TITLE: Community-Based Archivist and Project Coordinator

DEPARTMENT: Visual Arts

REPORTS TO: Visual Arts Senior Director

COMPENSATION: $66,560 annual salary

FLSA: Exempt

HOURS: Full Time - 40 hours/week

START DATE: July 1, 2024

END DATE: December 31, 2026 (This is a grant-funded, temporary position)

Heart of Los Angeles helps young people overcome barriers through exceptional, free, integrated programs and personalized guidance in a trusted, nurturing environment.

Our core values are: Respect, Responsibility, Support, Positive Communication, and Inclusion.

JOB SUMMARY:

HOLA invites applicants to apply for a Community-Based Archivist and Project Coordinator position to help research, plan, and implement a community archiving project, “MARKINGS: Inscribing Indigenous Immigrant Histories in Westlake.” A consortium of partners comprised of Heart of Los Angeles, cityLAB-UCLA, The Felipe de Neve Public Library, and the Indigenous immigrant organizations Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo, Mundo Maya Foundation, and Maqueos Music Academy have come together to plan and implement MARKINGS, a three-year collaborative project to record, archive, and publicly display the narratives of Indigenous immigrant families from different cultural and linguistic groups in the Westlake/Pico-Union area of Los Angeles.

MARKINGS is driven by the particular history and current social and cultural conditions of the Westlake/Pico-Union (W/PU) neighborhood and the rich tapestry of immigrant stories that have transformed W/PU and other neighborhoods in Los Angeles. By combining efforts, expertise, and resources, our partnership will bring those unrecognized stories to the fore and foster better public awareness and understanding of these immigrant communities.

The Community-Based Archivist and Project Coordinator, under the supervision of the HOLA Visual Arts Senior Director and working closely with the project team at UCLA and the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), will be tasked with researching, designing, implementing, and managing the project, including creating workflows, processes, and procedures for the legal and ethical stewardship of Indigenous oral histories; recruiting and training of oral history interviewers and narrators; overseeing interviews and oral history collection; working with Indigenous community organizations to translate recorded oral histories; and collaborating closely with LAPL staff to deposit collections in LAPL’s digital repository.

The successful candidate is collaborative, a creative problem solver, a people person, open-minded, a strong communicator, self-motivated, a multi-tasker, has experience with community organizing and archive development/management, has cultural humility regarding non-dominant archival practices, and has a passion for LA’s Indigenous immigrant communities.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Cultivate partnerships supporting collaboration with community stakeholders;
• Produce documentation, procedures, and collateral material for the project’s public programs and exhibitions to use internally and on the project website;
• Work closely with LAPL’s Oral History Program chair to efficiently organize and store oral histories that will become part of our collection;
• Work closely with LAPL and partner organizations to establish workflows and processes, implement digital best practices, and craft ethical interview protocols;
• Work closely with participating Indigenous community organizations and families to record oral histories complying with Indigenous cultural protocols, LAPL policies, and legal and ethical stewardship frameworks;
• Work closely with participating Indigenous community organizations and families to develop ethical and relational consent, stewardship, and compensation practices;
• Assist with the planning, producing, and implementing of the project website, publications, and community exhibition.
• Prepare, organize, and disseminate digital media and archival content for multiple platforms and audiences.
• Collaborate with the project Leadership Team, Advisory Team, HOLA and UCLA Coordinators, researchers, and partners.
• Report on archival process, content, and needs
• Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies or relevant experience with community archives.
• Experience and training in oral histories and personal and community archiving are strongly preferred, especially regarding policies and procedures for ensuring ethical engagement with Indigenous communities.
• Knowledge of the unique memory-keeping practices of Los Angeles’s Indigenous immigrant communities is strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of community-based archival practices that ensure privacy, relational consent, autonomous representation, reparative description, and ethical access.
• Keen interest in and enthusiasm for the history of Los Angeles’s Indigenous immigrant communities.
• Demonstrated strong leadership skills with the ability to take the initiative and be a self-starter.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and writing skills; excellent public speaking abilities
• Outstanding relationship-building skills
• Knowledge of Spanish and/or an Indigenous language is preferred.
• Proven organizational skills and ability to multitask
• Ability to travel
• Committed availability for the full 2.5-year position term
• Must pass CA DOJ background check

VACCINATION POLICY

Heart of Los Angeles requires its employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, subject to certain exemptions as required by law. New hires working at HOLA must be fully vaccinated no later than 60 days after hire and submit to additional masking and social distancing requirements. Please contact Heart of Los Angeles Human Resources Department for a copy of the vaccination policy.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The building environment does not provide air conditioning and heat in all areas. Outdoor work is expected in some cases.

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments.

All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the incumbents will possess the skills aptitudes and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills or abilities.

Application Deadline and Information

HOLA will accept applications until June 3, 2024 (end of day).