Indigenous Languages Coordinator

First Voice NL; San Juan de Terranova; Hybrid; CAD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

First Light seeks an Indigenous Languages Coordinator to advance language revitalization across Mi’kmaw, Innu-aimun, and Inuttitut communities. You’ll nurture relationships, support learning access, and grow the Indigenous Languages Library and Learning Lodge programs.

You will collaborate across teams, connect learners with courses and mentors, and help sustain a network of Language Champions within the urban Indigenous community and First Light’s spaces.

Qualifications

• Indigenous community engagement or language revitalization experience preferred.
• Commitment to Indigenous priorities, protocols, and community ownership of knowledge.
• Ability to translate ideas into actionable plans, partnerships, and learning opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Build respectful relationships with Indigenous governments, communities, Elders, and language educators.
• Coordinate language learning opportunities and ensure community-led priorities guide work.
• Develop and sustain the Indigenous Languages Library and related learning resources.
• Support Language Champions with access to courses, mentorship, and resources.
• Translate First Light’s language strategy into practical plans, budgets, and proposals.

Skills

Relational skills

Capacity building

Cultural humility

Facilitation

Organizational skills

Advocacy

Tools

Google Workspace

Salesforce

Job description

At First Light, Indigenous languages carry identity, culture, knowledge, relationships, and ways of understanding the world. Supporting their revitalization means creating the conditions for languages to be heard, learned, shared, and lived within the urban Indigenous community in St. John’s.

As the Indigenous Languages Coordinator, you help build and coordinate First Light’s approach to Indigenous language revitalization. Working respectfully across Mi’kmaw, Innu-aimun, and Inuttitut, while using the names and dialect terms preferred by rights-holding communities, you help strengthen relationships, increase access to learning, enhance language visibility, and build First Light’s organizational capacity.

While this is not primarily a language-teaching position, you create opportunities for language learning and support community members in accessing them. This includes organizing and sustaining the Indigenous Languages Library and the Learning Lodge at the Lunar Inn, helping to bring language into existing First Light programs and spaces, supporting staff in accessing courses and classes, and nurturing a network of Language Champions within the organization and broader community.

Who You Are & What You Carry

You understand that language revitalization is long-term, relational work. You approach each language and community with humility, recognize the authority of language speakers and Knowledge Holders, and help create welcoming pathways for people who are reconnecting with language and culture.

You are:

• Relational and community-accountable: you build trust through consistency, respect, reciprocity, and follow-through.
• A capacity builder: you help people, partnerships, spaces, and resources grow into a stronger foundation for future language work.
• Culturally humble: you understand that Mi’kmaw, Innu, and Inuit languages belong to distinct peoples and communities, each with their own priorities, protocols, and expertise.
• An encouraging facilitator: you create low-barrier opportunities for learners and help people participate without fear of making mistakes.
• Organized and resourceful: you can coordinate many relationships, schedules, resources, and commitments while keeping the work clear and grounded.
• A thoughtful advocate: you can connect community priorities to organizational planning, funding opportunities, and broader systems change.

You bring:

• Strong relationship-building skills with Indigenous community members, Elders, Knowledge Holders, language speakers, educators, governments, and organizations.
• Experience coordinating community-based, cultural, educational, advocacy, or language-related initiatives.
• An understanding of language revitalization as community-led, intergenerational, culturally grounded, and connected to identity and well-being.
• The ability to turn ideas and conversations into clear workplans, partnerships, learning opportunities, and practical next steps.
• Humility, patience, curiosity, and a willingness to continue learning throughout the work.

What You’ll Do

Relationship-Building & Community Accountability

• Build respectful relationships with Indigenous governments, communities, Elders, Knowledge Holders, and language educators and organizations.
• Seek guidance to ensure First Light’s language efforts support community-led priorities and complement existing work.
• Coordinate culturally appropriate engagement, including gatherings, advisory conversations, protocols, honoraria, and follow-up.
• Connect urban Indigenous community members with trusted language resources and learning opportunities.
• Establish processes for obtaining appropriate guidance, permissions, and language validation from speakers, Knowledge Holders, and recognized community authorities.

Language Across First Light

• Work with teams to weave language into existing programs, events, cultural activities, communications, and physical spaces in meaningful and culturally appropriate ways.
• Help staff access trusted language resources and learning opportunities, including practical guides and calendars, with guidance from speakers, Knowledge Holders, and community partners.
• Develop and maintain the Indigenous Languages Library at the Lunar Inn, including accessible learning materials, digital resources, and simple systems for access and borrowing.
• Collaborate with the Cultural Host to support language learning within the Lunar Inn’s Learning Lodge, ensuring resources are accurate, appropriately attributed, and shared with permission.

Empowering Language Champions

• Develop and support a network of Language Champions across First Light to encourage learning and meaningful language use within their program areas.
• Connect Language Champions with relevant courses, mentorship, and learning resources, and help address practical barriers to participation.
• Coordinate group learning and one-on-one check-ins with Language Champions to build confidence, celebrate successes, identify challenges and support needs, and explore opportunities to bring their learning into their program areas.
• Support Language Champions in setting learning goals and sharing their learning with colleagues and the broader community.

Program Development

• Gather community input about language interests, barriers, preferred learning formats, and opportunities for children, youth, adults, families, and Elders.
• Explore flexible pilot opportunities such as conversation circles, family learning, cultural workshops, land-based activities, visiting speaker sessions, and hybrid or online learning.
• Explore the feasibility of language nests and other early childhood or intergenerational learning models in partnership with language carriers, Knowledge Holders, and rights-bearing communities.
• Support and sustain the relationships that are needed to secure resources, space, staffing, and long‑term commitments with a view to scaling up programming.
• Create welcoming environments that support learners at different stages and recognize participation, confidence, connection, and continued learning as meaningful outcomes.
• Support and collaborate with staff and leadership to translate First Light’s internal Language Strategy into a practical language plan that reflects community priorities and organizational capacity.
• Monitor language‑related funding, policy, and partnership opportunities and help prepare proposals, briefings, workplans, budgets, and reports.
• Support advocacy for equitable, sustained investment in Indigenous language revitalization and for stronger access to learning in urban settings.
• Collaborate with the broader Advocacy Team to connect language priorities with research, policy, community engagement, and systems‑change efforts.

Skills, Experience & Requirements

We recognize that knowledge comes from lived experience, cultural teachings, community relationships, language journeys, and formal training. Indigenous lived experience, cultural knowledge, community relationships, and traditional teachings are highly valued and may be considered in place of formal education.

To be successful in this role, you have:

• 3+ years of experience in Indigenous community engagement, language or cultural revitalization, education, program coordination, or a related field.
• Strong understanding of Indigenous cultures and contemporary realities, particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador, with respect for distinct Nations, cultural protocols, and community ownership of knowledge.
• Strong coordination and communication skills, including managing partnerships, activities, budgets, and reporting.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, adapting to evolving priorities and community direction.
• Proficiency with Google Workspace and virtual meeting tools; Salesforce or resource-management experience is an asset.
• Any degree of proficiency in Mi’kmaw, Innu-aimun, Inuttitut, or another Indigenous language is a strong asset (fluency is not required).
• Availability for occasional evening or weekend activities and travel.

Preference will be given to qualified Indigenous residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.

First Light celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive and supportive environment for all members of our team. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of Indigenous identity or status, lived experience, national or other origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, or other characteristics.

We strongly encourage applications from individuals who carry lived experience expertise, acknowledging the value and alignment with First Light’s organizational goals. We’re committed to supporting candidates throughout the application process by accommodating any disability-related requests.