Christa D. Cesario

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is one of the nation’s most innovative contemporary art centers. Founded in 1993 as the cultural anchor of the Yerba Buena Gardens development, we serve the diverse and ever-evolving community of the San Francisco Bay Area. YBCA believes that culture is an essential catalyst for change, and that it is the responsibility of arts organizations to spur and support societal movement. From our leading edge exhibitions, performances, and films, to our groundbreaking civic initiatives and community partnerships, YBCA is a new kind of art center that expands and extends its impact beyond its walls and that is in constant, conscious evolution, on the front lines of social change. The Community Organizing Manager will work closely with the Director of Visual Arts, in collaboration with YBCA’s Chief of Civic Engagement, to lead community organizing projects and engage the Bay Area’s diverse organizations and communities to involve them in co-creating artistic and community-based projects conceived by YBCA’s curators and guest artists. The manager will work to identify core community issues and community leaders to grow YBCA’s connections beyond our campus, and expand the creative ecosystem that informs the core of our institutional practice. A key element of this position will be to understand the communities that compose our region—both historically and in the present moment—to empower local residents to impact the work of artists and creative producers who work in their communities. The Community Organizing Manager will do this by convening groups at both public events and private gatherings, investigating shared histories, and inviting marginalized communities to engage with our programming in meaningful ways.