WHO WE ARE: The National Guild for Community Arts Education (Guild) is the sole national service organization for community arts education. Since 1937, the Guild has worked in service to individuals and organizations ensuring all people have opportunities to maximize their creative potential. In recent years our community, staff, and board members have pushed us to look deeply into creating new decolonial practices as individuals, as an organization, and as a broader community arts education field. This year, January 2022, the Guild welcomed our new Executive Director, Quanice Floyd onto our team of nine. Quanice works collaboratively, side by side, with the Guild team and our community to continue this work. 

WHERE WE ARE GOING: If you join our team, you will be entering during a time a deep transformation for the Guild. On May 3rd, 2022, we publicly announced that we will be halting our traditional external programming to realign ourselves. Our national conference, annual cohorts, and monthly webinar series will pause from June 24th through the completion of our new strategic plan in 2023. Our time will be spent creating space for meaningful conversations with our community, to hear what they want and need right now; how the Guild can best make an impact as a national organization supporting community arts education; how to put action to our Racial Equity Principles; and how we can work to repair harm and shortcomings the Guild has caused throughout the organization’s history. We are stopping. We are reflecting. We are listening. Breaking out of the constant cycle of production is an important step in ending cycles of institutional harm, and getting right with ourselves and others. Please take the time to listen to our full announcement by Quanice. 

OUR OFFICE: The main office of the Guild is located in New York City. However, we all work remotely throughout multiple locations in the United States. We do not request staff members to live and work in New York City. Current states we call home: Arizona, Washington, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, and New York. 

OUR TEAM: We are currently a team of eight. Our majority POC staff are diverse in their migratory backgrounds, and extremely supportive of each other.  For quite some time, we have been discussing a  restructure away from our current hierarchy model, with a move towards a flattened, organizational leadership structure. At the upcoming July 2022 staff retreat, we will be taking our first steps towards this new structure. This will affect the way this position moves from potentially supervising others, to co-collaborative in new ways.

The Development Strategist is a salaried, exempt position that will lead the design of a new, community-centric, human-centered fundraising approach for the Guild. This position will work most closely with Quanice Floyd (Executive Director) and contracted grant writers, and also collaborate with all staff. The start date of this position is flexible, but we are hoping for someone to start mid/late August 2022.

STARTING COMPENSATION: $90,000 annually. Since we are in a time of transition, we want to be transparent that this amount cannot be negotiated.

GETTING PAID: Pay periods are bi-weekly on the 15th and last day of the month. If you begin before the 15th of the month, you will be paid for hours worked on the next pay period, which would be the 15th. If, for example, you start on the 16th of the month, you will be paid for hours worked on the end of the month pay period.

BENEFITS PACKAGE: SEE THE FULL GUILD BENEFITS PACKAGE

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the design of a new fundraising framework for the Guild that is community-centric, human-centered, and grounded in liberation
• Facilitate co-learning and reflection spaces for staff and board members to discuss alternative models for anti-racist, anti-capitalistic funding strategies
• Understand the history of philanthropy and can implement and execute anti-racist and restorative development strategies
• Work collectively with staff to ensure that the external story of the Guild is clear
• Work collaboratively, support, and execute strategy with development contractors 
• Create and meet yearly development goals that are aligned to anti-racist, restorative practice 
• Grow new relationships with individuals, foundations, government, and corporations who are aligned with our values and principles
• Successfully cultivate relationships with current and prospective funders to find values alignment and funding opportunities in benefit of the Guild’s programming and strategic plan

Required Skills and Experience

• At least 3 years  experience in a non-profit development/fundraising department
• Systemic analysis and knowledge of navigating non-profit industrial complex and philanthropy 
• Desire to be on a collaborative, curious, and creative team
• Have a strong self-reflective practice, humility during miscommunication, and grace to relearn

Bonus Skills and Experience

• Experience working in the arts education field
• Have a creative, artistic, or cultural practice
• Have established relationships within the philanthropic sector
• Grant writing experience 

Alignment with National Guild Racial Equity Principles and Values

• We continuously cultivate internal anti-racist practices, and eliminate oppressive aspects of institutional culture. We will continually examine how practices and programs might advantage some over others, and offer external education aimed at changing inequitable policies across the field. 
• If we cannot explain how our equity initiatives redistribute access and opportunity, we restructure our initiatives to align with these equity principles. 
• As we co-learn with our communities, we will adapt and commit to remaining flexible and to critically examining others’ perspectives on the impacts of our work.
• Equitable practice requires us to directly confront all instances of inequity. This includes manifestations in our interpersonal relations and institutional practices, to better and more transparently address cultural and structural racism within the broader context of our work. Confrontation does not mean acts of hostility or aggression towards another; it requires a strong resolve to stand in solidarity and address racist words and actions. 
• We are committed to maintaining honest and authentic relationships with those who are aligned with our values and principles. We are willing to let go of any relationships that do not align with our values. 
• We believe that collaborative decision-making and power-sharing leads to positive transformation and true service. This, coupled with transparency, ensures that humility prevails in all deliberations.

Please email the following two items to  openpositions@nationalguild.org with Subject Title: Development Strategist Position

1. Resume with a list of references/supports of your work (Name and contact information)
2. Answer to following question, which can be written or can be submitted as an audio or video file – please use whatever format you feel best facilitates your self-expression.

Take a moment to read this article by Vu Le. What is one way a nonprofit organization could begin shifting away from a capitalist framework of “development/fundraising’, and build a decolonial, community-centric way of being?

We do not need or want a cover letter, writing samples, or letters of recommendations.

**Please note**The office will be closed between June 24 – July 10, 2022 for staff restorative period. Email will be checked for urgent concerns.