Job title: Coordinator for ‘Shake! Young Voices in Arts, Media, Race & Power’
Job purpose:
- To work as part of Shake’s creative team to realise the 3-year Shake! vision and programme.
- To coordinate the team of artist-facilitators, campaigners, young people; the activities and administration; and to oversee dissemination of Shake’s work to a wider public.
To ensure crossover with other Platform projects and opportunities for young people to gain experience in the organisation as appropriate.
Hours: 24 hours (3 days) per week, flexible by arrangement; Mondays obligatory
Status: Permanent contract
Starting: November 2012
Review: probationary review after 6 months; thereafter annually
Salary: £28,000 pa, pro rata adjusted according to need, in line with Platform’s Social Justice Waging System. See Terms & Conditions, below.
Responsible to: Project Development and Management Group (PDMG), ultimately to Trustees
Location: London: Platform’s office at Tower Bridge; other sites in Deptford and Tottenham (London) during courses.
To apply, please send us:
- Your CV
- A Cover Letter explaining why you want this job, and why you would like to join Platform
- A 1-page Supporting Statement telling us how you meet the Person Specification
- A completed Equal Opportunities form
Email [email protected] by 6.00pm on Friday 14th September 2012. Please use the subject heading: ‘Shake! Coordinator (Youth, arts, race)’.
Sadly, due to limited capacity we are unable to reply to applicants who have not been invited for interview.
About Platform www.platformlondon.org
Platform brings together human rights campaigners, educators, environmentalists, artists and community activists. This vital mix enables us to create innovative projects driven by the need for social and ecological justice. Our methods are interdisciplinary, combining the power of art with the tangible goals of campaigning, the rigour of in-depth research with the vision to promote an alternative future. For more detail, please see the ‘background’ section below.
About Shake! Young Voices in Arts, Media, Race & Power
Shake! is a three-year cultural activism programme with young people (16-25 years old) tackling social and environmental injustice from a race perspective. Shake! will develop a new generation of cultural activists who know how to collaborate, who can articulate the relationship between social justice and environmental issues, and who know how to organise themselves and create networks to generate new social movements. They will work with lead artists from performance poetry, DJ/music, visual media and video, and environmental / social justice campaigners. Shake! works closely with partner venues including Stephen Lawrence Centre (Deptford) and Bernie Grant Arts Centre (Tottenham).
Shake! was founded by Platform to close the gap between anti-racist cultural activism and environmental movements. We also wanted to address the dominant white middle class privilege of current environmental movements in the UK as well as facing up to urgent issues as identified by the young people. Since the “riots”, Shake’s aims have become even more timely.
Led by 4 cutting edge artists with campaigners from Platform, we did a pilot in August 2010 at Stephen Lawrence Centre. With backing from Arts Council England and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation we can now roll out the programme to 2014.
Shake! will support young people to express their dissent, resistance, observations and alternative visions through creative means. But not only the young people benefit. The model is one of co-learning – the artists and campaigners gain a huge amount from working closely with the group in a spirit of horizontality, and gaining insights and hometruths from a younger generation.
The programme involves:
- two intensive courses a year, (one in Deptford, one in Tottenham), each for 25 participants; a showcase/gig concludes each course.
- a Continuity Programme, involving training, support and networking skills, to build and deepen those relationships and potential annual trainings for artists and for campaigners/activists, designed and delivered by young people in collaboration with Platform and lead artists (Continuing Professional Development) annual ‘best practice’ seminars to share the findings of Shake, and influence policy, led by young people
- A Big Shake! Gathering at the end of year 3 that will bring together the 150 shake participants, artists and campaigners to bring the work to a much bigger public, and to develop new networks. Also to look at cultural activism in the context of what is needed in 2015 and beyond.
To see the achievements and feel the energy of Shake!, visit the blog.
This is an exciting opportunity to take on the coordination of Shake! and make the dynamic 3-year programme which the team has devised into a reality. Creativity, political commitment, responsiveness, communication skills, and organisational efficiency are the key tools in this ever-changing context.
A. Shake Coordinator: Main functions and responsibilities
1. To coordinate the Shake! team of artists and campaigner-facilitators on overall planning and delivery of the programme
a) To coordinate delivery of the Shake! Programme, comprising
- two intensive courses across two sites, plus Continuity Programmes and showcases;
- annual artists’ and campaigners Continuing Professional Development (2-day workshop)
- annual high-profile best practice seminar
b) To work together with the current Shake! team to recruit additional facilitators and youth participants for the courses; adult participants for the workshops and seminars
c) To ensure that clear systems are in place to foster the well-being, progress and safety of young people. This includes CRB checks for facilitators, and devising ways of tracking young people’s experience.
d) To ensure job descriptions, contracts, and review systems for the facilitators’ team are agreed and in place in a timely manner
e) To coordinate the strategic and operational relationships with Stephen Lawrence Centre, Bernie Grant Arts Centre and other campaigning/activism and arts partners, including joint promotional work
f) To oversee the work of any shadows, volunteers, interns as appropriate
2. To ensure that Shake’s strategic mission and plan for the 3-year programme is delivered, monitored and reviewed
a) To set up a review structure with team and to implement at strategic review points
b) To liaise with the rest of Platform as the programme rolls out, and to seek interesting opportunities for crossovers and integration with other projects .
c) To set up and organise the Shake! Advisory Group to meet on a quarterly basis
d) To report on Shake’s overall progress at the review points in the wider Platform schedule, including at Trustees’ Meetings.
3. To coordinate communications strategy in liaison with Shake! team and Platform’s comms staff
a) To oversee strategy on Shake’s email, blog, newsletter, social media, flickr, youtube, and website, working with young people or team
b) To coordinate production of print, hard copy and online publications, DVDs/CDs, merchandise where appropriate.
c) To respond to enquiries, requests for information etc and to update database for project
4. To manage Shake’s finances and fundraising
a) To be responsible for the budget, supported by Platform’s Finance Manager
b) To liaise with existing funders, reporting on project progress, inviting to events etc,
c) To identify and approach new potential funders, supported by Platform’s Fundraising Development Officer
5. To be part of Platform’s team in pushing forward Platform’s wider goals
a) To engage with other Platform projects and support their development and events as appropriate
b) To take part in Platform’s internal processes and meetings, most of which take place on a Monday; to use our internal reporting procedures and systems in a timely manner.
c) After settling in at Platform, to take part in our collective management structures, including our rotating Project Development and Management Group
B. Shake Coordinator: Person Specification
Essential Experience & Skills
- A background in education with young people (16-25 years)
- Experience of the arts sector and at least one of the following sectors: environment; human rights; anti-racism; youth work in informal settings Experience of identifying key opportunities for effective action and achieving change Responsive, creative and flexible to changing needs within the project
- Experience of coordinating and working within teams
- Ability to build trust with individuals from a variety of backgrounds and sectors.
- Commitment to consensus decision-making
- Experience of administrating a complex project
- Computer-literate, fluency in social media and online communications tools
- Experience of managing budgets of over £50k per annum
Desirable Experience & Skills
- Experience in delivering arts education courses and education resources
- Experience of working with artists as facilitators
- Experience of campaigning – through work or as an individual
- Experience of fundraising
- Experience of conflict resolution processes
Other essential personal attributes
- Comfortable working in a small office where project administration and keeping the office tidy is each person’s responsibility
- Demonstrable commitment to social and environmental justice, and to anti-racism
- Awareness of the sensitivities of working with groups in politically complex environments, especially around youth, race and privilege
- Good at working under pressure
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What other people say about us:
“From first day I fell in love with the Shake! course – the knowledge given to me has changed my views on things for life.” (Nuha, youth participant in Shake! pilot, feedback)
“You did something awesome with Shake! You didn’t call the shots. You handed over power. We were able to explore the arts and the issues and you were the hands that gently guided. You all shared your skills, ideas and experiences, and became a pool from which we could draw inspiration and motivation.” (Samia, youth participant in Shake! pilot, feedback)
“I went to the Shake! young people’s session about the media and the London riots at the Rebellious Media Conference yesterday and I can honestly say I cannot rave enough about the session and the issues discussed.” (Attender, by email)
“Platform is about intelligent activism that draws people in.” (Officer from a major UK funder)
Further background on Platform:
Platform is a leading charity working for social and environmental justice. Our methods are interdisciplinary, combining the power of art with the tangible goals of campaigning, the rigour of in-depth research with the vision to promote an alternative future.
The arts are a central part of Platform’s work. This allows us to be consistently innovative and creative in our campaigns. Platform’s cultural approach and profile enables the work to reach a wide and diverse audience. Our unique blend of arts, environment, activism and education is also central to our diversified fundraising strategy.
Our work delivers results. Working with Iraqi colleagues, we succeeded in stopping an oil law that would have given companies like BP and Shell long-term control over Iraq’s oil, in spite of intense pressure from US and UK occupation forces. Our finance campaign has forced the Royal Bank of Scotland to stop denying climate change, and to recognise its responsibility for its lending decisions. Our critique of the oil companies’ development of Canada’s tar sands, the world’s dirtiest fuel, has led to pension funds with billions of pounds of investments going to BP and Shell demanding answers. Our front-page exposé of BP’s ‘environmental time bomb’ pipeline in Turkey led to construction being delayed for a year whilst inadequate engineering was fixed. We have led the way on combining campaigning, arts, and anti-racism with young people through the “Shake!” project. We are internationally recognised for our analysis, ideas, methods and impacts.
Platform’s aims:
Climate change: Dangerous levels of climate change should be prevented, through transforming the energy economy, slowing fossil fuel extraction and shifting financial, cultural and institutional norms. The costs of energy transition should fall most heavily on those who benefit from current energy use.
Resource justice: the costs and benefits of natural resource extraction should be fairly distributed and control over those resources democratised. Governments and other actors should be prevented from participating in resource wars.
Human rights of affected communities: The human rights of those affected by oil extraction or by climate change should be respected and protected.
Responsibility: Those responsible for driving climate change and human rights violations associated with oil extraction should be held to account – including companies, the British government and individuals working within them.
Building movements: There should be strong and active social movements in the global North and South, working in coalition and solidarity, against the politics of self-interest.
Changing our culture: British thought, policy, and culture should be focused on a future based on environmental sustainability and social justice. Racism, prejudice and exclusion must be challenged and stopped.
Organisational structure:
Platform promotes shared leadership and collaboration and our structure reflects this. We value everybody’s work equally and support each other to make ambitious projects possible.
As a charity, ultimate responsibility for and control of the organisation lie with the Board of Trustees. However, what would more “traditionally” be the role of Executive Director role is carried out by a rotating Project Development and Management Group (PDMG). Staff are invited to join the PDMG at least nine months after starting a role in Platform, subject to approval of PDMG members.
PDMG members have specific responsibilities for running different aspects of the organisation, and report to the the wider organisation and the Trustees. Current PDMG roles include Finance, Human Resources, Strategy and Programming. The Shake! Coordinator will be line-managed by a member of the PDMG initially; although it is anticipated that the Coordinator may become a member of the PDMG if they choose to.
Equal opportunities
Platform strives to apply equal opportunities principles both in its recruitment and in its work. We oppose all forms of unlawful or lawful discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, gender, sexuality, marital status, religion, age or disability. Read our socially just recruitment & employment policy.
The successful candidate will be selected purely on the basis of how well they fit the person specification, as judged by their application materials and their interview performance. Unfortunately Platform is unable to arrange work permits for applicants.
Terms & conditions
Salary: The salary will be determined by Platform’s ground-breaking Social Justice Waging System, based on a core rate £28,000 per annum, pro rata (under review). Under this radical scheme, not only are all staff subject to the same salary levels (regardless of position in the organisation), the levels are adjusted according to need. For example, those with substantial inherited savings are paid less than those without, and there are extra salary increases available to those with children or dependents. We believe this system constitutes a major step forward in providing equal opportunities.
For each years’ employment, staff are rewarded with an increase in salary of 1% per year worked.
The details of the System are reviewed annually, with all staff encouraged to participate in the review.
Details of the System (including principles, rationale and mechanisms) are available on request, from [email protected].
Hours of work: 24 hours (3 days) per week.
Holiday: 30 days per calendar year plus bank holidays (pro-rata)
Pension: Platform will match your contributions either to its group pension scheme, or to your own ethically invested personal pension scheme, up to a maximum of 7.5% of salary. (Note that Platform’s absolute minimum definition of “ethical” is that the fund does not invest in the companies that Platform campaigns against, such as corporations in the oil and gas or arms/defence sectors.)
Notice of termination: One month from either side.
Access: Platform’s office is on the ground floor. Platform will make every reasonable adjustment to the office or to working arrangements so as to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities.