Assistant Director, Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts

We are seeking an Assistant Director, Billie Holiday Center for liberation Arts who will work under the leadership of the Project Director, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of English and History Lawrence Jackson, to manage day-to-day operations, develop strategic projects, and coordinate programming, including lectures and concerts, visiting residence programs, and linkages with external institutions. A primary focus of responsibilities includes laying the groundwork for academic year 2025-2026. This is a self-driven leadership position with duties that include program administration, community relations, digital and print media outreach, and grant writing. The position maintains a full-time employee staff classification.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities

• Annually co-facilitate planning and execution of the Jazz in Lafayette Square, Helena Hicks Speakers Series at Eubie Blake Center, Donald Bentley Memorial Lecture, Artscape “Birth of Jazz” exhibit, Artist in Residence two events; tbd, Elder in Residence two events; Bloomberg Center Event 555 Pennsylvania Avenue: lecture, book signing, public conversation, curated exhibit, jazz performance at the Evergreen Center, “Birth of Jazz” film and banners and academic lecture and jazz performance at the Bloomberg Center in DC, followed by a reception.
• Digital Media: The Assistant Director is responsible for the day-to-day upkeep and maintenance of the BHCLA website, the Twitter feed, and the Facebook page. They will have to develop a media outreach strategy to achieve the numbers of participants at the scheduled events. All of the streamed and shared and recorded work of the Center belongs here in a publicly accessible format. They work with Rebecca Gillen in the KSAS Dean’s Office.
• Press Releases: For every center event, the AD issues a 200-300 bulletin to the Listserv, the JHU HUB, the KSAS events page, and develops the community networks including all vendors and partners from previous events and local institutions.
• End of year report: The Assistant Director drafts a five-to-seven-page report of the AY events and plans the board meeting for Fall and Spring semesters.
• Grant Writing: The final core responsibility for the Assistant Director is to write and submit funding proposals, in concert with grant-writing apparatus at KSAS, at the internal, regional, and national levels. Since BHCLA has a track record, we are confident of successful pursuit of small grants (under $25,000), medium size grants (under $150,000) and large grants (mainly above $500,000). The Center’s long-term objective is an endowment to sustain a stand-alone building in West Baltimore. The Assistant Director is especially charged to pursue the following funders, all with stated aims of using the resources of the humanities to enhance the quality of urban life, improve diversity and eradicate injustice.
• Deutsch Foundation: Pursue grants on the basis of BHPLA’s commitment to improving of quality of life in Baltimore; capacity building and leadership development; dynamic support of changemakers in the arts, social justice and arts; primary contributor to Station North corridor.
• Mellon Foundation: Create proposals connecting to the four themes: Scholarly Communications. Emphasizing the bridge work already accomplished using digital technologies/digital humanities to bring important local figures like Frederick Douglass and Billie Holiday to regional audiences and new publics, expanding and equalizing access to cultural and scholarly resources across sectors of society. Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities. The Arts and Cultural Heritage. Here we will demonstrate the successful archival stewardship project of BHCLA, including the Baltimore Archival Symposium, the John Mayden Photograph Collection acquisition, and the Linda Kuehl/Billie Holiday Archive. The program supports the work of outstanding artists, curators, conservators, and scholars, and endeavors to strengthen performing arts organizations, art museums, research institutes, and conservation centers. Diversity. BHPLA introduces diverse communities to JHU and brings diverse students, faculty and staff through its dissertation fellowship and postdoctoral research programs. BHPLA’s engagement with public secondary schools in Baltimore creates a significantly more diverse body of researchers in the next generation.
• Maryland Humanities Foundation.
• Abell Foundation the Abell Foundation awards grants to nonprofit community partners working to improve the quality of life in Baltimore. We provide seed funding for innovative pilots, support for ongoing community programs and services, and funding for capital projects. In addition to providing grant funding, the Foundation supports our nonprofit partners through connection to our local and national networks, as well as our team’s deep experience in and knowledg