Language Focus Group Facilitator (Somali)

Walker Art Center • Minneapolis, MN

5d • $2,500 - $2,500 • Onsite

About The Position

The Walker Art Center Public Engagement, Learning, and Impact (PELI) department is seeking a Somali Language Focus Group Facilitator as an independent contractor. This role supports a 3-year grant-funded initiative to develop new models of multilingual, community-informed gallery content. The facilitator will leverage expertise in community-centered research, Somali language skills, and strong relationships with Somali-speaking communities in the Twin Cities to contribute to the project. The engagement is structured as an independent contractor position, not an employee role, and is not eligible for employee benefits. The term of the contract is from September 30, 2026, to September 30, 2028, divided into two annual commitments with distinct scopes of work and fees.

Requirements

• Minimum 3–5 years of experience facilitating multilingual, culturally relevant conversations.
• Experience working toward grant deliverables, including coordination with external evaluators.
• A demonstrated track record of successfully cultivating relationships and collaborating with community partners.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and work with a wide range of constituents and people across a variety of cultures, generations, and abilities.
• Excellent facilitation, presentation, prioritization, and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage a complex project while maintaining high standards and a high degree of accuracy.
• Detail-oriented approach to work.
• Fluency in Somali in addition to English.
• Proactive, resourceful, and able to anticipate needs and adapt to unexpected challenges in multiple community environments.
• Able to independently plan and coordinate the scheduling of focus group sessions with participants and the project team to meet agreed-upon deliverable deadlines.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with culturally responsive and culturally sustaining pedagogical models.
• Lived experience working in and with immigrant communities in the Twin Cities.
• Experience working or teaching in a museum or other cultural organization.
• Experience with cultural or art spaces.
• Experience developing resources and experiences for a variety of audiences.
• Experience working with people with disabilities in personal or professional settings.
• Experience in a range of project evaluation techniques and the capacity to analyze learnings and translate them into grant outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Develop culturally-responsive discussion prompts for two focus groups in consultation with the Manager of Interpretation and in alignment with grant goals.
• Establish group composition criteria in consultation with the Manager of Interpretation, reflecting the diversity of the Somali-speaking community in the Twin Cities.
• Recruit and assemble a focus group meeting the established criteria.
• Plan and conduct a structured sequence of 2 focus group conversations (1 focus group of about 3 hours per year) on the Walker Art Center campus.
• Explore language use, cultural nuance, communication preferences, and barriers to access in a museum context during focus groups.
• Deliver a written synthesis of focus group findings to the project team and external evaluator.
• Provide advisory input on evaluation methods and potential opportunities for community engagement, as requested.

What This Job Offers

• Education Level: No Education Listed