Highlander Job Openings

 

Highlander Job Openings

About Highlander

Founded in 1932, the Highlander Research and Education Center is a popular education center that works with grassroots groups in Appalachia and the South to promote social, racial and economic justice. Highlander is located 25 miles northeast of Knoxville, TN on a 186 acre farm. Highlander's program work takes place at the Center and in local communities across the South, as well as the country and sometimes world. Highlander's long and proud history includes cutting edge work with labor education and organizing, the Civil Rights Movement, environmental justice in Appalachia, and more recently, on globalization, immigration and the changing demographics of our region. Highlander is world-renowned as a beacon for progressive organizing and widely acclaimed as a leadership development center for grassroots activists across race, culture and generations.

Fundamentally, Highlander is an intersectional resource for the South, a place where leaders, networks, and movement strands come together to interact, build relationships, craft joint strategy and develop tools and mechanisms to advance a multi-racial, intergenerational movement for justice in our region with impact nationally. Highlander helps build the skills of grassroots people and the capacity of organizations for long haul work, and connects people and issues for holistic analysis and broad based movement building. In its simplest, Highlander brings people together to learn from each other, using methodologies of popular education, cultural organizing, participatory research and multilingual capacity building.

Expectations of staff fulfilling these positions at Highlander:

• Passionate about Highlander's purpose and able to communicate our purpose and program work.
• Committed to racial, gender, economic, environmental and social justice.
• Self-starter as well as a team player.
• Computer literate.
• Organized and ability to balance multiple responsibilities with grace.
• Be an active participant in a democratically managed center.
• Keep Highlander's purpose and the people we serve central to the work.
• Sense of humor welcome and most helpful.
• High degree of honesty and integrity.
  

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Education Coordinator

Overview of Position and Highlander’s Program Work

The Education Coordinator will manage the work of the education team, ensuring strategic planning, program implementation, and the documentation and dissemination of educational communications about social justice issues and Highlander’s work to address those issues.

The Education Team conducts the heart of the program work of the Highlander Center. Highlander’s program work takes place at our residential workshop center and in local communities. In its simplest, Highlander brings people together to learn from each other. We use methodologies of popular education, cultural organizing, participatory research and multilingual capacity building.

Fundamentally, Highlander is an intersectional resource for the South, a place where leaders, networks, and movement strands come together to interact, build relationships, craft joint strategy and develop tools and mechanisms to advance a multi-racial, intergenerational movement for justice in our region. Cornerstones of the work building the skills of grassroots people and capacity of organizations for long haul work, and connecting people and issues for holistic analysis and broad based movement building.

Highlander works on a variety of issues because we believe issues are connected, because the needs in the region are deep, and because we are asked by the people we serve. We also target specific issues where we believe strategic focus will maximize our impact and help develop a critical mass of people to make change. These currently include the economy, the environment, immigration, and juvenile justice.

As a regional intermediary with an extensive history, widespread network of friends, contacts and associations, and a physical place connected to a history of struggle of which people want to be part, we work with local, state, regional, national and international organizations, networks, and coalitions.

General Responsibilities and Organizational Values

• Coordinate the work of the education team members and education interns based on analysis, strategic planning, implementation, documentation and evaluation.
• Serve on the Leadership Team of Highlander in conjunction with the Director and other team Coordinators.
• Strong collaboration with the Development and Communications team for the external educational communications of the organization.
• Represent Highlander in meetings, fieldwork and events, sharing Highlander’s history and educational processes with others.
• Coordinate the educational needs of hosting visitors and groups.
• Liaison to the Board Education Committee.
• Liaison to the Development and Communications Team in fundraising for program work.
• Help write grants and reports.
• Ensure and participate in organizational and team planning and evaluation.
• Keep the purpose of our work and the people with whom we work at the center of our activities and decisions.
• Actively participate as a member of a democratic participatory staff.

Requirements

• Extensive experience in and understanding of progressive social justice community organizing and popular education.
• Previous team leadership experience with proven track record of helping diverse, strong team members work together.
• Workshop facilitation and curriculum development skills.
• Work well with people.
• Excellent communication skills, written and verbal.
• Passionate about Highlander’s mission and purpose and able to communicate our program work effectively.
• Commitment to racial, gender, economic, environmental and social justice and civil and human rights.
• Able to establish rapport with activists and community members in diverse ethnic, racial, social and economic groups.
• Diligence.
• Willingness to work long and irregular hours.
• Willingness to travel.
• Self-starter and team player.
• Computer savvy and willingness to explore and utilize new technologies.
• Organized.
• Sense of humor.
• Experience in the South and/or Appalachia.
• High degree of integrity among peers.

Location Highlander is a rural based residential workshop center located on 186 acres in east Tennessee just outside Knoxville in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, and the position is based there. Some staff live on the Highlander grounds while others live in the surrounding areas, including Knoxville.

Start Date

Highlander hopes to fill this position by November 1, 2011.

To Apply 

Send letter of interest, resume, writing sample and 3 references to:

Search Committee:
Education Coordinator
Highlander Center
1959 Highlander Way
New Market, TN, 37820

Email applications are accepted at hrec@highlandercenter.org or by fax at 865-933-3424. Position is open until filled and applications will be considered as received. Women, people of color, and lesbigaytrans encouraged to apply.

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Workshop Center Manager

Overview of Position and Highlander's Workshop Center Management
This position is an opportunity to carry forward and expand upon the great decades-long tradition of feeding people well and on time, and offering clean, comfortable welcoming spaces for learning and gathering. The successful candidate will maximize natural and human resources to deepen the experience for workshop participants and visitors. Part of the expansion of this position is connection to Highlander's organic garden and orchard and area farmers. Highlander's workshop center can house up to 45 people and the Horton House 5-7 people. Workshops at Highlander are mostly on weekends, and we also have week-long leadership programs and camps particularly during the summer months. Additionally, Highlander has special events where larger numbers of people come, including our annual Homecoming. This position is a working manager.

General Responsibilities

• Coordinate, and share in, the cooking and cleaning work to provide safe, efficient and welcoming functions of the Workshop Center and Horton House for meals, lodging and meetings spaces.
• Ensure compliance with state and federal health codes.
• Plan Workshop Center meals and purchase food and supplies.
• Hire, train, schedule and supervise part-time employees for meals and cleaning.
• Provide leadership and training in embracing and serving a wide variety of healthful menus utilizing a maximum of fresh produce and a minimum of processed food.
• Connect part-time staff to Highlander's programmatic work.
• Actively solicit feedback and suggestions from visitors, staff and workshop participants.
• Welcome and engage with workshop participants, and visitors.
• Help with hosting visitors and groups and presentations on Highlander history.
• Communications with staff on other teams for calendar, workshop and invoicing information.
• Help secure facility rentals for open dates in the organizational calendar and other revenue-generating activities in line with Highlander's mission, vision and values
• Secure childcare services when needed.
• Strategize, develop and implement, in conjunction with Director and Staff, policies, procedures and guidelines for workshop center use.
• Work with farm interns to use of produce from on-site organic garden and orchard and develop relationships with local farmers.

Qualifications

• Great cook.
• 3 years successful experience in preparation and planning of tasty, healthful menus for groups.
• Experience or demonstrated interest in utilizing a maximum of fresh produce and a minimum of processed foods and additives.
• Experience or demonstrated interest in providing a lively sampling of flavorful, healthful, imaginative menus for diverse dietary needs.
• Special interest in developing healthful versions of traditional foods of the South and Appalachia as well as traditional foods of the diverse constituencies with whom Highlander works.
• 2-3 years team coordination or supervisory experience with at least one of those years in staff training and development.
• Weekend and irregular hours a must.
• Adaptability and problem solving.
• Appreciation for and experience working with people from diverse backgrounds and identities.
• Interest in gardens helpful.

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Bookkeeper (part-time)

Overview of Position
The position is half-time salaried with possibility of expansion and will work out of the Highlander office.

General Responsibilities of Bookkeeper

• Timely and accurate entries into QuickBooks, Highlander's accounting system.
• Timely and accurate payment and recording of all contracts, bills and invoices.
• Ensure accuracy and authorization of all entries (G/L account coding, job coding, and required signatures).
• Generate payroll and pay taxes.
• Update GL and maintain accurate cash balances.
• Prepare monthly journal entries and update balance sheet.
• Generate weekly check runs.
• Maintain vendor files and all paper files for A/P and A/R entries.
• Record revenues as reported by various departments.
• Generate other reports from QuickBooks and Excel as requested to assist financial officer.

Qualifications

• At least 2 years' experience with A/P, A/R payroll.
• Knowledge of QuickBooks.
• Outstanding organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to communicate with different kinds of people.
• Experience with non-profit accounting helpful.

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To Apply for any of these positions:

Location
Highlander is a rural based residential workshop center located on 186 acres in east Tennessee just outside Knoxville in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, and these three positions are based there. Some staff live on the Highlander grounds while others live in the surrounding areas, including Knoxville.

To Apply
Send letter of interest, resume, 3 references, and any other supportive materials.

Mail to:
Search Committee: (Name of position for which you are applying)
Highlander Center
1959 Highlander Way
New Market, TN 37820

Email applications are accepted at hrec@highlandercenter.org or by fax at 865-933-3424. Applications will start being reviewed on April 18th, and continued to be reviewed until positions are filled. Women, people of color, and lesbigaytrans people encouraged to apply. 

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