Community Engagement Coordinator

Description

The Reimagining Equity and Values in Informal STEM Education (REVISE) Center, hosted by TERC, is seeking a detail-oriented, thoughtful Community Engagement Coordinator (CEC) to facilitate/support its Communities of Practice (CPs) and Informal STEM Education (ISE) Equity Visionaries workgroups and initiatives to especially advance equity and build capacity for ISE researchers, practitioners, evaluators, and learners. The REVISE Center is a resource center that supports the National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal Science Learning (AISL) granting program as well as the broader ISE community.

REVISE’s Communities of Practice (CPs) initiative aims to bring together ISE field members through the development and maintenance of professional working groups designed around individual social identities (affinity) and areas of ISE work (interest). Separately and collectively, these groups will evolve to form thriving communities of practice that bolster a multisector diverse community of professionals through dedicated to improving and generating new knowledge and education on equitable practices for the broader ISE field. Further, the Center aims for CPs to serve as counter spaces for historically marginalized and underrepresented identities and underfunded areas of informal STEM learning research, practice and evaluation. Through this mechanism, the Center will gain greater insight into the ISE field's challenges, needs, and concerns around equity and help address problems of practice across research and evaluation. This strand of work is led by the Director of Affiliate Programs & Research-to-Practice and the Communities of Practice Project Manager.

The ISE Equity Visionaries initiative is a series of webinars, workshops, and training focused on building capacity for ISE researchers, practitioners, and evaluators to pursue funding from the National Science Foundation (especially those from small community-based organizations, interested in equity-centered research in ISE) . This strand of work is led by the Director of Operations and Communications.

Additionally, this full-time (100% FTE) non-exempt position will be split across the above initiatives (60% - Communities of Practice, 40% - ISE Equity Visionaries). It will be supported by other REVISE Center leadership (Director of Vision & Accountability, Director of Virtual Infrastructure & Community, Center Manager) and other highly collaborative team members. More specifically, the CEC will directly collaborate with the Director of Affiliate Programs & Research-to-Practice, the Director of Operations and Communications, and the Communities of Practice Project Manager.

The CEC position is remote with the expectation of traveling to and attending 2-4 convenings per year. The CEC will report to the Director of Affiliate Programs & Research-to-Practice, and the CP Project Manager to discuss the scheduling, coordination, programming, and support of CP objectives/tasks. The CEC will also consult with the Director of Operations and Communications and Director of Vision & Accountability as needed.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following to support both CPs and ISE Equity Visionaries initiatives:

• Help prepare meeting agendas and co-lead weekly meetings
• Co-design and co-lead processes supporting virtual and in-person spaces
• Facilitate dialogue to process problems of practice and develop action steps
• Support the design and implementation of counter spaces and dialogue to promote healing and engagement and to address issues of inequity
• Contribute to planning, design, and implementation of REVISE convenings
• Guide partnership collaborations with the ISE community
• Help recruit ISE community members or guest speakers to participate in or lead webinars
• Coordinate compensation/honoraria for initiative participants
• Help identify best practices to evaluate effective community engagement
• Strategically coordinate REVISE Center advisors and outside consultants to advance initiatives.
• Support and facilitate the ongoing development of an equity-centered collaborative work environment with the guidance of the REVISE Center leadership team
  
  

Qualifications And Requirements

• Some background knowledge on CPs theory and ISE content
• Familiarity with NSF organizational policies and practices
• Facilitation/moderation expertise across ??virtual and in-person spaces
• Knowledgeable of equity and/or social justice theory and practice (e.g., intersectionality, antiracism, disability justice, etc.)
• Comfort facilitating dialogue around complex issues of equity (e.g., racism, power-sharing, etc.)
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Proficient problem-solver and critical thinker (adaptable to project needs - learning, analyzing and implementing innovative and creative practices)
• Efficient skills in multitasking, time management (detail-oriented)
• Ability to work with material adhering to privacy and confidentiality policies
• Individually driven and highly collaborative
• Technologically proficient with office computer applications (e.g., email, spreadsheets, database, word processing, Google Suite) and online collaboration tools (e.g., Howspace, Slack, Miro, etc.). (*we are a Mac environment and have supports available if necessary*)
• BA/BS, or equivalent (5 years relevant project management experience)
  
  

About The REVISE Center

Vision: The Reimagining Equity and Values in Informal STEM Education (REVISE) Center is a collaborative effort to advance equity across the informal STEM learning field through community building; supporting and extending infrastructures; technical assistance; and communications. This resource center focused on equity in STEM education is supported through a cooperative agreement with the US National Science Foundation Advancing Informal STEM Learning (NSF-AISL) program (NSF Award #2229061), designed around four primary functions:

• Cultivate a multi-sector, diverse community dedicated to promoting equity in informal STEM learning experiences and environments.
• Raise the visibility and impact of equity-focused research and practice in the informal STEM learning field and its contributions to the overall STEM endeavor.
• Support AISL PIs, prospective PIs, and partners in enacting their commitments to equity with respect to research and practice.
• Promote equitable practices that support the AISL program.
  
  

The Primary Audiences For The REVISE Center Are Individuals And Organizations That Want To Grow Their Ability To Design And Conduct Equity-focused, Evidence-based Innovations In Informal STEM Research, Programming, Or Both. The Stakeholders Served By The Center Should Include, But Are Not Limited To

• Equity-focused, evidence-based research and practice innovators in informal STEM.
• AISL PIs and partners.
• Prospective AISL PIs and partners.
  
  

The REVISE Center will serve as a champion and critical voice for equity in the informal STEM education (ISE) field and cultivate lasting change among ISE, stakeholders, and the broader STEM education ecosystem. The Center leverages the strength of community-building through inclusive, collaborative design and the sharing of resources and ethical practices to establish long-lasting compassionate relationships (particularly building trusting relationships among historically disenfranchised communities). It values bolstering infrastructures to extend research capacity and expand access to funding, highlighting more scalable, equity-focused research findings useful in ISE programming that serve marginalized learners, supporting increased diversity in leadership, and advancing the adaption of ISE program components for tailored use to empower new learners and leaders with diverse perspectives to influence informal STEM. Thus, the Center aims to foster and fortify safe spaces of belonging in STEM thereby creating a more informed public that values STEM in everyday life, work, and global citizenship, and recognizes its role in advancing a more just and equitable society. These efforts will promote critical reflection and dialogue on historical and contextual factors that underlie systemic inequities, mistrust, and power hierarchies in STEM and advance inclusive communication and culturally responsive evaluation that broaden participation and promote organizational change and transformative social justice.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB)

TERC envisions a work community of diverse, multicultural talent that transforms futures through math and science education research. As such we are committed to antiracist education and other critical frameworks to cultivate equitable STEM learning environments and transformative social justice in the diverse communities we serve. Read our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Statement.

TERC actively seeks to diversify its staff; we deeply believe that the inclusion of diverse perspectives, ideas, and characteristics (race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, disability, protected veteran status, age, and more) contributes to the creativity and impact of our research, and the professional development and experiences of our employees. All hiring practices, personnel actions, and benefits are administered equally, without regard to the aforementioned characteristics. For more detail, please read our EEO Policy Statement.

Please do not call and no recruiter or agency inquiries.