The South Seattle Emerald’s mission is to amplify the authentic narratives of South Seattle and surrounding communities

THE EMERALD:  The South Seattle Emerald is an award-winning Black-led, BIPOC-focused nonprofit online publication that Marcus Harrison Green started in his mother’s basement with his own savings. Since 2014, it has grown to become the go-to local media by and about diverse communities. We present news as a service to the community it chronicles, not as a business for profit or a forum for propaganda. 

The Emerald is led and produced by community residents, workers, artists, and activists alongside award-winning journalists. Its working board of directors is majority Black and overwhelmingly BIPOC. Its core team is majority BIPOC and women. In 2020–2021 readers responded to the coverage of COVID-19 and the movements for racial justice and the intersectionality of the environment, homophobia, ableism, and other forms of oppression. The Emerald is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded by a combination of individual donors, grants, ads, and sponsorships. From 2020 to 2021, with over half a million views per year and growing fast, the Emerald doubled its monthly donors and received unsolicited grants from Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County and one of the largest private health care providers in the region as well as generous donations from groups like the ACLU of Washington. 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:  The Emerald is now able to implement a sustainability plan beginning with a transition to paid staff from the past contract- and freelance-driven core team. This team is a talented group with outstanding editorial, content, and development skills operating across multiple task areas. The Executive Director will lead the transition of more specific job descriptions and operating structure.  

The Executive Director is our core visionary and the leader we entrust with our mission, brand, staff, and community and centering our values of justice with equity. They set our vision and lay the groundwork for the Emerald to transition to a long term operating reality while responding to the needs of the community we serve. The Executive Director reports to the board of directors and serves as a non-voting board member. 

QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Must have living/working experience in ethnically-/racially-/linguistically-diverse communities.
2. Must be committed to justice with equity and embrace the intersectionality of how economic forces, identity, and culture impact BIPOC communities.
3. Must be a creative collegial leader working with both professional and community journalists and diverse communities across age, identity, and language.
4. Must be a self starter/multitasker able to provide calm and organized administrative, editorial, and development leadership.
5. Must be able to be the Emerald’s external spokesperson, community speaker/panelist, and advocate, including engaging with major funders.
6. Three to five years experience managing a nonprofit organization, media entity, small business, complex projects, and/or equivalent.
7. Journalism and bilingual/bicultural (Amharic, Chinese, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Japanese, and/or Vietnamese) background is a plus but not required.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Application: Submit cover letter and resume here. 
Salary & Benefits: $75–95,000 depending on experience, plus benefits. 
Deadline: Nov. 8, 2021. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible; applicant screening will begin immediately.
Start Date: January 3, 2022.

To ensure fairness to all applicants, we will not accept inquiries regarding the Executive Director position. Prospective applicants are encouraged to read seattleemerald.org.

The South Seattle Emerald is an Equal Opportunity Employer.