Language Focus Group Facilitator (Somali)

Walker Art Center • Minneapolis, KS

6d • $2,500 - $2,500 • Onsite

About The Position

The Walker Art Center's Public Engagement, Learning, and Impact (PELI) department is seeking an independent contractor to support a 3-year grant-funded initiative. This initiative aims to develop new models of multilingual, community-informed gallery content. The Somali Language Focus Group Facilitator will leverage expertise in community-centered research, Somali language skills, and strong relationships within the Somali-speaking communities of the Twin Cities. The role involves developing culturally-responsive discussion prompts, establishing group composition criteria, recruiting participants, facilitating two focus group conversations on the Walker Art Center campus, and synthesizing findings into a written report. The facilitator will also provide input on evaluation methods and community engagement opportunities. This is a contract engagement, not an employee position, with a flat fee of $2,500 for each of the two years.

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.
• 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, reflecting the diversity of the Somali-speaking community in the Twin Cities, in consultation with the Manager of Interpretation.
• 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), to be held 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

• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed