Storytelling & Content Lead

Social Justice Learning Institute•Inglewood, CA

2d•$70,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Storytelling & Content Lead plays a central role in capturing and translating the work of the Social Justice Learning Institute (SJLI) into compelling narratives that elevate community voice, youth leadership, health in the built environment and the organization’s impact. Working closely with program teams, youth participants, and community partners, the Storytelling & Content Lead identifies meaningful moments across SJLI’s initiatives and develops authentic stories that illustrate the organization’s mission and impact. This role is responsible for producing written and multimedia content that supports organizational storytelling, communications campaigns, and public engagement. The Storytelling & Content Lead regularly attends SJLI programs, events, and community activations to document the organization’s work in real time through interviews, photography, video capture, and narrative development. These stories become the foundation for communications campaigns, digital storytelling, reports, newsletters, and other public-facing materials. This role works closely with the Digital Communications & Design Lead to translate captured stories into visually engaging and platform-ready content. Together, they ensure that SJLI’s communications remain dynamic, authentic, and rooted in the voices of the communities the organization serves. The ideal candidate is a curious and thoughtful storyteller with strong writing instincts, a passion for community-centered narratives, and the ability to translate complex social change work into accessible and engaging stories.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, media, storytelling, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Minimum of 3–5 years of experience in storytelling, journalism, multimedia content production, or communications.
Strong writing and storytelling skills with the ability to translate complex work into compelling narratives.
Experience conducting interviews and developing narrative profiles or feature stories.
Experience capturing photo and video content using professional or semi-professional equipment.
Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple stories and content development timelines.
Commitment to social justice, equity, and community-centered storytelling.
Ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams and build trust with youth and community members.
Willingness to travel locally and multi-regional (LA and Houston) to SJLI programs, events, and partner activations as needed.

Nice To Haves

Experience working within nonprofit, advocacy, or youth-serving organizations.
Experience producing multimedia storytelling content for digital platforms.
Experience documenting community-based work or social justice initiatives.
Familiarity with basic (advanced preferable) photo and video editing tools.
Comfort working in fast-paced environments with evolving priorities.

Responsibilities

Attend SJLI programs, events, youth gatherings, and all community activations to document the organization’s work and capture impactful moments.
Conduct interviews with youth participants, staff, community members, and partners to surface authentic voices and perspectives.
Capture photography, short-form video (coordinate long-form video capturing), quotes, and observational notes that help tell the story of SJLI’s work.
Identify compelling story opportunities across the organization’s initiatives in education equity, health in the built environment, youth leadership, and community organizing.
Ensure that stories reflect the dignity, leadership, and lived experiences of community members and youth participants.
Develop written stories, features, and highlights that illustrate SJLI’s programs, partnerships, and impact that can live on any platform including but not limited to social media, traditional media, SJLI website, and in multimodal communication channels.
Draft narrative content for newsletters, website stories, campaign storytelling, and organizational publications.
Translate programmatic work and complex initiatives into accessible and engaging narratives for public audiences.
Support the development of story pipelines that align with communications campaigns, fundraising initiatives, and organizational priorities.
Collaborate with the Communications & Brand Strategy Manager to ensure stories align with the organization’s broader messaging and narrative direction.
Develop narrative content for the SJLI website including program features, youth stories, initiative highlights, and organizational updates that reflect the depth and impact of SJLI’s work.
Capture and curate multimedia content including photos, short videos, long videos and behind-the-scenes content that support storytelling efforts of the work and the brand of the organizaiton.
Organize and catalog visual content from programs and events to support future communications materials.
Support the development of docu-style storytelling, interviews, and multimedia features that highlight SJLI’s work, SJLI’s team and SJLI’s community impact.
Coordinate with the Digital Communications & Design Lead to ensure captured content can be adapted for social media, campaigns, SJLI’s multimodal communication platforms and digital storytelling.
Work with program staff across regions to identify impactful stories that illustrate SJLI’s mission and work.
Build relationships with staff and youth leaders to surface meaningful narratives from within SJLI’s programs.
Maintain a running archive of stories, quotes, testimonials, and visual content that can support communications campaigns and reports.
Support the Communications & Brand Strategy Manager in identifying story opportunities connected to strategic organizational moments.
Identify stories and narrative moments that should be elevated through SJLI’s website and coordinate with the communications team to ensure those stories are published and maintained.
Provide storytelling coverage for major SJLI initiatives, campaigns, summits, community gatherings, and public events.
Capture key moments and develop narrative content that reflects the energy and impact of SJLI’s work.
Support the communications team in documenting milestone moments and organizational achievements.
Ensure that events and programs are documented in ways that can support both real-time storytelling and long-term narrative development.
Develop recap stories and narrative summaries from key events and initiatives that can be adapted for website publication and long-form storytelling.
Work closely with the Digital Communications & Design Lead to translate stories into visual and platform-ready content.
Collaborate with the Communications & Brand Strategy Manager to ensure narrative consistency and strategic alignment.
Provide story drafts, quotes, and visual materials that support communications campaigns and organizational storytelling.
Contribute to the communications content calendar by identifying upcoming story opportunities.