Cultural Survival
Cultural Survival is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and supporting their self-determination, cultures, and political resilience. Founded in 1972, the organization envisions a future where Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures are respected and honored. Through initiatives such as grantmaking, capacity building, and advocacy, Cultural Survival supports Indigenous communities worldwide. Their work includes training human rights defenders, promoting Indigenous media, and enhancing community resilience. Cultural Survival is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and operates globally to advance Indigenous rights and cultures.
Indigenous rights • indigenous rights radio • community media • human rights
Director of Advocacy and Communications
June 14
Cultural Survival
Cultural Survival is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and supporting their self-determination, cultures, and political resilience. Founded in 1972, the organization envisions a future where Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures are respected and honored. Through initiatives such as grantmaking, capacity building, and advocacy, Cultural Survival supports Indigenous communities worldwide. Their work includes training human rights defenders, promoting Indigenous media, and enhancing community resilience. Cultural Survival is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and operates globally to advance Indigenous rights and cultures.
Indigenous rights • indigenous rights radio • community media • human rights
📋 Description
• The Director of Advocacy and Communications will be a key leadership role responsible for advancing and integrating Cultural Survival’s global, regional, and local strategies in Communications and Advocacy. • Reporting to the Executive Director and collaborating closely with the leadership team, this Director will be responsible for elevating Indigenous voices, unifying narratives, strengthening global advocacy efforts and campaigns, and ensuring that communications and advocacy are strategically aligned to support organizational growth, fundraising, and mission impact. • The Director will lead a cross-functional team comprising the Communications, Advocacy, Indigenous Rights Radio, and Special Projects units, along with associated staff and consultants. • They will guide collaboration in alignment with Indigenous values and organizational priorities, fostering cohesion among their teams and promoting a culture of collaboration. • This role requires a visionary leader with proven expertise in Indigenous rights advocacy, communications, organizational leadership, and managing multicultural remote teams.
🎯 Requirements
• Demonstrated leadership experience in Indigenous rights, communications, advocacy, or human rights, with a commitment to community-centered and relational leadership practices. • Proven ability to nurture and guide intercultural, intergenerational, and geographically dispersed teams, rooted in respect, reciprocity, and shared purpose. • Grounded experience working in relationship with Indigenous communities, guided by principles of accountability, listening, and long-term commitment. • Familiarity with movement-building and resource mobilization, including co-creating strategies with communities, donors, and allies. • Deep understanding of Indigenous governance systems, worldviews, and self-determination, with the ability to incorporate these into organizational and advocacy strategies. • Experience engaging with decolonial, land-based, and community-led approaches to advocacy. • Knowledge of protocols such as Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), customary law, and other Indigenous-led mechanisms for collective decision-making and resistance. • Experience applying international Indigenous rights frameworks (e.g., United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, International Labour Organization Convention 169, Inter-American system) to local struggles for autonomy, land, and language. • Contributions to legal, policy, or organizing efforts for the defense of Indigenous lifeways and territories. • Excellent storytelling and communication skills in both English and Spanish, with cultural humility and care for language as a tool for relationship and resistance. • Experience engaging media and narrative platforms to center Indigenous voices and amplify movement-based messages. • Ability to cultivate horizontal, trust-based relationships with Indigenous leaders, collaborators, and organizational partners. • Demonstrated experience holding space for culturally grounded practices of inclusion across generations, genders, and identities—especially the roles of elders, youth, LGBTQ2S+ relatives, and people with disabilities. • Fluency with tools that support long-distance collaboration, digital organizing, and multilingual teamwork across geographies and time zones. • Experience stewarding digital platforms and processes in ways that honor Indigenous data sovereignty, story sovereignty, and collective memory. • Familiarity with digital infrastructure that supports community radio, media creation, knowledge documentation, and advocacy campaigns. • Willingness and ability to travel internationally, including to Indigenous territories, rural areas, and cross-border convenings. • Ability to navigate long travel days, adapt to changing environments, and maintain cultural awareness in community-based settings. • Flexibility in supporting community-led events, gatherings, and campaigns that may involve extended hours or varied locations.
🏖️ Benefits
• Health, dental, and vision insurance , with up to 90% of the premium covered • Paid time off , including: 15 vacation days • 14 organizational holidays • 12 sick days • 3 personal days • Up to 3 days for Jury Duty • Family and caregiving leave , including up to 6 weeks of paid leave annually to support a family member in need of care, plus additional unpaid leave if needed. • Income and security protection , including life, disability, and income replacement insurance • Other supports , including: Internet reimbursement (30–50%) • Up to 6% retirement/pension contribution, adapted to local systems • Language learning support (English, Spanish, or Indigenous Languages) • Access to our Employee Wellness Program is available after you have completed the probationary period.
Apply Now