About us

Hua foundation is a youth empowerment non-profit working on racial equity and civic engagement issues on unceded territories and lands, in particular, those of the three title-holding Nations: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Our work lives at the intersection of cultural heritage and social change. Our roots are in Vancouver’s Chinatown and we have been working for years alongside youth and community members from the Asian diaspora.

Our work spans a broad spectrum of activities, from workshops and programming, to toolkit and resource development, to advocacy and public policy.

Some highlights over the years include:

• The Choi Project & Seasonal Choi Guide
• Vancouver Chinatown Food Security Report & Social Cohesion Report
• the anti-racism + solidarities resource collection
• Asian Community Convener (ACC) Project, as part of the Resilience BC Anti-Racism Network
• Reorienting Our Trauma: group therapy and mental health resources for asian youth
• The Language Access Project, as part of the C19 Response Coalition, recipient of the University of British Columbia Public Humanities Hub 2023 Public Engagement Award
• ACAM320J: Asian Canadian Community Organizing 

As an organization, we strongly believe that any work of anti-racism, justice, equity, and decolonization must start from within. This means that our organizational policies are often living documents, as we adapt to the changing needs of our team and the ecosystems in which our work occurs. We are a Living Wage certified organization, and are in the process of developing an internal Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) Strategy. 

Job description

Hua foundation is hiring a part-time (15 hours/week) permanent Communications & Engagement Manager (CEM). This role will be responsible for the ongoing day-to-day functions relating to external-facing communications. This position has an intended start date of August 6, 2024.

The first year and a half of this position will include the stewardship of several predetermined projects: a strategic communications plan & brand refresh, an overhaul & streamlining of our main website, and the development of a stakeholder management system (details below). 

We recognize that the part-time nature of this position may require flexible working hours to accommodate other commitments (e.g. education, other employment, family), and emphasize the importance of work-life balance. As such, we will work with the selected candidate to identify ideal schedule coordination. At this time, we hold weekly staff meetings on Mondays. 

This role is for hybrid-remote work, with optional part time access to our shared office space at 312 Main (schedule and space permitting). The CEM may be required to attend in-person meetings once per month (tbc), with occasional other support at hua foundation events. In the case that the CEM is required to be on-site and interacting with the public, hua foundation is able to provide appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). As per our organizational COVID-19 policies (available on request), all staff are expected to be fully vaccinated. In-person events are subject to the latest government health policies, and will be under ongoing evaluation for the health and safety of our most vulnerable community members.  

This position is supervised by the director of community capacity + strategic initiatives, christina lee. Where unavailable, this position reports to hua foundation executive director, kevin huang. 

Responsibilities

This position is responsible for functions relating to external-facing communications. This includes core day-to-day management, as well as three structural projects over the course of the first year and a half:

Core day-to-day

• Ongoing management of first-line communications with the organization
  • e.g. info@ general inbox(es), social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, and X – formerly Twitter)
• Development and ongoing maintenance of a communications calendar and publishing processes 
• Management of core communications projects (Lunar New Year and Asian Heritage Month)
• Copywriting/editing and graphic design for public-facing social media campaigns (or where applicable, oversight on independent contractor work)
• Ongoing implementation of recommendations of the forthcoming communications & engagement strategic plan 

Strategic communications plan & brand refresh

Strategic communications plan

• Work with senior staff to understand goals, functions, and intentions of public-facing organizational communications
• Conduct a field scan of other similar organizations and how they do their communications 
• Facilitate a short survey on how our communities prefer to receive and interact with communications 
• Conduct brief interviews with select community members from various audiences on how they prefer to receive and interact with communications 
• Analyze data and produce a report/strategic plan outlining key strategic recommendations for communicating with our many audiences, including short-term changes and medium- to long- term growth opportunities

Brand refresh

• Review of all existing public-facing projects, marketing, communications, and branding under the hua foundation umbrella, past and present 
• Work with senior staff to understand goals and intentions of new branding, audiences, applications
• Either internally or by contractor, conduct a brand update and develop a set of guidelines that are easy to follow 

Web overhaul & streamlining

• Work with senior staff to understand the current needs and major challenges that we have with our web footprint, as well as wishlist items for future iterations of the website 
• Conduct a scan of existing platforms to determine which would be best for our needs
• Contract and work with a web developer to overhaul the huafoundation.org website, in line with the new communications strategy 
• Develop a set of standardized process documents that are easy to follow for basic updates 
• Set up a plan or agreement for possible future larger-scale updates

Stakeholder management system

• Work with senior staff to understand the current needs and challenges of our stakeholder management system
• Conduct a scan of existing stakeholder management platforms to assess which would be best for our needs
• Set up a system within the new platform that fits our many audiences, including those that wear multiple hats 

Compensation

This position has an expected workload of 15 hours per week (0.5 FTE @ 7.5hours/day of a 4-day work week), and is salaried at $24,960 + 15% in lieu of comprehensive non-wage benefits. 

Additional non-wage benefits include:

• Enrolment in our extended health benefits program
• Annual paid time off allotment:
  • Annual year-end holiday office closure*
  • Vacation, prorated at 8 days
  • 5 Sick days
  • 5 Personal days (e.g. for cultural/religious observances)

* Please note that the annual year-end holiday office closure typically overlaps with Lunar New Year project work. In instances where work is required during this period, we coordinate with all staff to ensure that appropriate time off is accommodated in lieu. 

About you

We recognize that there are many power dynamics at play that affect one’s access to educational and experiential opportunities, at varying and overlapping intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, dis/ability, class, socio-economic status, citizenship, etc.. For many people in our communities, traditional ‘skills, assets, and qualifications’ lists can act as a barrier to employment and other opportunities. 

With this in mind, our priorities for this position include:

• Lived experience and nuanced understanding of the Asian diaspora and related community challenges, and/or experience working with racialized communities in a social change context;
• Strong critical thinking ability and courageousness in asking tough questions;
• A strong balance between imaginativeness, creativity, and practicality;
• The ability to communicate support and access needs, and to ask for help;
• A willingness to make thoughtful, balanced, and at times difficult decisions;
• Emotional maturity, and an openness to learning and engaging in different ways of thinking; and,
• A commitment to social- and systems-change, particularly from an anti-oppressive and justice-based lens, and how these play out in and among racialized communities that experience discrimination and marginalization.

In addition to the above, some tangibles that may improve our collective experience together:

• Formal training (e.g. college diploma, degree in communications) or equivalent combination of experience in communications and/or related fields;
• Experience managing online external-facing communications platforms (including web, email, and social media);
• Strong fluency in asynchronous work systems and platforms (Slack, Google Workspace) and online work environments (Zoom);
• Experience using graphic design software (e.g. Adobe Creative Cloud);
• Strong written and verbal English language communication skills;
• Proactive, driven, and able to delegate and assign tasks;
• Strong organizational and time management skills, attention to detail, and ability to work both independently and in a team environment;
• Experience working in a nonprofit organization; and,
• Experience in change management and process documentation are assets, but not required.

Application process

To apply, please prepare the following for submission via our intake form:

• Name, pronouns
• Email address
• Phone number
• Your social media handles (optional)
• Portfolio (optional)
  • Your portfolio may include samples of previous graphic design work and/or writing. It will not negatively impact your application to include only one of the above. 
  • Please ensure that any links are correct and permissions are enabled for us to review!
• An up-to-date resume or non-academic CV in .PDF format 
• An expression of interest (no more than two pages) in .PDF format addressing the following questions:
  • What knowledge are you excited to bring to this role and what are you most curious to learn about hua foundation and this work?
  • What cultural or personal values would you activate or sustain in your work alongside us?
  • What is one action that you would take to ground yourself in your first weeks?
• Your availability for in-person interviews between July 10-12th

Please name all file submissions with the following format:
Lastname_Firstname-Submissiontype-2024hfCEM.pdf

• e.g. Lee_Christina-Portfolio-2024hfCEM.pdf
• Lee_Christina-Resume-2024hfCEM.pdf
• Lee_Christina-EOI-2024hfCEM.pdf

Preparing for an interview takes time and labour, so we compensate candidates who interview with us at a fixed rate of $100 per interview. Interview questions will be provided ahead of time so candidates are able to prepare for the interview as they see fit. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

If you have any questions about the position or application process, or would prefer applying in a different format or approach, please reach out to christina@huafoundation.org. Applicants can expect a response within two business days. 

This application closes on June 24, 2024 @ 8am PST.

We are grateful for and continue to learn from the work of many other organizations in their efforts to create equitable and thoughtful processes for hiring and employment. The prompts for the expression of interest are based on questions from The Circle on Philanthropy’s employment opportunities. We follow the lead of Evenings & Weekends Consulting in providing honoraria for our interviews.