Research Fellowships throughout the Southern U.S. at ioby

Fields: racial justice, social science, urban planning, social justice, community development

Location: Remote, Appalachia, Carolinas, Mississippi Delta, Arkansas, Gulf, Texas, or Black Belt Regions

About the Organization: ioby is a community of donors, volunteers and leaders creating, funding, and implementing neighborhood projects that aim to make their neighborhoods stronger, more just, and more sustainable. Our crowd-resourcing platform at ioby.org helps leaders do just that, connecting them with the funding and support they need to get their projects done.

About the Position: ioby seeks eight part-time Research Fellows to assist with our preliminary research in the South. These Fellows will be located across the country’s Southern regions:

• Carolina, includes South Carolina, eastern North Carolina, and the northeastern coast of Georgia. Cities in this region include: Charlotte, NC, Greensboro, NC, Raleigh, NC, Durham, NC, Columbia, SC, Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA
• Central Appalachia, includes portions of: southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, western Virginia, northern Alabama, and northern Georgia. Cities in this region include: Knoxville, TN, Chattanooga, TN, Nashville, TN, Asheville, NC, Greenville, SC, Charleston, WV, and Huntington, WV
• Central Black Belt, including portions of central Mississippi, central Alabama, and central Georgia. Cities in this region include: Jackson, MS, Tuscaloosa, AL, Birmingham, AL, Montgomery, AL, Atlanta, GA, and Athens, GA
• Eastern Gulf Region, including portions of southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, southwestern Georgia, and western Florida. Cities in this region include: Biloxi, MS, Mobile, AL, Pensacola, FL, Panama City, FL, Tallahassee, FL, and Tampa, FL
• Western Gulf Region, including portions of southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. Cities in this region include: Houston, TX, and Corpus Christi, T
• Border Region, including a portion of southwestern Texas. Cities in this region include: Brownsville, TX and El Paso, TX
• Mississippi Delta, including portions of eastern Louisiana, western Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas. Cities in this region include: Baton Rouge, LA and New Orleans, LA
• Northwest Arkansas, including Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville, AR

Each Fellow will play a critical role in helping the organization understand the social, economic, and physical landscapes of the South. Reporting to the City Partnerships Director, each Fellow will be responsible for: interviewing local leaders, building partnerships hosting workshops and focus groups, and answering research questions using data from primary and secondary sources.

We expect that the Fellow will work about 10-15 hours/week, from August – December 2019. Hours and location are flexible. We expect all Fellows to join us at ioby’s office in Brooklyn, NY for a two-day onboarding event in early August, and again for a two-day project debrief meeting in December. The fellow’s travel expenses will be paid by ioby.

JOB ACTIVITIES:
Interview 35 leaders from the public sector, community-based organizations, technical assistance providers, block clubs, and unincorporated groups
Host workshops and focus groups with anchor institutions in the region
Produce 15-20 pages of written analysis that answers each of ioby’s research questions for the region

Special Requirements/Qualifications: In each region, we are looking for a person with a deep understanding of the area’s history and existing conditions and a professional or academic interest in social science research, community development, and/or urban planning.

Candidates for this position should be current and recent graduate students who are creative thinkers, meticulous by nature, able to work independently, and have excellent communication and time-management skills. Candidates should also be detail-oriented, self-driven problem-solvers, and comfortable splitting time between writing, interviewing, and delivering presentations. To do this job well, you should be a confident public speaker, a skilled storyteller, a creative thinker, and have existing relationships with people in the region’s nonprofit and public sectors. To thrive at ioby, you believe in the power of resident-led action in making change, and are committed to racial and economic justice.

• Candidates must also have:
• Excellent research and writing skills
• Experience working within or studying the nonprofit and/or public sectors in your region
• Strong understanding of the racial, political, and economic histories of the south and/or your region
• Exceptional candidates will also have:
• Experience working on a distributed team
• Experience working as a contracted writer and/or researcher
• Experience working with ArcGIS and/or QGIS
• Women, people of color and LGBT people are always strongly encouraged to apply.

Estimated Salary: 10-15 hours/week, 3 months, $4000 total

Deadline: May 31, 2019

Apply Here:
ioby