About the Opportunity
The Public Engagement and Diversity (PEaD) Manager will play a critical role in sustaining Chicago Dance History Project’s current audience engagement program series and a leadership role in the development of new community-based public outreach programming. In both capacities, the PEaD Manager will be a primary public facing representative and ambassador for sharing CDHP’s current digital collections and will be a catalyst for expanding these assets to better represent the entirety of dance in Chicago.
As CDHP’s archive moves closer to complete online accessibility, this role is crucial to the concurrent realization of CDHP's public mission, maintaining the principle that accessibility does not begin and end with an internet connection. Our collections will be truly accessible when we can introduce them to people across the region candidly, facilitating face-to-face, historically contextualized conversations.
The PEaD Manager will work closely with the Executive Director as well as the Operations and Collections Manager in designing and implementing programs, while also enjoying a progressively expansive degree of creative autonomy in project development and management In this newly-created position, the candidate will grow into and augment these opportunities for community and institutional relationship-building with the full support of the Executive Director, CDHP staff, and the CDHP Advisory Council.
The ideal candidate will be a self-motivated, proactive, independent creative thinker demonstrating an active familiarity with the Chicago dance world in its many facets and manifestations, and who presents an enthusiastic interest in developing relationships and building bridges that bring the diversity of Chicago’s dance community to greater public awareness.
Role and Responsibilities
The PEaD Manager position is part-time at 30 hours per week with an approximate breakdown of activities and responsibilities as follows:
In these three capacities, the successful candidate will work closely with the CDHP Team to secure the following desired outcomes:
Attributes and Demonstrated Experience
The successful candidate will possess:
Additional qualifications preferred but not required: Experience navigating Chicago’s cultural institutional infrastructure - including libraries, museums, non-profits, parks, cultural centers; Masters degree or comparable experiential expertise; experience with digital collections and preservation practices; bilingual speaker.
Compensation and Benefits
For this part-time, 30 hour per week position, CDHP offers a range of compensation at $30.00 to $33.00 per hour, healthcare benefits (25% employer contribution/75% employee contribution), paid leave, paid sick leave, and additional paid days off for specific holidays. Occasional overtime may occur, for which the employee would be compensated at time and a half.
About Chicago Dance History Project
Chicago Dance History Project investigates, documents, and presents the oral and corporeal histories of dance in Chicago by creating and maintaining an open-access digital archive of original and collected materials. Our archive represents a wide variety of dance artists and institutions, and tells the stories of Chicago’s dance history from multiple perspectives; the organization strives to preserve the most diverse, most representational stories possible.
Further, we seek to honestly represent any racial, ethnic, and other identity-based harms uncovered in our archival efforts that were systematically perpetrated by and within the city of Chicago – as manifest through the past and present socio-political contexts in which Chicago dance practices evolved – with particular cognizance of the city’s historical and continued policies of anti-Black racism and racial segregation. By unflinchingly giving voice to the realities and legacies of the many forms of discrimination reflected by and in dance history, we hope to ameliorate past harms, thus equitably elevating the creative practice of past and present dance artists and practitioners in Chicago.
Vision Statement
Chicago Dance History Project (CDHP) believes that ours is a rare and particular grouping of artists, administrators, patrons, festivals, venues, and creative workers which deserves to be celebrated, recognized, and championed.
Through its ongoing collaborative efforts across the sector, CDHP serves to help elevate the Chicago Dance Community - and the quintessential characteristics that make it uniquely Chicago - locally, nationally, and internationally.
Core Values Statements
In all aspects of its operations, CDHP is committed unwaveringly to the following core values:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Chicago dance community is an ever-changing, ever-diversifying group of people, cultures, art forms, beliefs, and approaches to dance. In order to serve our community well, CDHP acknowledges that our mission and core values are tied inextricably to the tenets of DEI.
We are committed to modeling diversity and inclusion through our behaviors, policies and programs and thereby maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all. Through continual examination and internal reflection, we make apparent and can correct underlying assumptions that may undermine this commitment. We devote time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, and advisory bodies.
Further, the care and attention paid to best practices, transparency and consistency, access and accessibility, and continual improvement are the mechanisms by which we honor diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Best Practices
CDHP’s processes and policies for collection, preservation, and promotion of oral histories are created and updated in alignment with ethical standards and industry best practices governed by the Oral History Association, the Society for American Archivists, and other similar organizations.
Transparency and Consistency
Our success in serving the Chicago dance community hinges on the clarity of our operations and actions. By committing to the core value of transparency, we seek to eliminate any uncertainty about our strategic direction and access to our programs. By committing to the core value of consistency, we seek to eliminate any suggestion of favoritism across the community.
Access/Accessibility
Equal access to our programs and services in a measured and predictable manner by members of our diverse community is foundational to our operations. Likewise, accessibility of printed and digital materials, accessibility at in-person audience engagement events or panel discussions, and accessibility of our online oral histories are to be supported by pre-emptive accommodations for those participants with mobility, visual, hearing, or other disabilities.
Continual Improvement
As CDHP continuously investigates how best to serve its diverse range of constituents, we promise to correct unintentional shortcomings and missteps, improve communication and program offerings, and accept positive and negative feedback from the field with openness, humility, and a readiness to make necessary changes.
Statement of Non-Discrimination
CDHP is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is clear: there shall be no discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, or sexual orientation.
We actively promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills and potential. We welcome submissions from a wide range of candidates and highly encourage application even if one does not meet every single qualification.
Please submit a cover letter, resume with a summary of your demonstrable accomplishments, and a writing sample of your choosing, no later than February 21, 2025
About the Opportunity
The Public Engagement and Diversity (PEaD) Manager will play a critical role in sustaining Chicago Dance History Project’s current audience engagement program series and a leadership role in the development of new community-based public outreach programming. In both capacities, the PEaD Manager will be a primary public facing representative and ambassador for sharing CDHP’s current digital collections and will be a catalyst for expanding these assets to better represent the entirety of dance in Chicago.
As CDHP’s archive moves closer to complete online accessibility, this role is crucial to the concurrent realization of CDHP's public mission, maintaining the principle that accessibility does not begin and end with an internet connection. Our collections will be truly accessible when we can introduce them to people across the region candidly, facilitating face-to-face, historically contextualized conversations.
The…
For this part-time, 30 hour per week position, CDHP offers a range of compensation at $30.00 to $33.00 per hour, healthcare benefits (25% employer contribution/75% employee contribution), paid leave, paid sick leave, and additional paid days off for specific holidays. Occasional overtime may occur, for which the employee would be compensated at time and a half.
For this part-time, 30 hour per week position, CDHP offers a range of compensation at $30.00 to $33.00 per hour, healthcare benefits (25% employer contribution/75% employee contribution), paid leave, paid sick leave, and additional paid days off for specific holidays. Occasional overtime may occur, for which the employee would be compensated at time and a half.
English, high proficiency
Spanish, proficiency (preferred)
English, high proficiency
Spanish, proficiency (preferred)