witsalliance activism, creative writing, k-12 education, wits alliance, writers in the schools

WITS Leadership Position Open in San Francisco

Emerson-2012-laurenThe Center for the Art of Translation in San Francisco seeks a qualified visionary and passionate professional to be its next Executive Director. Here is the official announcement:

About the Center for the Art of Translation
Founded in 2000, the Center is a San Francisco-based non-profit which broadens cultural awareness
through international literature and translation. The Center aims to make global voices and great literature
accessible to the public through three programs: Two Lines Press, publishing literature in translation;
the Poetry Inside Out literacy program; and Two Voices, an event series spotlighting international
writing. As Two Lines Press celebrates twenty years and other Center programs mature, we are seeking
an experienced Executive Director to lead a talented, professional staff, build financial resources, and
guide the organization toward future growth and success. The ideal candidate will bring a passionate
commitment to the arts, proven non-profit management and fundraising experience, and interest in
literature and translation.

Responsibilities
• Provide leadership to develop and implement a long-range strategy for the organization.
• Ensure ongoing programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and consistent quality of
finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and systems.
• Develop strategic fundraising initiatives, taking a lead role in relationship cultivation, individual
donations, and fundraising events; oversee development staff and grantwriting.
• Lead and manage high-performing staff; provide coaching and performance assessment.
• Actively engage Center partners and funders, and identify new opportunities for growth.
• Keep apprised of trends in the philanthropic, publishing, and education fields, as well as in the local
arts community.
• Develop, maintain, and support a strong and involved Board of Directors.
• Oversee and manage annual budget; help produce monthly and quarterly financial reports and projections
and supervise annual financial review/audit.

Qualifications
• Minimum of 5 years senior non-profit management experience with successful outcomes.
• Passion for the arts and the work of arts organizations.
• Significant experience leading fund development, including private donor cultivation and solicitation
and event fundraisers.
• Experience in developing organizational strategies that enable growth.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, support and inspire an equivalent size organization.
• Excellent human resources and project management skills.
• Ability to think strategically and programmatically while managing operations.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, and the ability to represent the Center.
• Sense of humor and ability to maintain effective working relationships with a small staff.
• B.A. in a related field.

Preferred
• Senior management experience at an arts organization.
• An advanced degree in the arts, education, or non-profit management.
• Experience with foreign languages, publishing, and/or K-12 education a plus.
This is a full time position; salary dependent on qualifications and experience. The Center offers a generous
vacation package, retirement plan and benefits package.
To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to catexecutive2013@yahoo.com and addressed to:
Executive Director Recruiting Committee. Please tell us how you heard about the position.

A World of Language, Literature & Learning

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WritersCorps Announces Winners in Poetry Video Competition

jayraj-highres1On Saturday, April 13, WritersCorps held the third annual Poetry Projection Project, a festival of short films inspired by youth poems, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Poetry Projection Project was emceed by WritersCorps teaching artist, Anhvu Buchanan, or “Mr. B,” as he’s known by his students. The audience enjoyed a reading by four WritersCorps poets– Haley, Nicole, Senobia, and Melissa– followed by a screening of short films.

Special guest juror H.P. Mendoza, an award-winning San Francisco-based filmmaker (”Colma: The Musical,” and “I Am a Ghost”), praised the work of the filmmakers and poets before announcing the winners of the festival:

“City Boy” by Jayraj Govender, featuring his own poem.

“The Girl with the Birds” by Reel Grrls students, featuring their own poem.

One of the finalists shown at the festival was created by students from WITS Houston in a collaborative project with Aurora Picture Show. You can watch the rest of the selected festival films here and view photos of the event by Cole Anetsberger here. 

As an organization employing professional writers and teaching creative writing to underserved youth, WritersCorps forges a strong connection to the city’s arts scene.WritersCorps a joint project of the San Francisco Public Library and the San Francisco Arts Commission and has helped nearly 18,000 youth from neighborhoods throughout San Francisco improve their literacy and increase their desire to learn. WritersCorps creates award-winning publications, produce local and national events, and are part of a national alliance with sites in the Bronx and Washington, D.C. In 2010, WritersCorps was honored with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the White House, presented by First Lady Michelle Obama.

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WritersCorps Live in the City by the Bay

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On March 7, 2013, WritersCorps and the Contemporary Jewish Museum joined forces for the third year to present WritersCorps Live at the CJM, featuring award-winning author Tamim Ansary, along with WritersCorps teaching artist Minna Dubin, and 8 students from 8 different WritersCorps sites in San Francisco.

As an organization employing professional writers and teaching creative writing to underserved youth, it is important to us at WritersCorps to have a connection to the city’s literary scene, which is exactly why we participate in public events. A bit about us: we are a joint project of the San Francisco Public Library and the San Francisco Arts Commission and have helped nearly 18,000 youth from neighborhoods throughout San Francisco improve their literacy and increase their desire to learn. We publish award-winning publications, produce local and national events, and are part of a national alliance with sites in the Bronx and Washington, D.C. In 2010, we were honored with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the White House, presented to us by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Before the reading began, about 80 WritersCorps students were treated to a private tour of Kehinde Wiley’s exhibit “World Stage: Israel,” by interns from CJM’s Teen Art Connect program. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the thought-provoking art and group discussion.

After the tour, students enjoyed some pizza while Tamim Ansary fielded their questions about being a professional writer, and signed their copies of West of Kabul, East of New York. (Thank you to Picador for their generous donation of copies of the book for our students!)

Savannah from Downtown High School started the reading off with a poem called “How to Dance with Wolves.” She was followed by DeAsia, from the WritersCorps Apprentices program, who read a poem that she shared on KALW’s Crosscurrents a few days earlier (check it out here).

Another highlight included Karla, from Hilltop High School, sharing a brave and moving piece on motherhood. Two of our students at the Woodside Learning Center inside the Juvenile Justice Center were represented by two short films of their poems which were screened.

Finally, our featured reader, the award-winning writer Tamim Ansary, treated us to an excerpt from West of Kabul, East of New York, his memoir about his family’s immigration from Afghanistan to San Francisco.

We are always happy to offer a space for our students to share their work and to let the community in on what we are doing.

The next WritersCorps event is Poetry Projection Project — a short film fest based on youth writing — on Saturday, April 13, 2 pm, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. More info on that here.

Alexandra Wilder

Program Associate, WritersCorps