Research and Advocacy Coordinator

Title:                            Research and Advocacy Coordinator

Location:                     New York City

Reports to:                  Executive Director

Supervises:                 Interns, Volunteers

Coordinates with:       Manager of Justice, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, Manager of Development and Grantmaking,

Communications Department and the Programs Assistant

Status:            Part-time, effective immediately, with room for growth, from October 2019 - June 2020, 25 hours per week

Dance/NYC’s mission is to promote the knowledge, appreciation, practice, and performance of dance in the metropolitan New York City area. It embeds values of justice, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization. It works in alliance with Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance. Dance/NYC seeks a coordinator who will be responsible for, and exercise discretion and independent judgment regarding, all aspects of implementing and growing Dance/NYC’s research and advocacy efforts. The immediate job priorities are to achieve planned program deliverables funded through June 30, 2020, which are focused on immigrant and small-budget dance makers, and to identify and manage additional actionable opportunities for future years.

Essential Functions, Duties, and Responsibilities:

1) Research (70%)

Reporting to the Executive Director, the main responsibilities of the Research and Advocacy Coordinator are to project-manage Dance/NYC’s research priorities.  Primary activities involve liaising with independent contractors to:

• Manage project timeline;
• Project lead research focused events;
• Refine the research methodology and demographic data protocols;
• Prepare data and interpret findings;
• Secure content contributions and compile research components;
• Identify top trends and recommendations;
• Gather stakeholder feedback;
• Provide administrative support in all aspects of report production (e.g. design, editing, printing) and promotion;
• Create strategies for the dissemination and implementation of research;

2) During 2019-2020, the Research and Advocacy Coordinator will prioritize:

Coordinating with the current Research and Advocacy Coordinator and independent contractors to execute on a study focused on small-budget dance makers for publication by June 30, 2020. The report will consider as its primary sources:

• First, in-person dialogue through a convening of Dance Advancement Fund grantees and the wider segment of small-budget dance makers organized to foster peer-learning and drive public attention to the issues impacting small dance makers and ALAANA and disabled artists;
• Second, grantee applications and mandatory narrative and financial reports; and third, additional quantitative performance activity, financial, audience, and workforce data on small dance makers as may be available through private sources, for example, SMU DataArts, which has been a foundation for ongoing Dance/NYC research.
• The report will include up to 12 commissioned essays addressing capacity solutions by small-budget dance makers that will have value on their own and as a source for broader project research.

3) Advocacy and Community Organizing (20%)

• Collaborate with the Manager of Justice, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives to liaise with the Disability. Dance. Artistry. Task Force and Immigrants. Dance. Arts. Task Force who advise and assist Dance/NYC’s initiatives on disability and immigration matters;
• Collaborate with the Manager of Justice, Equity and Inclusion to update J.E.I. agendas and Land Acknowledgement protocols;
• Liaise with Dance/NYC’s organizational Justice, Equity, and Inclusion Partners to build programmatic synergies, meet Symposium attendance goals, and pursue other potential collaborative opportunities;
• Coordinate with national and local advocacy partners, such as New Yorkers for Culture & Arts, Stonewall 50 Consortium, among others, on advocacy efforts for the dance and cultural sector; and
• Draft and present testimony for relevant City Council hearings.

4) Internal (10%)

• Produce relevant reporting and proposal material for recurring sources;
• Advise on funding opportunities; and
• Work collaboratively with staff to execute on additional organizational priorities as they arise.

Qualifications: Ideal candidates will have lived and learned experience in issues of justice, equity, and inclusion, especially matters related to race, disability, and/or immigration. Experience in project management and leadership is a must. They should be comfortable working independently as well as working with collaborators such as colleagues and outside contractors and organizations. They will have relevant research and advocacy experience and a demonstrated capacity for community organizing. They will be future focused, data-driven, strategy-minded, and thrive in fast-paced startup environments. They will be methodical and detail oriented, with excellent writing, planning, and time management skills, and able to advance multiple projects simultaneously while meeting deadlines. They will be current on and comfortably engage with emerging technologies and demonstrate a commitment to technology solutions in the social enterprise space. They will be versed in the dance and culture landscape and have a wide cross-sector network. They will be comfortable working with Microsoft Office Suite and Google Apps and have an aptitude for working with online and mobile applications. Fluency in a foreign language is desired, but not required. 

Compensation: $18 per hour

Location: The Dance/NYC offices are located on the Garden Floor (ground floor) of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan. Access to the Garden Floor entrance includes a two-step descent. A lift to the entrance will be available in the coming months. An accessible bathroom is available onsite, and elevators are not available in the building.