Title:                  Community and Ally Outreach Coordinator

Location:           Berkeley, CA or remote (with extensive domestic and international travel).

Start Date:         Late Spring 2019 (Flexible)

The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School and the Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity are seeking an experienced coordinator and facilitator to work on an extended consultancy to support an ambitious new community-driven human rights and economic justice initiative. Communities understand what threatens their rights and have much to contribute to processes that would better protect their rights and livelihoods. Communities should be able to claim their place at the table whenever their economic resources and livelihood are at stake, and especially for discussions about the development and implementation of business and human rights frameworks.

The consultancy will help facilitate a global process with three aims: 1) supporting communities through local workshops and assisting them with tools to advance their rights and power, 2) nurturing a network of allies to support communities, and 3) over the long term, assist local communities develop their own global set of business and human rights principles and a framework for economic justice. It is hoped these community-developed principles will complement existing business and human rights frameworks, and ultimately operate as guidelines and/or as an approach to ensure that community voices and perspectives are included in decisions and activities that affect them.

Project Overview  

Despite the growth in the field of business and human rights in recent years, communities are still too often missing from conversations and the development of key decisions and initiatives. After initial engagement with a range of people working on business and human rights, we believe that a global, bottom-up process is needed, where communities develop their own global set of business and human rights principles that complement existing frameworks, instruments and efforts, and which prioritize their own agency and economic power.

The consultancy will nurture and grow a network of local communities and community leaders and their allies interested in participating in the effort. The coordinator will also assist with facilitating workshops with communities where interested individual communities will initially develop their own set of business and human rights principles. As the workshops are also meant to be action-oriented, the coordinator will also assist with follow up efforts that emerge from the gatherings, including potentially organizing additional workshops to support communities. These community-based efforts will be supplemented with workshops specifically for community allies, such as members of regional community-based human rights organizations or local activists supporting economic justice. The coordinator will also organize gatherings of facilitators with the aim being that they will be able to conduct workshops in their own communities and wider networks. An initial format and approach for the workshops has been developed; it is premised on human-centered design and design justice principles, and it places power in the hands of communities and their allies. The coordinator will initially work with this existing framework, but will be expected to experiment with other formats and adapt the methodology to different specific contexts. For example, the coordinator will adapt the workshop to develop principles relating to community involvement in multi-stakeholder initiatives or in cooperatives and other alternative business models. The workshops should provide immediate value and benefits to communities, while also contributing to the long-term development of the global principles.

This is a 9-12 month initial fixed-term consultancy that requires extensive domestic and international travel. The Coordinator may work from MSI Integrity’s office in Berkeley, CA if desired, but as an independent contractor is free to set their own travel and work schedule and must provide their own laptop and materials. Competitive remuneration will be provided. Applicants must have the right to work in the United States.

Consultancy Terms of Reference

  • Build a movement of communities and allies who are committed to the inclusion of communities and rightsholders in the development and implementation of frameworks for economic justice and business and human rights.
  • Nurture and grow a network of local communities and community leaders interested in participating in the global process.
  • Facilitate a select number of workshops with local communities where interested individual communities will develop their own set of general business and human rights principles as well as explore practical steps to advance their rights; in some situations, this may entail additional follow-up workshops.
  • Develop, test, and improve workshop formats that are rooted in human-centered design thinking; and develop systems to grow a group of facilitators that can carry out workshops over time.
  • Encourage and support local community leaders who participate in facilitated workshops to reach out and meet with other community leaders in their region to distil key regional principles.
  • Collate the principles and outcomes of local community workshops on a local, regional and global level.
  • Conduct ally workshops that expose interested players to how communities could be more involved in business and human rights.
  • Support with the logistics and planning of workshops and other activities linked to the project.

Experience, Skills and Qualifications

  • At least three to five years of experience with community-organizing or movement building, ideally relating to human rights, economic justice and/or working directly with local communities. Exceptional junior candidates will be considered if they have a proven track record of excelling in unsupervised projects.
  • Excellent facilitations skills. Familiarity with human-centered designed is strongly preferred.
  • Familiarity with the legal frameworks relating to business and human rights is preferred, including but not limited to the UN Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights and multi-stakeholder initiatives, as well as an understanding of the wider issues of economic justice, corporate power and the solidarity economy.
  • Experience working in the Global South and/or in communities affected by private sector conduct.
  • Strong evidence of a commitment to human rights, equality, economic justice and the inclusion of under-represented voices in decision-making processes.
  • A natural network-builder with excellent interpersonal skills and experience developing and building networks at a local, national or global level.
  • Exceptional oral and written communication skills.
  • A track record of excellent organizational and project management skills, with experience managing or coordinating complex projects and working independently.
  • An advanced degree in a relevant field is strongly preferred. However, lived and relevant work experience is highly valued.
  • Fluency in multiple languages is preferred.

Application Process
If interested, submit a cover letter, resume, a list of at least three references. The deadline is April 1, 2019, however applications may be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications should be sent to peoplesearch@msi-integrity.org.

References will only be contacted after seeking the permission of short-listed candidates.

The International Human Rights Clinic and MSI Integrity do not discriminate in their hiring practices. We seek a diverse applicant pool and strongly encourage people of color, women, and LGBTQ people to apply for all our positions.