Yúusnewas Provincial Outreach Educator (due August 17 at 10am)
Contract position, September 2018 – March 31, 2020 (may be renewed depending on funding)
Reports to: Yúusnewas Program Manager
Hours: 35 hours/week, with the regular schedule being Monday – Friday, 10am-5pm. During trips to communities, hours vary; travel time is paid time. The Provincial Outreach Educator is also expected to work 2-3 evenings per month, and 6-8 weekends per year (e.g. Core Training, staff/board programming, Pride, workshops etc).
Salary: $20/hour (may be eligible for an increase & extended health benefits, including paid days off and professional development funds on successful completion of 3 month probation)
Location: YouthCO (located at 568 Seymour St., Vancouver) and workshop sites throughout British Columbia
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 decisions about their own well-being. We strive 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 while talking about things like HIV and sexual health. The Yúusnewas team includes a Program Manager, two Provincial Outreach Educators, and a Cultural Connections Coordinator. We approach the topic of sexual health by centering Indigenous perspectives and incorporating traditional teachings. We are actively working to incorporate programming led by communities most impacted by HIV and Hep C, 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
The Provincial Outreach Educator will work alongside the Yúusnewas Program Manager using peer education approaches to lead workshops with youth about sexual wellbeing, harm reduction, and decolonizing our health. The Provincial Outreach Educator will travel throughout British Columbia (including up to two five day overnight trips per month*) to facilitate workshops at Indigenous schools, youth organizations, youth groups, and service providers in Indigenous communities. These workshops take place in remote and urban communities. All travel costs – including per diems – are covered by YouthCO.
Duties and Responsibilities
With the support of the Yúusnewas team, the Provincial Outreach Educator will:
- Facilitate workshops with Indigenous youth participants about HIV, Hep C, sexual wellbeing, harm reduction,and decolonizing our health, to Indigenous youth in community-based organizations, youth groups, service providers, and Indigenous communities throughout British Columbia* (On occasion, may facilitate workshops in non-Indigenous settings, including local schools and drop-in
spaces) - Engage with community partners and members, including promoting YouthCO and Yúusnewas programming, in-person and online (e.g. tabling at events, supporting social media posts, attending community meetings/events)Promote traditional healing and ceremony as a way of taking care of ourselves
- Facilitate in-person programming, as well as provide supervision and support for youth participants, for the duration of the annual five-day overnight First Directions video making retreat and workshop, hosted in March
- Support Yúusnewas programming such as monthly Culture is Healing events as well as YouthCO’s Core Training, hosted three times per year
- 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:
- Role modelling and demonstrating YouthCO’s values in professional and public spaces
- Participating in staff meetings regularly, including sharing successes, challenges, and providing timely updates about opportunities for peer learning
- 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
We’re looking for an Indigenous young person who …
- Is passionate about building supportive communities for youth living with HIV and Hepatitis C
Will center Indigenous knowledge and teachings of health and wellbeing - *Is able to travel up to two times per month to facilitate workshops in rural communities for 3-5 days at a time; upon completion of training, in most cases, the Provincial Outreach Educator will be travelling on their own.
- Has lived experience with HIV, Hep C, sexual health and/or harm reduction
- Is comfortable communicating in spoken, written, and verbal English. (Additional languages are an asset)
- Is able to use Microsoft Office
This position involves travel, and as such, ready access to a vehicle and/or being comfortable driving a rental car is necessary to reach some communities. Access to a vehicle and/or a driver’s license is an asset, but is not required. Please don’t let this be a reason not to apply!
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 substance 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 August 17th, 2018 at 10:00AM.
Please submit applications to [email protected] with the subject line: “Application – Yúusnewas Provincial Outreach Educator”.
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. How are you uniquely positioned to excel in this role?
2. Why is YouthCO’s mission 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 British Columbia?
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 the week of August 21st . The successful candidate will be welcome to start as soon as possible on completion of the hiring process, including reference checks.
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].
*Most travel occurs between September and April; the amount of travel does fluctuate. In rare circumstances, the Provincial Outreach Educator may have the opportunity to travel more than twice per month although this will not be required.