Tribal Engagement Coordinator

Position Overview: The Indigenous Conservation Council is seeking a creative, organized, supportive and culturally grounded Tribal Engagement Coordinator to join our team. The Tribal Engagement Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating outreach and engagement programs and events, and communicating and engaging with tribal leadership and communities to support conservation needs. The Tribal Engagement Coordinator will support the coordination and implementation of a new Listening to Our Lands program. This place-based program initiative is designed to bring Tribal Nations together with property rights holders of their ancestral lands to support land access and reconnection, conservation collaboration, and knowledge exchange within the lower Chesapeake Bay watershed and other regional watersheds within the Commonwealth of Virginia. The program will work directly with key partners such as the VA Department of Conservation Resources - Department of Natural Heritage (DCR - DHR), the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership - Tribal Coastal Resilience Connections (TCRC), the Virginia United Land Trust (VaULT), and other state and federal agencies and NGO Partners. The Listening to our Lands tours and sessions will provide opportunities for Tribal leaders, knowledge keepers, community members and youth to engage with conservation partners and scientists in an effort to deepen understanding and exchange of cultural respect and knowledge necessary to identify future acquisition priorities, cultural access agreements, key challenges, and shared restoration or conservation goals and opportunities for collaboration and training. The program seeks to advance Indigenous land access and tenure, data sovereignty, and long-term collaborative relationships between Tribes and conservation partners. The Tribal Engagement Coordinator plays a key role in the program’s execution and relationship building with Tribal communities.

Qualifications: ● Education: Associate's degree or equivalent experience of at least 2 years in program or project coordination, or community organizing and engagement, or closely related professional experience. ● Experience: o Demonstrated experience working and engaging with Tribal communities o Experience coordinating community-based and place-based engagement activities o Familiarity with conservation, restoration, land stewardship and / or Indigenous cultural landscape work. ● Skills: o Strong organizational, coordination, and event planning skills. o Excellent interpersonal and facilitation skills including the ability to participate in active listening, teamwork, reconciliation strategies and relationship-building. o Ability to work independently in a remote environment, and as part of a team that coordinates across multiple partners. o Ability to manage complex tasks, project documentation, and reporting requirements while maintaining a high level of accuracy. ● Other Requirements: o Ability to travel as needed throughout what is now known as the Commonwealth of Virginia. o Cultural competency working with Indigenous and Tribal communities that includes an understanding of Tribal Sovereignty, Indigenous history and the impacts of colonization.

Personal Characteristics: ● Respectful, culturally sensitive, and committed to promoting Indigenous-led priorities. ● Solution-oriented, adaptable, and proactive attitude in addressing challenges. ● Detail-oriented, strong accountability and follow-through.

Key Responsibilities: Tribal Engagement and Relationship Building ● Actively support tribes and connection to partners. ● Build and maintain respectful, trust-based relationships with Tribal leadership, Tribal citizens, knowledge keepers, youth, and community members. ● Meet with Tribal leadership and community members to identify priorities and determine goals for land access, reconnection, stewardship, and conservation.

Program Implementation and Partnership Coordination ● Assist with the planning, logistics, facilitation, and follow-up of at least 3 Tribal or Intertribal Listening to our Lands tour events ● Assist with the outreach and recruitment of Tribal representatives and partners to participate in Listening to Our Lands tours. ● Collaborate on events and land access opportunities with Tribal Liaisons and/or state agency representatives. ● Support positive working partnerships with state, federal and NGO conservation and land management partners to communicate Tribal land reconnection priorities and determine opportunities for tour events, data-sharing, and land access agreements.

Conservation and Knowledge Exchange Support ● Facilitate Tribal participation in workshops, Listening to Our Lands tours, mapping activities, and collaborative discussions. ● Support discussion and planning of opportunities for Tribal involvement in conservation approaches and planning, co-management, professional development, and youth training. ● Support dialogue during tours that centers Traditional Ecological Knowledge, ancestral cultural practices, western conservation approaches, and shared stewardship goals.

Data Sharing and Mapping Support ● Support Indigenous Knowledge & GIS Specialist to engage tribal communities in technologies and mapping that advance access to traditional knowledge of ancestral landscapes and conservation and identify points of interests for Tribal Homelands mapping effort. ● Engage Tribal leadership and community members in opportunities to contribute to and collect geospatial cultural and conservation data important to these priority landscapes.

Administrative support and reporting ● Participate in ICC–DCR–DNH planning meetings, orientation sessions, and strategy discussions as needed. ● Support the development of agreements related to land access, data sharing, cultural access, and conservation collaboration based on Tribal priorities. ● Coordinate with ICC administrative specialist to support participant stipends, invoicing timelines, and grant-related documentation. ● Contribute to grant-required reports and final products, including: Annual and semiannual summary reports and required documentation on Tribal engagement, data sharing discussions and final agreements, and partnerships development.

$40,000-50,000 annually