About Cortico

Cortico is a non-profit committed to fostering deep conversations to bring underheard voices to the center of a healthy public dialogue.

Cortico operates Fora, a speech platform designed to enable bringing communities together for listening, understanding, and sharing. Through a powerful combination of AI and human listening, this platform enables organizations to make sense of the conversations they collect, and surfaces community voices into public dialogue and decision making.

Communities have used Fora to lift up voices and perspectives in the selection of Madison, WI’s police chief and the election of Boston’s mayor. Local newsrooms have used Fora to understand citizen agendas and include underheard voices directly in their reporting. Global nonprofits are using Fora to listen to their stakeholders for strategic policy setting. Local nonprofits have used Fora to surface experiences of people in the margins and amplify their voices through artist collaborations.

Our platform continues to grow as we leverage new technology and a growing number of partnerships to better understand conversations. We also want to better meet people where they are, whether that be on their phones as we build out a mobile app, or in a conference room as we develop a hardware listening device.

Cortico partners closely with MIT's Center for Constructive Communication (MIT CCC) and has a track record of bringing research technology to production.

About this role

Cortico is looking for a dynamic, organized, and entrepreneurial individual to fill the role of Journalism Fellow. Reporting to our Manager of Programs and Partnerships, you will play a pivotal role in coordinating a project funded by the Knight Foundation, which will give journalism educators an opportunity to test new approaches and AI-supported tools to help the next generation of journalists better understand and reach their communities. 

With guidance and support, the Fellow will coordinate a cohort of 8-10 journalism educators based at universities and colleges across the US as they use cutting edge MIT-developed technology to record, understand, and summarize small-group conversations to identify the issues that matter most to their communities in the context of the 2024 election. Then, the Fellow will guide the cohort through a process of capturing feedback on the conversation process and new technologies in order to build a future model for tech-enhanced engagement journalism training. Throughout this process, the Fellow will help build an engaging and interactive community for cohort members and tell the story of the project and its people, sharing updates and lessons learned.

This position is best suited for someone who is passionate about the future of journalism and storytelling, has a strong ability to organize projects and teams, and is a skilled communicator across a range of mediums (verbal, written, and virtual). This is a part-time early career opportunity for someone who is looking to build organizing skills, expand their network, and build on their own engagement journalism toolkit.

The Journalism Fellow will receive a $12,000 stipend for this 10 month assignment (late May 2024 - late March 2025), and should expect to work up to 15 hours per week. Unfortunately, we are unable to sponsor visas at this time. Our team members must be based in the United States.

About our culture

Cortico’s team is kind, collaborative, inquisitive, and inclusive. We approach our mission and work with ambition, making concrete progress today while imagining the possibilities of tomorrow. We have high standards for quality and ethics, and help each other learn in order to reach our objectives. We think technology and organizations are best built by teams with a diversity of background, thought, and experience. Every team member is a human first, and we strive to create a culture and environment that supports your career goals and respects all of the hats you wear in life, not just the ones that earn you a paycheck.

About you

• You've read about our mission and values and they strongly align with yours.
• You have a commitment to strengthening the journalism community by developing and testing innovative methods and tools for community-powered reporting.
• You are a relationship-builder, someone who seeks to make meaningful connections with others. 
• You’re a storyteller who enjoys telling people about the new and exciting work you come across.
• You’re curious about the role of AI and other digital technology in the work of journalism.
• You’re self-directed and entrepreneurial. When you see a gap you take the initiative and leverage any available resources to understand the problem and recommend a solution.

Minimum qualifications

• You’ve led programs in a journalism and/or university setting and bring a deep interest in journalism and community engagement.
• You have previous experience in journalism or professional storytelling.
• You are comfortable learning, applying, and teaching others to use new technologies and methods.
• You have exceptional written, visual, presentation, and verbal communication skills. 
• You have the strong organizational skills required to balance multiple projects at once, meeting timelines and producing deliverables.

Responsibilities

Project coordination, implementation, and monitoring

• Support cohort member selection process. 

• Guide participants through a summer workshops series, fall conversation campaign project, and a post-project lessons learned/curriculum development effort

• Coordinate scheduling, regular check-in structure, progress reporting, and provide ongoing technical and project support to cohort members

• Work closely with fellows as a thought partner to collaboratively solve problems, work through challenges, and encourage new ideas. 

• Design and coordinate engaging activities, workshops, and events that promote collaboration and skill-building among cohort members. Foster a sense of community among members and promote collaboration.

• Actively track product and process feedback from cohort members to share with Cortico Partnerships, Product, and Engineering teams 

Project Storytelling

• Tell the story of the project along the way, including the perspectives and thinking of participants, as well as connecting this project to the latest developments in AI and journalism 

• Communications content (blog posts, social media, newsletter) and portal narrative (interactive website that allows sharing of participant voices and thematic analysis for the project)

• Curriculum development (case studies, playbook)

• Narrative report for project grant

Next steps

Please apply below and include the following information:

• A little about you and your interest in the role. Please share with us why this role excites you and how you see yourself in this work.
• A resumé / cv

This is an entry level position. If you are unsure if you are qualified, please consider applying anyway.

The process

We aim to review and respond to all applicants within two weeks of submission. Applicants who move forward to the interview process will go through the following steps: 

• A short phone call with a representative of our HR team to set expectations and make sure we’re all on the same page about the role and your qualifications
• A Zoom interview with the hiring team where we’ll discuss your past experience and dive into how you think about engaging educators and journalists in a long-term project that combines new technologies and community listening
• Reference Checks

Cortico maintains a strong policy of equal opportunity in employment. It is our objective to recruit, hire, and retain the most qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation or identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic or status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Our equal employment philosophy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, compensation, benefits, training, promotions, transfers, job benefits, and terminations.