NARRATIVE + COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR

It all makes sense that this is the story we so often tell—the fist-swinging and gunshots and early deaths cling to us like a second skin, while the hugs and dances and good times fall away. But the writer's work reflects, and the reader consumes, those vivid, searing memories, not the everyday lived reality of the Black body.

-Ibram X. Kendi, How to be an Antiracist

Invest STL is seeking a new team member to support narrative catching, (re)framing, connecting and amplifying for us, our growing network of neighborhood partners and the communities they serve. Applications will be accepted through December 9, 2020.

BACKGROUND

Invest STL was created to cultivate a network of grassroots and regional leaders, funders, businesses, nonprofits, and community development professionals to grow alignment around and increase financial support for equitable, resident-driven neighborhood development.  As the region's emerging funder for place-based community development investments, Invest STL will launch a five-year investment strategy in 2021 to change how neighborhood transformation is led, supported, understood, and evaluated for success. Over the next five years, Invest STL seeks to shift the region's approach to neighborhood development towards one that centers racial equity and amplifies the desires, power, and agency of people, particularly residents of color, within neighborhoods that have experienced decades of systemic disinvestment and the effects of structural racism.

The Narrative + Communications Coordinator will report to the Executive Director to shape our own storytelling while also working closely with the Neighborhood Investment Program Officer and Neighborhood Solidarity Partners to listen for, weave together, and raise up the experiences of our neighborhood partners and the people they serve.

The Narrative + Communications Coordinator will embrace our emerging mindsets of stepping down from the paternalistic hilltop of traditional philanthropy that appropriates successes and stories from grant recipients as its own; stepping back to listen, watch, learn and take direction from our investment recipient partners as we chronicle their processes for neighborhood transformation; and lifting up the will, work, and wonderment of our partners to our regional community through ethical, dynamic story-sharing.

During the first year of this position, the Coordinator will have the support and guidance of an external communications and branding consultant.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

Cultivate + Sustain Online Community Connections

• Create and curate social media content for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts.
• Identify, connect, and engage with online community of partners, peers, and supporters.
• Manage social media activity and develop strategies to intentionally grow online network.
• Develop and maintain contact information for all audiences.

Share the Movement with Partners, Stakeholders, Investors + Media

• Collaborate with teammates and community members to elevate stories of lessons learned, progress, and impact from neighborhood partners.
• Develop and implement strategy for best communicating opportunities for supporting neighborhood transformation and regional system shifting with multiple audiences, including investors, partners, and community members at large.
• Coordinate creation of newsletters, web copy, presentation materials, marketing tools, digital graphics, and blog entries, including writing and editing materials.

Support Regional Narrative Re-Framing

• Following the lead of and with permission from investee partners, lift up neighborhood narratives of people, place, and power to our broader regional community that provide a fuller view of communities that often are narrowly depicted for the challenges they face.

Shape Our Tone, Posture + Aesthetic

• Advance our public voice, image, and positioning to align with our emerging core beliefs, mission, and vision.
• Collaborate with team to develop new ideas, directions, and platforms for building awareness of Invest STL.

Other Duties

• Carry out special projects as required.
• Support the Executive Director in building the Invest STL team.
• Attend and occasionally present at Leadership Board meetings.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND CRITICAL QUALITIES

While the chosen candidate will have professional experience with many of the responsibilities of this role, we are specifically looking for a team member to grow with us. To start, the candidate will have:

• Demonstrable paid experience that includes some combination of the following: copywriting, copy editing, journalism, public relations, brand positioning or digital/social marketing, and communications.
• Operational understanding of and commitment to racial equity, justice, and healing, particularly in storytelling and story-sharing.
• Commendable written and verbal or visual communication skills.
• Working knowledge of available digital and social media tools and platforms. Experience with HTML and graphic design is a plus.
• Experience with website/content management.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgement, initiative, and tact when interacting with colleagues, our community, partners, and elected officials.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The salary range is $42,000-$50,000 and will be negotiated based on experience, qualifications, and record of achievement. Candidate salary history will not be requested nor referenced in negotiating salary. Health, dental, and additional benefits are available.

TEAM CULTURE

We are a small team growing from startup to standout. We do our best, and sometimes we fall short. We aim to be thoughtful and courageous in our work. We understand that our work, which we are deeply committed to, is but one component of our multi-faceted lives.

APPLICATION AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Submit by December 9, 2020, a resume or statement of qualifications and personal narrative on your commitment and practice towards racial equity, justice, and healing in community storytelling and sharing

Invest STL prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to team members and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Invest STL conforms to the spirit as well as to the letter of all applicable laws and regulations. Invest STL prioritizes diversity in many forms in the workplace and celebrates it in our community.