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Hiring for A Tale of Two Parks! 

***DEADLINE EXTENDED to June 6th at midnight! 

We are looking for teams of Communication Specialists & Social Researchers to work together as a Community Storytelling team! 

All team members must love storytelling, collecting and sharing. If that is you, keep reading to learn more about this project. 

About DIA 

The Department of Imaginary Affairs is a national nonprofit organization. We are imagining equitable futures. We aim to understand the evolving definition of what it means to be Canadian from new and developing Canadians. We focus on the stories of newcomers and Youth, as we believe they represent some of the most underestimated portions of our population when it comes to the design of empathetic programs, policies and services. 

About a Tale of Two Parks 

A Tale of Two Parks is an oral storytelling project centered on community stories of people who live, work and play around Dentonia Park and Edgeley Park. This project will be shaped by 6 Youth who will be trained in community storytelling, history of storytelling Toronto (specifically in the neighbourhoods surrounding Dentonia and Edgeley Park), oral story collecting, story curation and editing. 

The goal of A Tale of Two Parks is to connect stories about how parks have played a role in people’s lives before, during and after the pandemic. A Tale of Two Parks will highlight stories about the past, present and future of parks in Toronto. 

This project is a collaboration between the Department of Imaginary Affairs, Jane-Finch Centre and the East End Arts. 

About the Roles

We are looking for 6 Youth between the ages of 19-30 to seek out, listen, edit, share and amplify stories of community members between the months of July – December 2021. We are looking to fill different 2 roles: two Communication Specialists & four Social Researchers. The roles will be done remotely and within Dentonia Park and Edgeley Park. 

About how the Teams will work together 

With the 6 roles hired, the group will form into 2 teams. One for the community around Dentonia Park and one of the community around Edgeley Park. Each team will have one Communication Specialist and 2 Social Researchers. Each team will be responsible for coming up with their own communications, accountability and project management styles. This project will be a collaboration between two teams contributing to one project. 

About tasks

  • Participate in a series of project orientation sessions, trainings and project meetings starting July 12 
  • Learn about oral storytelling, the role of storytelling and research in neighbourhoods, the power of story collecting, audio editing, social media, community outreach 
  • Work collaboratively with community team and project teams 
  • Create project deliverables and deadlines 
  • Stay accountable to project deliverables and deadlines 
  • Develop communications, accountability and project management styles within teams 
  • Develop social media strategy and plan for engaging with broader audiences 
  • Develop story collecting strategies and community outreach plans 
  • Participate in developmental evaluation and project reflections 
  • Be responsible for tracking hours, tasks and deliverables

Communication Specialists will receive $3420 each for approximately 20 hours of work for 12 weeks of work. Social Researchers will receive $5700 each for approximately 20 hours of work for 20 weeks of work. Hours each week may vary depending on tasks and are flexible. Team members will be expected to attend pre-scheduled Project Meetings and training sessions to the best of their abilities or to view the training recording if there is one. 

Skills & Experience needed 

There are no specific prerequisite skills or qualifications needed for these positions. We are looking for Youth who would consider themselves as good listeners, self-starters, motivated to collaborate, responsible, open to feedback, good communicators, open to plans changing and work well on their own as well as with others. 

The roles are done partially remotely and partially within the communities surrounding Dentonia Park (postal code M3N) and Edgeley Park (postal code M3M, M3J). Preference will be given to those who live within an accessible distance of the parks either by personal modes of transportation. 

Other assets for these roles include: 

  • Experience engaging with community members, neighbours, local stores, friends and family in oral storytelling 
  • Interest in interviewing, asking questions, listening, research, learning about others stories
  • Language fluency in Bengali, Somali, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil, Tibetan, Tagalog, Hungarian or any other languages 
  • Interest or experience in photography, graphic design, filmmaking, podcasts, social media, website design, writing 

The Department of Imaginary Affairs is committed to equity, inclusion, anti-oppression, and anti-racism. This is work that is ongoing and we are still on a very active learning journey, and we are looking for team members who are open to being on that journey with us. We are seeking and placing priority on engaging qualified applicants who identify as Black, Indigenous, Persons of Colour, Persons with Disabilities, and/or Persons across the spectrum of sexual orientation and gender identities. 

This is not just boilerplate text for us — this is a part of our own ongoing learning, unlearning, and relearning. We are seeking team members who are eager to join us on this path.

How to apply

There are two tasks to complete to apply for this role: 

1. A video or audio note introducing yourself to us:

  • How do you identify yourself (pronouns, cultural identity) 
  • The roles you play in your life 
  • What kind of team player you are 

2. A written statement letting us know a bit about: 

  • What kinds of stories energize you? 
  • What makes you think you would be a good fit for this project 
  • Your relationship to either Dentonia Park or Edgeley Park (if you don’t have one, tell us about another park in Toronto)
  • What kind of world you imagine 50 years from now 
  • Where can we learn more about you online, any of your social media handles 

To apply, please submit the above tasks by June 6th by midnight to jenn@dia.space – we will be reaching out to applicants we are curious to learn more about for a group interview during the week of June 7th. Please let us know if you require any accommodations around applying. Thank you for your interest in this role and project. 

 

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