Department: Brightness in Black

Division: Programs

Location: Hybrid (Atlanta, GA and remote) Must reside in the Atlanta metro area

Reports To: Manager, Fellows and Special Projects

Term of Employment: May 28, 2024 to November 29, 2024

Travel Percentage: 75% (local travel)

Schedule: May - Aug 24hrs/Wkly & Aug-Nov 12hrs/Wkly (1 week break in August)

Status: Part-time, Temporary, Non-Exempt, Non-Union

Salary: $21.23/ hr

Deadline to apply: Monday, March 11th, 2024, 5:00pm ET

ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

StoryCorps’ Brightness in Black (BiB) is a national, three-year initiative utilizing the power of personal storytelling, community engagement, and broadcast media, to amplify stories that uplift the joy, triumph and truth about Black people and communities. In 2024, BiB will launch in the cities of Philadelphia and Atlanta, to cultivate robust community engagement and story collection.

ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

The Brightness in Black Fellowship is a six-month, paid, non-residential program designed for rising junior and senior students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and community colleges, to play a vital role in bringing the mission of Brightness in Black to life as interview facilitators in the local community and during out-of-state events. Fellows will receive in-depth training in StoryCorps interview & archival methodology and community engagement practices, as well as mentorship and shadowing opportunities with the StoryCorps National Team.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Fellows must be willing and able to travel to StoryCorps headquarters in Brooklyn, NY for in-person training (travel dates: June 2nd & June 8th and training dates: June 3rd - June 7th).

Fellows will facilitate, record, and help archive pre-identified interviews, as well as work on personal projects to coordinate and facilitate community and school-based recordings of their own choosing.

As the public face of Brightness in Black, Fellows work to carry out our mission by creating a space for participants to feel welcome and comfortable while conducting their interviews with one another. Facilitators also ensure a high-quality audio recording and perform databasing activities so that the interview can be preserved and is searchable in our digital interview archive.

Fellows will receive personal and professional development, through training, practical experience, and participation in a supportive learning community guided by StoryCorps staff, community partners, local content creators, and fellow students within the fellowship cohort. Fellows will be given opportunities to participate in community-based learning workshops, as well as contribute input and feedback in support of the greater BiB initiative. The program is anchored by mindset coaching and mindfulness practices to support the Fellows’ ability to nurture their well-being throughout the program and beyond.

Fellows will be provided with equipment, including a portable recording kit, to be utilized during the duration of the program. Travel stipends will be provided for travel to and from the recording locations.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Travel locally to partner sites (organizations, groups, and institutions), recording in-person BiB interviews, arranged by StoryCorps staff. The recording process includes: Interview confirmation calls, space preparation/ recording equipment set-up, interview facilitation, active listening & note-taking, and data entry for archival purposes
• Record virtual BiB interviews, remotely
• Virtually attend weekly training, planning, learning, and coaching sessions
• Conduct research and outreach within your local and school communities to arrange and facilitate BIB recording projects of interest
• Help facilitate at least one community-based learning workshop
• Attend a mandatory one-week in-person training session in Brooklyn, NY, in June (travel, meals and accommodation provided by StoryCorps)
• Fellows may be selected to travel and facilitate recordings during an out-of-state BIB pop-up event.
• Fellows may be required to work evenings, weekends, and/or holidays to meet the recordings needs of the community partners. (Work schedules will be planned in advance.)

ABOUT YOU

Required:

• Rising Junior or Senior
• Enrolled in good academic standing at one of the following schools: Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, or Spelman College
• Interest in oral history, storytelling, interviewing, media/content creation, and community engagement
• Strong interpersonal communication skills, verbal and written
• Extremely reliable, with strong time management skills
• Ability to work independently without direct supervision and collaboratively on a team
• Comfortable working with the general public
• Cultural competence/humility and the ability to thrive in a diverse work environment
• Comfortable with learning new audio/visual technology
• Must reside in the Atlanta metro area

Preferred:

• You have experience interacting with individuals on virtual platforms (Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet)
• You have strong problem-solving skills.
• You are comfortable troubleshooting and navigating a virtual workflow
• You have experience providing excellent customer service

Physical Requirements:

• Travel Percentage: 75% (local travel)
• This position requires that the individual is able to lift a minimum of 50lbs. and can maneuver large, cumbersome equipment.
• You will be responsible for transporting the recording kit (50 lbs, on wheels) to recording sites.

ABOUT STORYCORPS

StoryCorps' mission is to help us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all — one story at a time. Since 2003, more than 600,000 people, in all 50 states, have recorded StoryCorps interviews about their lives. We preserve and archive their recordings at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered, and share select stories with the public through StoryCorps’ podcast, NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books. These powerful human stories reflect the vast range of American experiences, engender empathy and connection, and remind us how much more we have in common than what divides us. StoryCorps is especially committed to capturing and amplifying voices least heard in the media.

https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit-internship/9f4321390ccf4959a01ad2648a6c49ac-fellow-brightness-in-black-storycorps-atlanta?utm_source=symplicity&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=listings-api