As a 501(c)4 nonprofit community organization, LoganSquarist welcomes interested individuals to join our enthusiastic team of passionate local residents, writers, artists and professionals who love the Chicago neighborhood of Logan Square and all its unique characteristics. Through your involvement, you’ll be able to grow your portfolio, accumulate clips, gain unique experience and have a great time.

Interested in joining the team? Email your interest, relevant experience (resume, portfolio, clips or samples, if available) and love of Logan Square to kate@logansquarist.com. Familiarity with the neighborhood is helpful, but not required. Got a unique idea or skill not listed here that you’d like to bring to our team? Let us know. We ask that all team positions commit to a minimum of a year.

Please note we are a volunteer-based organization and cannot pay contributors. Our staff uses the organization as a means for experience building, networking and personal fulfillment. Although we regret that we are unable to offer our staff monetary compensation, hugs and wine are given frequently. And we are a fun group that loves Logan Square that would love to have you!

Director of Engagement / Chief of Staff

LoganSquarist is seeking a director of engagement who is interested in helping local community news thrive. The director of engagement works with the board of directors to manage staff members, increase staff engagement and support overall staff needs. S/he attends regular board meetings and takes notes, helps coordinate board and organization tasks, and supports directors as needed.

Applicants should send a cover letter of interest and applicable prior experience to hello@logansquarist.com. Familiarity with the neighborhood is preferred but not required and applicants should live in the neighborhood. Prior experience with nonprofit organizations a plus.

Managing Editor

LoganSquarist is seeking a managing editor who is interested in news writing and editing. The managing editor works with the editor to establish the editorial calendar, then communicate with writers as they write their stories. S/he is aware of writers’ deadlines and reminds them as needed. The managing editor shares in determining the coverage of LoganSquarist, discusses the neighborhood with the editor and refines pitches and assigns stories, as needed.

Applicants should send a cover letter of interest and writing samples to editor@logansquarist.com. Familiarity with the neighborhood is preferred but not required and applicants must live in the neighborhood.

Writer

Our staff of dedicated writers cover a variety of topics and beats throughout Logan Square. Writer responsibilities includes uploading articles into our CMS, doing some SEO and promoting articles through social media. Understanding of web writing and meeting deadlines is a must. Familiarity with a CMS system, SEO and social media is a plus, but not required. We provide training on these areas. We’re looking for individuals to cover the following beats:

• Food + Drink: This role includes writing about restaurant and bar openings and closings, as well as food writing. If you enjoy trying new foods and being in-the-know about the restaurant scene, this is for you.
• Business: This role includes business profiles, new business openings and developments throughout the neighborhood. If you like to the heart of a community, this is a role for you.
• Arts + Entertainment: Interests can include gallery shows, live or recorded music, street art, theater and more.
• Politics: Following local political figures’ policies and writing about the changing neighborhood are included in this important role.
• Neighborhood: Major changes to the neighborhood, family article, crime roundups, lifestyle stories, neighborhood events and more.
• History: Cover historical stories about Logan Square, such as the history of the boulevard, the importance of the Centennial Monument and more.

Photographer

Are you interested in being a photographer for the LoganSquarist? This volunteer position is ideal for someone who wants to dedicate their time (at least a year) to photographing on behalf of the publication. Our team is looking for a photographer with a DSLR camera and who shoots in Raw, and has the ability to edit photos. You should have a flash or nice lens to be able to still get great photos even in low lighting. Build your professional portfolio as you support the organization’s needs. Interested in watermarking your photos? You are welcome to, as long as the logo in a corner of the image. We want this to be a beneficial for LoganSquarist and for yourself as well! As a photographer, you will be responsible for:

• Shoot our monthly Neighbor Meetups, as well as special events, which occur every third Wednesday of every month in the evening. Photographers take turns shooting this event; you will shoot this event once every four months.
• Assemble a photo story once a month. You choose a Logan Square subject to shoot photos of, such as  a restaurant, shop or event, then create a photo story that portrays the topic. Photographers are responsible to write a couple of paragraphs describing the photo set, as well as craft captions. This is a great opportunity to garner both photo credits and bylines!
• Take photos as assigned to support writers and ongoing editorial coverage.
• Work on different stories with writers to further support our editorial needs.
• Work on ongoing thematic photo stories. Some examples of our ongoing stories are Humans of Logan, Pets of Logan, and Brunch of Logan.

Events Manager

Do you love planning events? Then join the Events Team! We are looking for additional Events Managers to help us coordinate our Monthly Neighbor Meetups, as well as special events such as our annual Taco Crawl, signature event and Awards party. Duties include:

• Reaching out to local businesses as either hosts or donors; securing locations, food + drink, raffle prizes and donations, as needed
• Coordinating and hosting a Neighbor Meetup four times a year
• Having love for the Logan Square neighborhood
• Networking with local businesses to create partners with LoganSquarist
• Attending monthly LoganSquarist Staff meetings, as well as quarterly Events Team meetings
• Must love tacos

Interested in joining the team? Share your interest, relevant experience (resume, portfolio, clips or samples, if available) and love of Logan Square. Familiarity with the neighborhood is helpful, but not required.

Public Relations Manager

The role of the Public Relations volunteer will be to help LoganSquarist expand its reach and work to strengthen relationships with business owners and organizations, promoting LoganSquarist’s opportunities to such groups and facilitating their needs. You will be at the front of the organization and will have the dedication to create and apply an effective strategies to foster new relationships, sponsorships and advertising deals. The goal is to drive sustainable professional, community and financial growth through boosting sales and forging strong relationships with the leaders of and people who compose Logan Square. Skills include ability and desire foster an environment of growth and fun; relationship building; and strong communication skills.

Full-Stack (Front-End and Back-End) Developer

LoganSquarist is looking for a developer to assist with our Web Team. A potential candidate needs to be flexible, wear a few hats, as we are a lean ‘startup’ remote team. We are looking for someone who has a WordPress development background, can be available to oversee and respond to emergency issues with the website and help organize other ‘dream’ projects for the future of LoganSquarist.com.

This position is great for anyone looking for experience developing and working with a popular hyperlocal website. Although it is a volunteer position, references and LinkedIn can be provided. We also host a ton of events and provide great networking opportunities for those involved.

Duties:

• Report to the founder on a weekly basis regarding the website
• Attend (1) status meeting a month, attend (1) meetup event a month
• Coordinate with the LoganSquarist Digital Team on projects both short-term and long-term projects
• Provide project estimates, best practices and actions for the improvement and maintenance of the website

Skills:

• WordPress
• HTML5/CSS3/jQuery
• Some familiarity with MySQL and databases
• Communications
• Blogging