and a trusted organizational partner.
You do your work through a lens of justice, liberation, inclusion, and accessibility. You have a transparent, fair, collaborative leadership style. You embrace the opportunity to give and receive constructive feedback. You are clear on your commitments and you follow through. You care for yourself in ways that allow you to sustain consistency, encouragement, and inspiration.
Hours: 35hrs/week, mostly 9:30AM-4:30PM Monday-Friday with regular evening meetings and occasional weekends.
Location: Must be based in Durham, NC
Desired Start Date: December 5, 2022, with a 90-day evaluation [timing is negotiable].
Compensation: The annual salary for this position is $55,000. DBP offers a flexible, affirming and encouraging work environment; health insurance, PTO and vacation.
Application deadline: Position open until filled
Preferred Experience
- Experience in community organizing or social justice activism
- Experience in public relations, press contact management, earned and paid media
- Experience using online project/team management tools like Slack, Signal, Basecamp, and other platforms
- Background in artmaking or performance
- Strong social media management skills (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook)
- Brilliant writer with the ability to convey difficult concepts
- Experience in writing articles, op-eds, blogs etc.
- Experience in capturing stories through audio storytelling or videography
- Coordinating community events
Required skills and abilities
- English-speaking or Multilingual a plus!
- Strong interpersonal communication skills and commitment to building authentic relationships
- Experience in content development and social media management
- Confidence and steady patience while collaborating with others
- Ability to manage multiple projects and learn new technology platforms quickly
- Self-motivated
- Confidence in public-speaking
- Ability to meet deadlines and collaborate with others
- Joyful about working in a Black and Brown-led multiracial organization
- Reliable transportation, as this position is not remote and will require occasional local travel.
Supervision
- Reports to Co-Director of People & Organizing
- Accountable to staff, DBP membership body and leadership
Responsibilities include
- Developing a strong communications and forward-facing narrative strategy
- Developing press releases highlighting and announcing DBP’s community organizing work and events
- Updating/Modifying our Internal Communications Memo
- Orienting our base to our communications best practices
- Auditing/monitoring existing communications channels and platforms
- Researching useful technology tools, and facilitating organization-wide implementation
- Developing social media content and managing our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts
- Acting as DBP’s Press/Public Relations Manager and Spokesperson on occasion
- Collecting, capturing and curating stories of community members
- Some filming/editing short videos for social media/website
- Attending weekly meetings with DBP staff
- Creating weekly reports to keep track of ongoing work
- Build relationships with community members and trusted partners
About Durham Beyond Policing
Durham Beyond Policing (DBP) is a grassroots abolitionist formation devoted to the end of policing in all forms, and the creation of systems of safety rooted in care and community accountability. We are pro-Black, we are Black and Brown-led, and we trust the leadership of Black women, trans, and gender non-conforming people. We are survivors of state-sanctioned, interpersonal, racial, sexual, and gender-based violence, and these experiences root our commitment to abolition.
We are working to defund and abolish the Durham police, the sheriff’s department, and the jails, while simultaneously redistributing public resources and funding towards the institutions and culture shifts necessary to keep us all truly safe. Ultimately, we are building a beloved community where those who have committed and experienced harm are never disposable, and where policing, surveillance, and incarceration are no longer part of how we relate to each other.
Currently, we have a small staff and a large team of amazing, active volunteers who power our work. Our volunteer work is themed around Arts and Culture (design, printmaking, street art, community engagement projects); Communications (press releases, earned media, op-ed authorship, social media); Funds (grants, events, crowdfunding, budgeting); Advocacy (meetings with electeds, observing public meetings, tracking campaign opportunities); Research (literature review, writing reports/op-eds, presenting recommendations); and Outreach (base building, mobilizations, events, workshops, demonstrations, direct action).
Our volunteer-driven work will continue to play a crucial role in continuing the work of Durham Beyond Policing in coming years, and we are looking for staff who understand the role of social, economic, and environmental justice organizations in building transformative movements. We’ve seen the nonprofit industrial complex replace mass-based organizing with overworking a few paid staff to do the bidding of funders and this dynamic damages the work. We seek to build the opposite– staff members working a healthy work-life balance in ways that enhance coordination, strengthen participatory democracy practices, and increase organizational follow through by cultivating and supporting member leadership, with the majority of contributions coming from committed grassroots donors.
Because of our particular focus in Black communities, communities of color, and working class communities in Durham, we are seeking candidates with familiarity and strong relationships in these communities.
For more information on Durham Beyond Policing, please visit www.durhambeyondpolicing.org
On hiring in a movement
Durham Beyond Policing has been a powerful grassroots formation composed of a large number of mostly unpaid visionaries since 2016. We know applying for jobs in our home city and within a justice movement can feel complicated. We will receive more qualified candidates than we can afford to hire and we will have to make very difficult choices. We hope that our hiring process introduces us to wonderful collaborators, even if we are unable to hire everyone. We intend for our hiring processes to build bridges and forge new relationships.
The truth is that movement organizations cannot win on staffing alone. We staff to improve our coordination and effectiveness, but we win by successfully growing our base of Durham residents from every walk of life engaged in participatory decision-making, with people from marginalized and exploited communities at the leadership center.
Benefits
- Health insurance
- Thirteen paid holidays and 24 days of paid time off that is accrued on a monthly basis
- Paid and unpaid leave policies detailed in the personnel handbook.
- Communications & Cultural Work Coordinator will be provided with a high quality work laptop and hotspot (as needed). You will be responsible for keeping equipment in good working condition as it will be in your possession at all times for the duration of your contract.
Category: Exempt employee
To apply
If you require reasonable accommodation during your application process, please let the hiring committee know.
Submit the following to hiring@durhambeyondpolicing.com:
Subject line: “Communications & Cultural Work application from <YOUR NAME>”
In the body of the email include:
- cover letter describing your interest in the position and any relevant experience
- attached resume
- three references, including a recent supervisor and colleague (name, phone, email, relationship to you)
Black people, indigenous people, people of color, persons with disabilities, women, trans and gendernonconforming people, LGBTQ+ people, and people with lived experience surviving criminalization, repression, policing or jails and prisons, are strongly encouraged to apply. There are no formal education or degree requirements for this role.
Durham Beyond Policing is fiscally sponsored by Southern Vision Alliance (SVA). We have programmatic independence, we are supported by SVA’s administrative care for sponsored projects, and SVA’s board has ultimate fiscal and legal responsibility for Durham Beyond Policing’s actions.
Durham Beyond Policing and Southern Vision Alliance are equal opportunity employers. We recruit and hire qualified candidates on the basis of their qualifications and without regard to race, class, religion, sex, gender expression or identity, pregnancy status, marital status, or family responsibilities, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or any basis prohibited by law.