Communications Director

WHO WE ARE

Thousand Currents believes the answers to the most entrenched societal challenges around the world rest in the hands of directly affected frontline communities. For nearly 40 years, we have learned from and invested more than $31 million to 1,000 grassroots groups and social movements, working in the areas of food, economic, and climate justice. Currently, we support over 130 women-, youth-, and Indigenous-led groups, alliances, and movements across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean with core, flexible, long-term grants and value-added services. 

Thousand Currents is also committed to ensuring philanthropy is rooted in justice and equity. We are a vocal and visible advocate for grassroots-led social change, bridging emerging approaches and learnings from the Global South with philanthropic models and practices in the Global North. We seek to question hierarchical and rigid structures within philanthropy and offer alternate models of supporting and showing solidarity with movement leaders and groups working within the larger realm of climate, food and economy.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

As Communications Director at Thousand Currents, you will lead strategies that elevate our brand, uplift our movement partners, and ultimately influence approaches to funding grassroot groups and social movements in the Global South. Specifically, working as part of the Philanthropic Partnerships and Influence (PPI) team, and reporting to VP of Philanthropic Partnerships and Influence, the Communications Director will:

• Work with the VP of PPI to develop a comprehensive communications strategy and implement a communications plan in service to our mission and aligned to our narrative change strategy.
• Successfully develop and implement a communications fund strategy that produces a sustained, informed, and energized donor base to support Thousand Currents’ work, specifically driving awareness of and engagement with our work in mobilizing resources and influencing practices for climate justice, economic justice, and food sovereignty movements. 
• Work in collaboration with the team, design, develop, and distribute content that reaches our target audiences. 
• Oversee the creation, curation, and promotion of all written and visual content, inclusive of online (website, blog, and social media), print, and email marketing. 
• Advance Thousand Currents’ position as a thought leader through platforms that expand our sphere of influence and “turn up the volume” on critical conversations in the philanthropic sector. Leverage the collective brain power of organizational leaders. 
• Manage media relations, including press releases, earned media placement, crisis communications, and designation and preparation of messengers for response to media and press requests.
• Supervise, coach, and build the capacity of the Communications team, composed of specialists in digital media, graphic design, and visual storytelling. Facilitate team in setting department-wide and individual goals, creating work plans, and ensuring monitoring, learning, and reporting of key activities. 
• Manage external vendors and consultants, inclusive of copywriters, web designers, photographers, videographers, public relations, and social media and email marketing platforms. 
• Serve as a primary steward of Thousand Currents’ brand, ensuring consistency of brand positioning and messaging across all channels and audiences. Manage the usage of style guide, key messages, templates, and other communications assets, updating as needed. 
• Create and institute mechanisms for internal communications for cross-team and cross-departmental information sharing and learning. 
• As a staff member, contribute to a team culture of collaboration, innovation, and experimentation that fosters our collective personal and professional learning and growth. 
• Manage crisis communications and serve as on the record spokesperson as needed.

WHO YOU ARE

• You are a passionate advocate for Thousand Currents’ mission and values. You believe in the power of leveraging relationships and resources in order to strengthen social movements worldwide. You thrive on a team that values courage, humility, experimentation, creative collaboration, and recognition of our interdependence. 
• You are a visionary and versatile communications leader. You bring at least 10 years of experience, including at least 3 years at the director-level, in communications roles that advance nonprofit, philanthropic, or other mission-driven work, ideally in a global context. You are knowledgeable of best practices and new approaches to brand building and communications.  
• You are a strategic thinker with the ability to implement tactically. You are skilled in translating high-level strategy into tangible activities and goals. You leverage the wisdom of others, along with resources and insights from the field, when making strategic decisions. You are intentional in conducting experiments to test out and analyze the impact of communications.
• You are a generative writer and editor with a nuanced understanding of narrative. You are skilled in producing high-impactful stories and content for print, web, email, and external relations (e.g. media placement, thought leadership.) You articulate the “why” behind an organization’s work and develop narratives that influence and impact a range of audience. 
• You are an attuned people manager who leverages individuals’ strengths and promotes teamwork. You build strong teams, coach direct and indirect reports, and foster a culture of collaboration and accountability. You ensure that roles are clear, set clear success metrics, and develop others to realize their full potential. 
• You are a thoughtful relationship builder who develops rapport easily and inspires trust. You have a warm, energetic, and authentic personality that translates to building lasting relationships with a range of personalities. You communicate and connect across cultural, regional, and political differences, and operate from a place of deep respect for others. 
• You are a well-organized and resourceful project manager. You are experienced in leading multiple projects with concurrent deadlines. You are skilled at building processes and systems, and strategically leverage limited resources to create the biggest impact. You are knowledgeable of commonly used communications technologies e.g., Asana, HootSuite, Mailchimp, Salesforce, and/or similar tools. 
• You are a flexible, mature, and helpful team member. You are at home in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment with the ability to stay focused and nimble in the face of growth and change. You adapt to changing circumstances, pitch in where needed, and bring strong judgment and discretion in handling sensitive information. 

The following qualifications are appreciated, but not required:

• Experience working at a mission-driven media company, communications agency, or start-up that works on progressive social issues. 
• Working knowledge in any of Thousand Currents’ core themes (climate justice, economic justice, food sovereignty) and program locations (Asia, Africa, Latin America.)
• Working knowledge of the philanthropic sector, with curiosity in approaches aimed at creating a more enabling environment for movement work.

●       Full health/dental coverage

●       15 vacation days in first year of employment

●       10 sick days, plus access to 30 days "emergency sick leave" either for self or to care for a family member

●       16 weeks of parental leave

●       $1500 annual work-from-home stipend

●       $2,000 annual wellness stipend

●       Retirement contribution allowance of 6% of gross salary

●       Life and long-term disability insurance

●       Travel insurance

●       Sabbatical after seven years of employment