Contract position, July 2018 – September 31, 2020 (flexible start date)
Reports to: Yúusnewas Program Manager
Hours: 20-25 hours/week, negotiable on offer
Salary: $20/hour (may be eligible for an increase & benefits, including paid days off and professional development funds on successful completion of 3 month probation; extended health benefits may be available depending on hours per week)
Location: YouthCO (located at 568 Seymour St., Vancouver) and workshop sites throughout the Lower Mainland
YouthCO works to reduce the impact of HIV and Hep C on the youth of British Columbia through peer support, education and meaningful community engagement. We strive to foster inclusive communities where youth empower youth to make informed decision about their own well-being. We work to end the stigma surrounding HIV and Hep C.
Yúusnewas is an Indigenous peer-led education program that provides workshops around safer sex strategies, HIV, Hep C, Harm Reduction, and Decolonizing Our Health across the province of British Columbia. We also provide space for Indigenous youth to connect to culture through the “Culture is Healing” program, where we use culture as a way to connect with our community and talk about things like HIV and sexual health. We also hold a “First Directions Youth Retreat” once a year, where we bring Indigenous youth from all over the province to Langley, BC to our 5-day retreat to engage in our workshops and apply their knowledge to films they create themselves. We approach the topic of sexual health by centering Indigenous perspectives and incorporating traditional teachings. We’ve been working hard to connect Yúusnewas’ programming with YouthCO’s values, specifically around anti-oppression and inclusivity, and are actively working to incorporate programming led by communities most impacted by HIV, including Indigenous communities. We work to provide safer spaces for Indigenous youth through ongoing learning around accountability and responding to community needs in real-time.
Position Description
This position is primarily funded through a three year Partnership Development Grant, led by Dr. Jeffrey Ansloos, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The grant is titled, Yúusnewas (taking care of each other): Life promotion through Indigenous youth community capacity-building. The goals of this grant include fostering youth leadership, decolonizing suicide prevention services and creating services for youth that reflect Indigenous knowledge of wellness, care, and community. Within a community-based research framework, this grant will include working closely with the Yúusnewas team to deliver and evaluate three Yúusnewas projects: Culture Is Healing, First Directions, and Community is Medicine.
The Yúusnewas team includes a Program Manager, two Provincial Outreach Educators, and this position.
Duties and Responsibilities
With support of the Yúusnewas team and the Partnership Grant team, the Cultural Connections Coordinator will be the person connecting the daily programming led by Yúusnewas and the activities of the partnership grant. More specifically, the Cultural Connections Coordinator will:
- Participate in the research activities lead by the Partnership Grant team as they relate to Culture is Healing, First Directions, and the Community is Medicine.
- Lead the planning, coordination, and promotion of Culture is Healing program
- Work closely with other Yúusnewas staff to facilitate First Directions (in-person) and Community is Medicine (may be delivered by other Yúusnewas staff)
- Foster youth engagement and participation in Culture is Healing, Community is Medicine, and First Directions through in-person, phone and online outreach, as well as meaningful volunteer opportunities
- Create a welcoming environment that reflects our value of anti-oppression to engage new and returning participants to the Yúusnewas community, in-person and online
- Lead in-person outreach activities in different settings including youth drop-ins, community centers, and community events
- Collaborate with Yúusnewas staff to facilitate Culture is Healing, Community is Medicine, and First Directions, with a focus on evaluation and research components.
- articipate in data collection and analysis for partnership grant research activities
- Represent YouthCO and Yúusnewas at various community meetings
- Perform relevant administrative tasks including booking workshops, liaising with volunteers, and completing program evaluations
Shared Leadership at YouthCO
Everyone at YouthCO is expected to participate in our approach to shared leadership which includes:
Building on our practice of anti-oppression
- Role modelling and demonstrating YouthCO’s values in professional and public spaces
- Participating in staff meetings regularly, and providing timely updates
- Using YouthCO’s systems, policies, and procedures appropriately, e.g. NationBuilder, TimeMaster, program reporting tools, calendars, staff policy, etc.
- Supporting YouthCO’s online presence, including social media
- Asking for help and support from colleagues and supervisors
- Building a culture of peer-driven programming
- Providing and receiving feedback in a constructive and timely manner
- Communicating capacity levels, hours, and needs in a timely manner
We’re looking for an Indigenous young person who …
- Is passionate about building supportive communities for youth living with HIV and Hepatitis C
- Will centre Indigenous knowledge and teachings of health and wellbeing
- Has lived experience with HIV, Hep C, sexual health and/or harm reduction
- Can work well with a team of peers
- Is comfortable communicating in spoken, written, and verbal English; additional languages are an asset
- Is able to use Microsoft Office
- Is experienced and/or interested in using Canva or other graphic design software
Hiring Process
It doesn’t hurt to apply! You may have noticed this job doesn’t have a minimum requirement for education or number of years of experiences. We want to see your resume whatever level of education or work experience you have! As a peer-led organization, it is most important to us to hire someone who will connect with the communities that we work with.
We believe that youth are best positioned to connect with our peers on topics related to sex and drug use. As an organization that strives for anti-oppression and to hire youth who are most impacted by HIV, Hep C, colonization, racism, homophobia and transphobia, and other systems of oppression, it is important to us to hire people who are part of the communities we work with.
We strongly encourage youth who are under the age of 25, living with HIV or Hep C, Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, Two-Spirit, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, and/or living with disabilities to apply.
How to apply: Applications, consisting of a resume and answers to four questions (below), are due by Friday, June 15th, 2018 at 10:00 AM. Please submit applications to [email protected] with the subject line: “Application – Cultural Connections Coordinator”
When submitting your resume, please include responses to these four questions (max 250 words per question) in the body of e-mail or in an attachment:
1. Why are you interested in the Cultural Connections Coordinator position?
2. Why is YouthCO’s mission, and the mission of this partnership grant team, important to you?
3. What are two strengths that you are excited to bring to the YouthCO team?
4. How are you connected to communities we engage with through Yúusnewas in Vancouver and across the province?
As a peer-led organization, we know that answering these questions may mean sharing information about our identities and experiences that is private, although doing so is not required. Any information you choose to share about your identity or experiences will be kept confidential, shared only with the hiring team, and shredded afterwards.
We will be in touch to confirm we have received your application, and to let you know whether or not you have been selected for an interview. Ideally, interviews will take place in person at the YouthCO office on the week of June 18th – 22nd, 2018
Applicants are encouraged to get in touch with any questions or clarifications. Call the office at 604-688-1441 or email Kayla at [email protected]