Founding Director transitioning off staff at the end of 2023
FCAC Family,
The greatest privilege of my life is being an Auntie to my niblets. The second has been as a doula for FCAC, sharing dedicated labor while we created this community coalition. It is with deep love, hope, and confidence in the community we’ve created that I share that I am transitioning my role within FCAC from Executive Director to movement Auntie; someone that cheerleads the work, holds space when you can’t see forward, and has endless love without judgment for the paths chosen. It has been a challenging joy to help create a seachange in the way we think about and strategize about the climate crisis and learning how to heal ourselves and the land. This movement is deep medicine for me - there is nothing more healing than being in a community moving towards a shared vision for the future - and it goes without saying that I am not leaving this movement, but by the end of this year, I will no longer be the Executive Director at FCAC.
When we started FCAC there were very few organizations talking about climate justice beyond the generational leadership of Native communities and organizations, or the occasional creative direct actions of grassroots groups. So, with the wisdom of those who have come before us to Remember Forward, we committed to fostering deep community relationships while building a network of organizers. This work came about not only through campaign strategy, but also from all the energy and vision it takes to make a dream a reality. Our work is tending to climate grief, listening to and uplifting economies of care, and creating compelling and visionary art all while bringing more people into the movement and building power for the next opportunity to have a critical impact.
We continue to experiment and learn from what does and doesn’t work; we have been dreaming, exploring, and creating new leadership models for FCAC to codify structures that center volunteers. For my last year with FCAC I will help build out new leadership structures, but they are just the beginning. We’re onboarding six new council members, ramping up our organizer support program with new training opportunities and launching a triad of co-executive director leadership which will focus on key elements of our infrastructure while centering collective decision-making processes throughout our entire ecosystem, from membership to staff to leadership.
The Co-Executive Directors will share the responsibilities of deepening into FCAC’s goals of accountability to Jemez and Defend the Sacred principles, tending to the heart of the organization through commitment to restorative justice and conflict resolution, while building a healthy, productive, anti-oppressive, and affirming organizational culture for all staff and coalition members.
The Organizing Co - Executive Director will bring capacity into creating deep community with partners and supporting individuals in learning organizing strategies while ensuring there are clear entry points and feedback mechanisms for active members inside all facets of the coalition.
The Administrative Co - Executive Director will focus on developing and implementing policies that support FCAC’s organizing principles and values while tending to traditional and regenerative fundraising pathways to support projects, members, campaigns and long term visions for a Just Transition.
The Campaign Co-Executive Director will support the development, implementation and execution of campaigns, ensuring they align with FCAC grassroots organizing strategies, values and frameworks of Just Transition and Decolonization.
Please join me in welcoming two familiar faces to our new co-executive directorship - both growing leaders are grounded in a sustainable systems approach to organizing with a dedication to centering community voices and leadership. Meanwhile, we're excited to announce that we will be opening up the position to hire for the third member of the leadership team, the Campaign Co-Executive Director.
Tristan Glowa, the new Organizing Co-Executive Director, is a veteran of youth organizing and a Fireweed Collective co-founder. He is a lifelong Fairbanksan, a deep listener, and holds genuine care for those around him.
Margi Dashevsky, the new Administrative Co- Executive Director, is life-long Fairbanksan who brings a decade of organizing, training, education, and regenerative economies development experience along with an open heart and calm energy.
With these two, alongside the Council and each and every one of our staff, FCAC maintains tremendous leadership, continuity and integrity as we hold curiosity for how to move deeper into being what we aim to be: an organization in practice of the Just Transition Framework, centering volunteer leadership, community organizing, and remaining grassroots to the core.
The Campaign Co-Executive Director job description can be found here, along with details on how to apply.
We will be accepting applications until the 28th of April.
Additionally, since we will be losing the regenerative economies director capacity as Margi moves into the Administrative Co-Executive Director role, we are excited to share a partner position with the Tlaa Deneldel Community Group for a full-time regenerative economies organizer. The job description can be found here, along with details on how to apply. We will be accepting applications until the 10th of April. By the start of summer we hope to have an organizer working with each working group - stay tuned for more!
This work moves at its own pace, and it has not always been easy to keep a sustainable pace when our defenses are up and we have to act with urgency. Our hope in distributing roles within the directors team is that we are able to strengthen sustainability for staff while creating direct community capacity. If you see an ED out there, give them a hug (with consent). This work is hard, but there is no group of people I would have rather done it with than the energetic, committed, and soulful community we’ve created here at FCAC. We reframed what climate justice is with tangible campaign and community building wins in Alaska, and we’re just getting started. This movement, and these people are so strong and I have so much trust in what we’ve created. The next chapter is only possible because during the first eight years together, we built something both strong and flexible, responsive and stable, and deeply rooted in our community.
With deep gratitude and blessings for what is to come,
Jessica J. Girard
Outgoing Executive Director
P.S. I will have more soon, but until then, please join me in sending love and support to Margi and Tristan
(and sharing our hiring announcements!)
