March 11, 2020

We’re hiring! Director of Development – Chicago

ConTextos (www.contextos.org) uses the power of personal narrative to promote healing and reflection, and to foster critical thinking and dialogue. We seek to lift up the voices and insights of people affected by trauma, and to challenge assumptions, provoke healing and social change. Based in both El Salvador and Chicago, we provide literacy-based programs in public schools, juvenile detention centers, jails and prisons, focusing on individuals at risk of, witness to, and responsible for violence. In Chicago, we work with adults 18-30-year-olds participating in community-based programming and/or in pre-trial detention, and with young people 14-18 navigating the Chicago Public School system.

The Authors Circle is a co-created space for exploration and discovery, that uses reading, writing and engaged dialogue as vehicles for transformation. Participants “read as writers” as they draft, revise, illustrate and publish their memoirs. Throughout the process, individuals learn to take and accept critical feedback, improve reading and writing skills, and reflect upon the past to imagine a different future. In turn the powerful published memoirs are used as tools for training and advocacy, and help build bridges while complicating prevailing narratives about violence and trauma.

As a growing organization, we increasingly need development support. We are hiring for a Director of Development. Ideally, our director will have five years of non-profit fundraising and and development experience, and a demonstrated ability to work independently in a dynamic and energetic work environment. Possessing an entrepreneurial spirit is a plus! 

Responsibilities: 

– Maintain current funder relationships, track grant requirements, and submit timely reports reflective of our growth and impact.

– Cultivate prospective funders, research opportunities, and write grant proposals.

– Coordinate with our Board and other directors to implement major and planned giving 

strategies to expand our individual donor base.

– Budget and forecast finances.

– Be inspired by the transformative power of story, as a tool for healing and community building.

– Work with bookkeeper and accountants on projections and reports.

– Work closely with the Executive Director and programmatic staff.

$60,000 annual salary with competitive benefits package.

To apply, please send a resume, cover letter, and 2-3 professional references to [email protected].