Client Services Language Aide
Part-Time Non-Exempt
Creative Growth Art Center is committed to being an inclusive work environment through diversity of people, ideas, talents, and experiences. We highly encourage people of color, individuals with disabilities, and members of other historically excluded groups to apply. We are committed to providing a culturally safe workplace, and recognize that this looks different for everyone. We will work with existing staff and new hires to identify and ensure respect for cultural safety needs and increase opportunities to connect, engage, and thrive. Creative Growth is actively working on increasing fluency in equity issues, and has been participating in ongoing organization-wide training in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
The Opportunity
Creative Growth is seeking to add a new member to its Client Services team. The Client Services Language Aide will address the needs of client artists who use languages other than English by hiring and scheduling translators, collecting and tracking data, grant reporting, and ensuring that key pages of Creative Growth’s website are available in multiple languages. The Language Aide will report to the Client Services Manager and will engage actively with client artists and staff to gather information and get feedback related to language needs. The Language Aide will develop and circulate surveys to identify language needs and liaise with the Artist Advisory Council—a body made up of client artists who advise the organization on policies and practices.
The right candidate will be fully aligned with Creative Growth's core values of creativity, respect, care, self-expression, and accessibility and commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
The Organization
Creative Growth Art Center is the oldest and largest nonprofit art studio for artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and concurrent disabilities. Our mission is to advance the inclusion of artists with developmental disabilities in contemporary art and strengthen community through a supportive studio environment and gallery representation.
Founded in 1974 on the idea that all people are capable of producing works of high artistic merit and that the act of creating can be transformative, Creative Growth now serves 140–160 artists with disabilities (primarily adults, with an ancillary youth program) and positions their work within the contemporary art world. At Creative Growth, the process of creating is honored and celebrated, and the impact of that recognition and appreciation transforms the lives of the artists. Most Creative Growth artists receive funding to attend Creative Growth's programs through the California Regional Center system, and all artists receive 50% of the net proceeds from sales of their artwork.
The Creative Growth Studio provides professional-grade art-making classes in a variety of media. At the heart of the program is a team of working artists/instructors who support and encourage individual creativity by creating an open, adaptive environment with few rules and no judgment—a space where a community of creators work side by side inspiring, encouraging, and celebrating one another. The Gallery presents public exhibitions in Oakland and online and represents the artists at national and international art fairs. Work made by Creative Growth artists is included in major collections and institutions worldwide, such as MoMA (New York), SFMOMA, the Smithsonian Institution, the Studio Museum of Harlem, American Folk Art Museum, the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Collection de L’Art Brut (Switzerland), and The Museum of Everything (London).
Duties and Responsibilities:
Scheduling and Translation Support
Hire and schedule interpreters/translators in languages spoken by Creative Growth client artists—including, but not limited to, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Dari (a dialect of Farsi), and Arabic—as well as American Sign Language interpreters, for Creative Growth classes, workshops, other programs, and events.
Translate, or find resources to translate, documents into relevant languages, and improve the accessibility of written and other communications, including correspondence between Creative Growth and client artists and their families and caregivers, as well as key pages of the Creative Growth website.
Surveying Artists and Their families and Caregivers
Conduct phone calls to non-English-speaking client families and caregivers to identify barriers to receiving services from Creative Growth, e.g., enrolling in Creative Growth programs, attending classes/workshops/events in person and/or remotely.
Craft and administer written, verbal, and other forms of surveys to non-English-speaking client artists, families, and caregivers to identify barriers and assess progress in the removal of identified barriers as well as satisfaction with Creative Growth services.
Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting
Identify and track artists who use languages other than English to ensure they receive support in their preferred languages.
Track usage of prospective client artist webpage.
Conduct interviews by phone, mail, online, and/or face-to-face with client artists and their caregivers/families.
Acquire data from primary or secondary data sources and maintain databases.
Design, implement, and update a dashboard to track grant goals and measure progress quarterly.
Assist with preparation of progress reports to the leadership team, grant funders, and others, as needed.
Qualifications
You are an ideal candidate if you:
Are a self-starter. This person will be creating this position and needs to be nimble, interested in solutions, able to multitask, work independently, and be very inventive.
Have an interest in people who use many languages and experience in non-English speaking environments.
Are enthusiastically committed to the vision, mission, and core values of Creative Growth and possess compassion and respect for the community we serve.
Enjoy working in a diverse, creative, collaborative, and fast-paced environment.
Share with us a respect for diverse backgrounds and voices and a commitment to inclusion, accessibility, and equity.
Have strong administrative and communication skills.
Have strong project management and collaboration skills.
Have basic data analysis, reporting, and data-recording skills to meet the demands of the job, including familiarity with grant reporting.
Are highly organized, resourceful, and detail oriented.
Have an appreciation for and understanding of contemporary art.
Requirements
A bachelor’s degree in linguistics, language studies, international studies, a foreign language, or related field, or equivalent experience in related fields
Are fluent in one of the primary languages of Creative Growth artists, including Spanish, American Sign Language, Cantonese, Mandarin, and/or Dari
Strong administrative and communication skills
Basic analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyze, and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy
Basic knowledge of Excel, Google Workspace, grant reporting, and data analysis tools, as well as familiarity with CRMs (especially Salesforce)
Ability to generate standard and customized reports summarizing data for review by the Creative Growth leadership team, board of directors, grant funders, and other stakeholders
Successful completion of the following background checks and clearances, as mandated by the State of California, California Care Licensing (CCL), for all employees of licensed facilities such as Creative Growth: record of criminal history obtained from California Department of Justice, i.e., clearance to work in a licensed facility; record of health screening, including negative TB test results; and current First Aid and CPR certification (Creative Growth will provide necessary training and cover the cost of acquiring these certifications)
Special Environmental Factors
While work is remote:
○ The Creative Growth Studio is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 and staff and client artists are primarily working remotely from locations they choose. This position requires frequent meetings and other communication/engagement with current and potential new client artists, artist families and care providers, Regional Center case managers, and Creative Growth staff using Zoom, Google Meet, and telephone.
When the Studio is open:
○ The Studio is a busy, active, open, and sometimes loud environment, with an average of 75 client artists with disabilities working on artistic projects each day.
○ The Studio is equipped with heavy machinery in the woodshop, which occasionally makes loud noise and generates dust.
○ While Creative Growth has made great efforts to minimize toxic fumes and ask staff, volunteers, and artists to refrain from wearing perfumed products, the Studio contains art supplies that may trigger chemical sensitivities.
○ Several of the administrative offices and meeting areas are on the second floor, accessible by two sets of stairs and one elevator. Weekly management team meetings and other occasional meetings also take place on the second floor.
Artist Casey Byrnes fitting his design with Studio Instructor Anne Meade Paden, Photo by Diana Rothery
This position reports to: Client Services Manager
The Client Services Language Aide is a 43% part-time (15 hours per week) non-exempt position; the hourly rate for this position is $25 per hour. Creative Growth’s operational hours are 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, with occasional programs and events on evenings and weekends. Creative Growth is unable to provide housing or travel assistance.
This position includes the following benefits:
Paid time off (vacation/sick time) accrued at the rate of 1 hour earned per 11.82 hours worked, available for use 30 days after employment start date.
Employee Assistance Program (counseling, financial, and legal services, and training, through an outside vendor)
Please submit cover letter and résumé in PDF format via email to jobs@creativegrowth.org (with “Client Care Language Aide” in the subject header). Due to the volume of applicants, only candidates who will be invited to interview will be contacted. Position is open until filled.