Co-Founder - Arts​/Democracy Charity - Volunteer

Hive Mind Speaks is seeking a Co-Founder to help build a first-of-its-kind civic arts organisation using guerrilla public art and participatory democracy to turn national sentiment into legislative impact.

What difference will you make?

By blending headline-grabbing artistic interventions inspired by the likes of artists like Led By Donkeys, Ai Weiwei and Banksy with the structural follow-through of democratic process design and policy change, we are trying to do something that hasn’t been done before.

We’re building a civic tool that amplifies public will, not just through art, but through legislation, with a long-term vision to mandate participatory democracy mechanisms as part of national policy making.

This is a movement-building opportunity to co-create a catalyst organisation that aims to redefine the UK’s democratic future.

• About the organisation - http //
• About our Proof of Concept Project - https //
• About the founder and artistic director - https //(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)./
• About or civic tech partner - https //

What are we looking for?

• At least three years’ experience in strategic development, programme delivery or political/campaign planning
• The ability to build and implement systems for project tracking, volunteer mobilisation and stakeholder engagement
• Skills in strategic thinking, coordination and long-term planning to support scaling a start-up charity
• Confidence managing complex workflows and timelines across diverse partners and collaborators

Importantly this role is set within the container of the participatory democracy and policy advocacy side of the organisation, as such the following will be beneficial

• Experience or interest in managing or designing participatory or community-based campaigns
• Experience or interest in delivering advocacy, engagement or civic participation projects

The ideal person will also bring initiative, adaptability and commitment to building something from the ground up. There is space to shape this role and make it your own.

Hybrid

We stage bold, high-profile installations to capture public imagination, then follow through with structured, citizen-led deliberation and national referendums with the ultimate aim of influencing policy and shaping new democratic mechanisms. Most importantly our goal is to give more agency to the public not only in the politicians they choose, but in the policy decisions that affect their day-to-day lives.

We are currently in our pivotal start-up development phase, having produced our proof-of-concept, secured our board of trustees to gain charity status and confirmed key partnerships with our civic tech platform developer and university led research consortium.

We’re looking for someone to join the original cofounder and artistic director to help lead the organisation and movement from the ground up.

You will take the lead on the democratic and policy advocacy side of the organisation, allowing the Artistic Director to focus on creative interventions, fundraising and strategic partnerships.

We will both be responsible for operations with a view to bringing in an ops manager, once capacity allows.

We will both drive overall organisational strategy together, with shared input into creative direction, but your primary focus will include

• Designing and delivering participatory democracy processes (managing our consensus shaping platform, being designed in partnership with (), as well as the resulting national referendums we will hold)
• Building a policy influence pathway from citizen voice to legislative change
• Managing and coordinating our research consortium to inform each facet of the process of the influence pathway from citizen voice to legislative change, whilst designing and implementing our credibility strategy
• In charge of Impact Measurement Strategy
• Stewarding our vision to institutionalise participatory democracy in the UK, via a mandatory citizen participation bill
• Helping shape the public story around our theory of change
• Supporting the recruitment and coordination of key team members

• Feels politically engaged, but frustrated by the current system
• Believes in the power of bold public art as a source of affecting meaningful political change
• Has experience and/or an interest in participatory democracy, civic engagement design, political strategy or social movements
• Is looking for a mission-led career trajectory
• Wants to shape an organisation’s democratic identity from the ground up
• Is drawn to activism but used productively as a means for structural change
• Could be a recent postgraduate, retired sector leader or someone at a career turning point
• Is based in Edinburgh or London though we welcome remote collaboration from anywhere in the UK