Job Description: Out of Eden Walk-Chicago (OOEW-Chicago) Manager
Interested? Please email us at: info@outofedenwalk.com.
The Manager of OOEW-Chicago will need to be a savvy and committed administrator who works part-time to build a wide network of civic organizations, diverse communities, and local thought leaders to be ambassadors for OOEW-Chicago in their communities.
The manager’s overarching task is to support the core goal of this project: Expanding the public commons of the common sidewalk in our polarized times. He/She/They will get members of the Chicagoland public of all ages and backgrounds outside to walk their local worlds and have fun, but also get them to venture outside of their comfort zones, across the rich tapestry of urban boundaries of ethnicity, class and economy in the greater Chicagoland area. The manager will also oversee a group of 3-4 volunteers who amplify reach and gather content for the crowdsourced OOEW-Chicago digital platform that shares citizens’ stories of home online: www.homestoryproject.org.
In sum: The ideal OOEW-Chicago Manager will be a highly motivated, self-starting individual with excellent communication and organization skills. He/She/They will be innovative at bringing the global ethos of the OOEW project “home” to Chicago and comfortable with making effective public and private presentations about the project to local civic organizations and media.
This job consists of ten main duties.
1) Deep familiarization with OOEW-Chicago. This will involve liaising with nonprofit partners to learn OOEW ethos and OOEW school curriculum, as well as joining at least one in-person meeting with OOEW staff for orientation.
2) Regular communication. The manager will have a central role in conducting and shaping all OOEW-Chicago activities and therefore must participate in weekly conference calls and occasional in-person meetings with the team.
3) Civic walks: The manager will organize and join at least two civic walks per year whose routes are researched and mapped out by themes, including but not limited to: local history, culture, current events, and physical beauty. The manager will be responsible for designing the walks, keeping in mind the first must happen by June 2020 and the walks should be no more than 10 km in length. The ideal candidate will be capable in organizing a full range of Chicago subcultures and committees so the walks will reflect the city’s diverse human geography.
4) Identify and engage on-ground walking guides or “ambassadors” for each walk. These guides may be Story Gatherers (see #7); but must have the appropriate skills, background, and knowledge of Out of Eden Walk and “Slow Journalism” to lead each walk. They can work pro-bono or be offered a modest honorarium for their services during the walks.
5) On the walks, the manager will be responsible for documenting participant experience and encouraging participants to engage online. This will include designing surveys, gathering and analyzing feedback, and monitoring the effectiveness of partnerships and media outreach. The manager will instruct and assist walk participants to record and upload their experiences online at www.homestoryproject.org.
6) Build and curate a social media presence for OOEW-Chicago that reflects OOEW values and best practices. Goals include: general awareness-building for the program, sustained engagement with walk participants; building connections with community organizations, and increasing awareness and engagement with the project’s digital platform, www.homestoryproject.org. This will involve seeking out and sharing engagement opportunities with local and national media outlets, classrooms, and community organizations.
7) Ensure that partners and social media campaigns are fully coordinated before each walk begins, while the walks are underway, and following the walks.
8) Recruit and manage a team of 3-4 volunteers who are OOEW-Chicago’s Story Gatherers. Story Gatherers’ main mission is to bring the OOEW-C “HomeStory” map to a designated community or communities within the city, not only by gathering content that is either uploaded to the map by community members or is uploaded by the Story Gatherer on a community member’s behalf, but by supporting user experience through intentional outreach and communication.
9) Provide assistance with monitoring and metric tracking for HomeStory submissions on an as-needed basis.
10) Provide assistance with annual deliverable reports for the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
For more details and to apply, please email: info@outofedenwalk.com.
