Position Location: Toronto, Ontario
Start Date: Immediately
Compensation Type: Salary – Competitive
Diasporic Genius is a new organization with a vision and a plan that we believe will help take what is already special about Toronto and transform it, so that we become one of the most evolved cities on the planet.
Toronto stands in a unique position at the beginning of the second decade of the new millennium: a city with great human, social and creative resources that has the potential to realize a flourishing future. We have within our borders the wisdom of the world, sparked by a meeting of the greatest ingathering of Diasporic peoples the world has yet seen with a settled culture that is progressive, open, and increasingly innovative.
Diasporic Genius has developed a three-part program, encompassing performance, education and community, with the conviction that these can be central in transforming our city. The performances will involve music-centered, multidisciplinary works that exhibit the diversity within Toronto, and the new forms of hybridity that Diasporic Genius will create. The education component will centre around an apprenticeship program, geared to help young, emerging artists develop their own unique visions and engage with the community. The community piece will be achieved through the development of neighbourhood-specific and story-inspired 21st Century Village squares – physical spaces that combine artisans, markets, performances, cafes and physical urban infrastructure to help connect the community.
Position Overview:
The 21st Century Village Squares will be community-created centers of learning, celebration, commerce, markets, food, local agriculture, architecture, art, music theatre and science. They will be the engines of a connected, multifaceted cultural transformation.
The 21st Century Village Squares will be real locations of complex infrastructure equally informed by the experience and received wisdom of the inhabitants of each neighbourhood under consideration. They will be built by a meeting of the model created by this organization and its advisors with the specific, self-organized vision of the people who will participate and use each Square.
The Squares will start with the flag of community-through-story planted in a wind-swept plot of grass, or underused strip mall, or parking lot, and will grow organically, as form both follows and anticipates use, knitting together current infrastructure with beautyrich, multi-purpose development.
As a program coordinator for the 21st Century Village Squares, the chosen candidate will need to be dynamic, organized and engaged. We are seeking an individual with significant program management experience, who has a proven ability to manage relationships and coordinate a variety of stakeholders. The 21st Century Village Squares will be an entirely new way of rethinking civic engagement. It is crucial that the program coordinator is ready to adapt to significant obstacles and challenges, and come up with creative ways of solving real issues and leverage different, unprecedented opportunities. Cultural sensitivity will be critical, as will confidence, fearlessness, dedication and persistence.
This position will start as a 2-month contract with the possibility of an extension dependent on successful program development. The Program Coordinator will plan and manage the pilot project at Thorncliffe Park and will work closely with the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office.
OFFICE
943 Dundas Street West
Toronto ON M6J 1W4
PHONE
(416) 603-7237
EMAIL
info@diasporicgenius.com
WEB
www.diasporicgenius.com
Specific Responsibilities:
- Coordinate the vision for 21st Century Village Square Project
- Work with Diasporic Genius, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office and external stakeholders
- Convene stakeholders, participants, community partners, and community members
- Coordinate the design and planning of the project
- Oversee implementation and scheduling of the project
- Financial management for the project including the creation of a budget and administration of expenses
Qualifications:
- Degree in Project Management, Arts Administration or Urban Planning, graduate studies in non-profit management, or comparable work experience
- 3-5 years experience managing highly complex projects
- Experience in Community Development and/or Community-based Arts in Toronto
- Demonstrated experience working with a diverse group of partners, consultants, stakeholders, and community members
- Strong leadership and team-based management skills
- Solid project management and budget planning skills
- Ability to work independently and take initiative
- Must be flexible and adaptable
- Ability to balance and prioritize a variety of tasks concurrently
- Problem solving and decision-making ability in a rapidly changing environment
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Strong computer literacy, familiarity with Mac OSX, Apple iWorks, and Bento
Please submit a resume and cover letter ASAP to:
Philip Isard
Administrator, Diasporic Genius
info@diasporicgenius.com
In subject line, please state: “Project Coordinator Application – (Full Name)”
