is seeking a Deliberation Project Contractor

What is Unify America?

Unify America is a nonpartisan nonprofit on a mission to replace political fighting with problem solving. We are seeking a part-time Deliberation Project Contractor who will contribute to our deliberation research and design process to help us save democracy.

Saving democracy? Seriously?

Reasonable question. We’ll get to that. Let’s talk about the job. Our ideal candidate must be passionate about bringing Americans together across divides, and have experience with deliberation, dialogue, and/or community engagement. You should have a working knowledge of deliberation processes, gained by your involvement with running deliberation in communities. In this role, you’ll be assigned specific research and deliberation process design tasks for our 2023 pilot deliberation process. Because we work collaboratively within our team and with other departments, you’ll need strong communication skills, attention to detail, and experience working with teams and independently on projects in a fast-paced environment. 

Let’s get back to the saving democracy part.

Think Americans are hopelessly divided? We are on the way to proving that the vast majority of Americans (over 90%) share many of the same goals for the country. If that sounds crazy, then let us give you an example: we demonize each other over gun control legislation, but gun control isn’t the goal, it’s a tactic. Reducing violence is the goal, and most of us want that. We don’t realize that for most political issues we’re just arguing about tactics or even less productively, political personalities.

Our long term quest is ambitious: bringing together thousands (and someday millions) of Americans to replace political fighting with problem solving. In other words, to jettison the idea that we can solve our problems through partisan arguments and show that there is a better approach: to deliberate through many possible solutions with our fellow citizens to achieve a goal nearly everyone shares. 

To that end, we are building a model for members of a community to come together to learn about and decide how to solve a difficult problem.  This process is sometimes called a “citizen jury” or “citizen assembly” and many places have used them around the world.  Our plan is to tackle broad, difficult problems through deliberation, bringing in far more citizens than any model has done before. We will be working with jurisdictions, starting small and growing rapidly, to create an expansive, participatory model of deliberative democracy. In 2023, we are piloting our first deliberation in a local jurisdiction in Colorado.

That’s where you come in.

Sounds great. Tell me more about the role.

You will work closely with our Deliberation Team and report to the Director of Deliberation. You will be assigned specific research tasks relating to our pilot process, as well as contribute to the design and assessment of deliberation and facilitation plans, making necessary adaptations throughout the process. Your talent and insights will contribute to: 

• Researching and summarizing a variety of topics related to deliberative democracy verbally and in writing.

• Designing deliberation for facilitated small group sessions conducted online and in person.

• Creating testing and assessment processes to ensure a high quality of deliberation. 

Are there specific qualifications?

Yes. Above all, we are looking for someone who is passionate about democracy and ready to join our collaborative and energetic team. Before we list out our qualifications, we want to stress that if you don’t meet every item, that doesn’t mean you aren’t the right fit for this role. We want to hear about the ways your experiences make you a great candidate.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Has 1-2 years experience facilitating and/or designing deliberations. As a member of the Deliberation Quality Assurance team, you will need knowledge of deliberative democracy and public deliberation. 

• Has 1 year experience in research. We are open to a range of research and assessment methodologies. In our Deliberation department, we draw on academic research, journalism, and popular media and use data-driven strategies to hone our deliberative process design. We love to nerd out over pragmatic methods in deliberative democracy, whether it’s building an issue-based deliberative experience or applying cutting edge research on citizens’ juries and citizens’ assemblies to our model. 

• Thrives in an experimental, start-up environment. We are building a new model of deliberation, so we need someone who operates with an experimental mindset for process design and project management. You need to be able to quickly pivot to new iterations when something isn’t working or can be improved with a new idea.

• Is a strong writer and communicator. This role will involve communicating with the Deliberation team, with others teams in Unify America, and with external partners and community stakeholders. The voice of our organization is inclusive, fun, welcoming, intelligent, and seriously dedicated to our mission. You need to be able to embody that when you write, speak, and represent Unify America. (And yes, we are going to be looking closely at your cover letter to judge this skill - so we appreciate the effort you put into that document!)

• Is organized with strong time management skills. We’ll be launching pilots of our deliberation projects in the coming months, and so you’ll have a wide range of tasks to work on. You’ll need to stay organized and manage your time across those tasks. 

• Is diligent about follow-through. Like, really diligent. It’s important that we don’t let tasks (or people) get forgotten.

• Welcomes and can give feedback. Our mantra is “Be Honest & Be Kind Simultaneously.”  You need to have the confidence and grace to be able to give feedback effectively and be able to take direct (but kindly worded) feedback constructively...and grow from it.

• Is relentless and innovative about solving problems. We’re looking for someone who is positive and can figure out how to get to YES.

• Is capable of, and willing to commit to embracing radical non-partisanship. Warmly welcoming all community members (no matter who they voted for) is central to our mission. You will interact with a lot of people - and you need to be deeply committed to being respectful to people with whom you may disagree on important topics.

• Is fluent with speaking and writing Spanish (preferred).

• Has weekend and evening availability in MST as needed (required).

Where is work?

The role is a remote position. We welcome candidates from anywhere within the United States. In fact, we value having a team from different areas of the country. You must be able to adjust your work to the MST time zone as needed.

What are the hourly expectations and compensation?

The expectations for this role are 10-20 hrs/wk, from May through December. Contract employees are paid biweekly. Compensation for this role is $30. Some weekend and evening collaborative work will be necessary; much of the work can be completed independently.

I’m interested. How do I apply?

Great! Follow the link to upload your resume, cover letter that includes your hourly rate expectations, and a short writing sample relating to the role. Give us three reasons why you’d be great for this role and, if you like, share your political beliefs (liberal? conservative? something else entirely?). 

Most importantly, be yourself. (Yes, really! We are looking for people who are culture “adds,” not culture “fits.”) 

​​Anything else I should know?

Yes! An appreciative work culture. Unify America has a daily emphasis on building a positive work environment and recognizing the great work of our team. Our founder’s previous start-ups have won awards for their positive culture. 

Unify America is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at all levels of the organization in all of its forms. This includes a commitment to having a team filled with people at every point on the political spectrum.