Reimagine is a national nonprofit organization that aims to transform individual and collective experiences around death, dying, and living through community-driven festivals that spark creativity, connection, and conversation. We do this by partnering with local health, faith, community, housing, arts, design and cultural organizations and individuals to create week-long festivals in cities. As a public health and cultural initiative, Reimagine addresses our national aversion to talking about end of life and creates space for individuals to reflect and remember. Reimagine NYC will be taking place across the city June 4-14, 2020.
Death is universal and we want the Reimagine NYC festival in June 2020 to be as inclusive as possible. We work across geography, race, gender and age, striving to meet people where they already are: in cinemas, senior centers, library branches, funeral parlors, museums, performance spaces, parks, comedy clubs, theaters, hospices, community centers, houses of worship, workplaces, and hospitals.
We are committed to reaching vulnerable and underserved communities, and to do that in a number of ways: through dedicated outreach, strategic partnerships, and by making programs available in multiple languages including Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese. We also ensure that half of the festival events are free, and that 10% of all paid tickets are complementary to community organizations working directly with underserved populations whose quality-of-death considerations are often ignored (i.e., elders, communities of color, LGBTQIA+, and those who have no family members or other surrogates to speak on their behalf.)
The Position
Community Organizers for Reimagine NYC are temporary contract positions. You will work closely with the local leadership of Reimagine NYC. Your role is to introduce communities to Reimagine and to invite their leadership to participate as collaborators and partners. In general your engagement efforts will cross race, ethnicity, religion, class, gender, and age. However, Reimagine is seeking expertise to engage the following distinct communities:
- Communities of African descent affiliated with faith-based institutions, social service, health, and cultural organizations.
- Spanish-speaking and Latinx communities affiliated with faith-based institutions, social service, health, and cultural organizations.
You will work in a very hands-on way with a mix of community-based organizations, faith leaders, health clinics, and city agencies, helping to understand what these groups are already doing and what they want or need. You will help tailor and share Reimagine’s evolving menu of workshops and other services if organizations are seeking content and ideas for events during the festival. The festival can be a culmination of work they are doing in the lead up and/or a launching point for ongoing work.
These public programs will range in quality and size; they might be in the form of an advanced care planning workshop, a talk, a workplace bereavement training, a panel, a performance, a family engagement storytelling event, or an intergenerational art activity. Some community-based organizations will create their own programs, whereas others will lean on Reimagine to help them do it. You will also work with these organizations to market their Reimagine events and the broader festival to their constituents and networks.
The person or team in this role will likely need to find a balance between initiating relationships at the same time as they are cultivating ones in play. But ultimately, the scope of work will be tailored and specified to the right candidate based on their skills, professional networks and passion.
You should be self-directed yet flexible and willing to work collaboratively and to take direction at times. You should be organized, detail-oriented, creative, curious, and respectful of the communities we are trying to reach, reflect and serve. You should have deep roots in the city and existing relationships to some of the communities we are trying to reach. You should be tireless and relentless in your ability to make stuff happen.
This position is based in New York City. You will work from home most of the time but need to be able to attend meetings and events across the New York Metropolitan area.
Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Support and execute elements of a public engagement plan created by Reimagine’s staff that will make it possible for us to have citywide conversations around end of life.
- Plan programs (with a dedicated focus on advance care planning strategy, trainings and workshops) to engage and reach distinct communities in the lead up and during Reimagine with a focus on:
- geographic diversity
- faith diversity (five major faiths per borough)
- ethnic and racial diversity
- seniors
- caregivers
- Provide organizational, logistical, and marketing support for partner events throughout the planning process and during the festival itself. Act as main point of contact for these partners to answer questions and serve their specific needs. Reimagine expects that Community Organizers will be fully present and working in the weeks leading up to and during the festival.
- Assist in the creation and dissemination of related engagement materials that will help support larger outreach strategy. For example, provide images and copy for website, fliers, posters, and other printed material that will engage specific communities.
- Work with Reimagine staff to invite underserved communities to be part of Reimagine anchor events (e.g., Opening Night, Closing)
- Plan programs (with a dedicated focus on advance care planning strategy, trainings and workshops) to engage and reach distinct communities in the lead up and during Reimagine with a focus on:
Required Competencies and Qualifications:
- At least 3 years of professional experience as a community organizer or in a programming role at a mission-driven organization, non-profit, or city agency
- Superior verbal and written communication skills
- Proven ability to develop effective partnerships across a wide range of different communities in NYC
- Ease of use of workplace tools such as Slack, G Suite, and Google apps
- Fluency in Spanish
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
Personal Characteristics and Work Style
- High degree of initiative and self-motivation with the ability to work independently toward goals and to steadily monitor and report progress
- Knowledge of NYC community-based arts, health, or faith communities
- Passion for end-of-life space, health equity, and/or community-based arts
- Tendency to thrive in a startup environment with a growth mindset
- Collaborative approach and sensitivity to the needs of others in complex team environments that engage supervisors, volunteers, and colleagues at the national and regional levels
- Attention to information sharing and open communication
- Curious, empathetic, humble, and kind
- Highly organized
- Level-headed and calm demeanor
- Creative and strategic problem solver
- Flexible, with the ability to respond to the unexpected with grace and humor
Duration and Compensation
This position will be part-time, with flexible hours to be coordinated with supervisor, and should start as soon as February 3, 2020 . Hours and schedule to be determined as part of agreement. Expectation of 20-30 hours during the festival week (June 4-14, 2020) as well as the week prior.
Email resume and cover letter to hr@letsreimagine.org
*deadline for applications is Jan 24, 2020
