By Southwester Staff

Founded in 1982 by a group of dedicated and committed volunteers, the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly Youth Activities Task Force (SWNA YATF) is a task force under SWNA, the civic organization in SWDC which was created in 1963, to help mitigate the social ills of urban renewal. YATF’s mission is to enhance and enrich our youth’s cultural, educational, recreational, and technological development, ages 5-25, in the near Southwest community (20024 zip code).

YATF, in partnership with Critical Exposure (CE), a DC nonprofit that teaches youth how to use the power of photography and their voices to become effective advocates for social change, will commence a six-week photography and storytelling class Tuesday, July 13, 2021, and end Thursday, August 19, 2021. Classes will be held for approximately two hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at James Creek Resident Council, 100 N St., SW, Washington, DC 20024 (tbc), with the former being classroom assignments (or Zoom meetings or conference calls) and the latter being field trips. Each class session will be preceded by a luncheon offered through YATF. The class size will be approximately 15 students who either reside in SW or attend SW schools, ages 14-16. The students will receive stipends as both an incentive to attend and participate as well as excel in the class. 

YATF is seeking a SW resident who is enthusiastic and interested in working with youth and is committed to the program’s success. The person will serve as the point of contact (POC) for the photography and storytelling program and be established as the “virtual” on-site coordinator. The POC must be available at least 4-5 hours per week at a rate of $20 per hour. Experience in working with youth is helpful but not required. The POC will report to YATF’s project lead and will be required to have a security clearance. YATF will provide reimbursement for the cost associated with the security clearance. 

Duties will include:

  • Maintaining excellent communication with YATF and CE by providing a brief weekly report (2-3 paragraphs) on the status of the two weekly classes in collaboration with the CE instructors, including advising both parties of any extenuating circumstances that might impact a student’s ability to participate fully in the program;  
  • Recruiting and maintaining a cadre of students to participate in the program;
  • Working with community partners and parents to ensure the program’s success;
  • Following-up and checking in with the students based on CE instructors’ recommendations and report to YATF’s project lead; 
  • Arranging the bi-weekly luncheons;
  • Assisting in organizing the closing ceremony for the 6-week photography/storytelling class which will be held in August or early September; 
  • Assisting YATF project lead in managing the display of the work produced by the students or a neighborhood exhibit after the class ends;
  • Assisting in drafting a pre-class and post-class article about the program for The Southwester.
  • Ensuring that both YATF and CE are meeting established goals and alerting both parties to potential successes and challenges; 
  • Assisting in organizing field trips on Thursdays, including ensuring that all students have completed permission field trip forms and being available to chaperon, if necessary;
  • Establishing a database to track the progress of participants through age 25;
  • Acquiring resources and partnerships to further the project beyond the contact period; and
  • Producing a five-to ten- minute video to document the project for the SWNA YATF website. 

The application deadline is Tuesday,  July 6, 2021. To apply or for questions regarding the position description or YATF in general, please email YATF Chair Thelma D. Jones at thelma@swna.org or call (202) 251-1639.

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