Thanks to a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Society for the Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) is launching a new initiative, the SHEAR Civics Exchange. Funding from the Luce Foundation will enable the organization to build and maintain a professional, effective webpage to publicize the exchange and to create a directory of members who volunteer to be Civic Educators.

To support these efforts, SHEAR seeks an outreach coordinator who will serve as the point person for the project, establishing connections and networking with potential institutional and individual partners, overseeing social media and other advertising and promotional efforts, and liaising with the organization to expand the directory’s reach and scope. The position is envisioned for a recent PhD or ABD candidate working in the period of the early American Republic (1776-1861) with the following skills and interests:

• Experience with social and digital media management, including public-facing accounts and interactions, content design, and promotional campaigns
• Experience with institutional outreach and relationship building, particularly in recruitment within the organization and management of external partnerships, effective communication and follow-up,
• Experience and/or plans for creating strategies for institutional outreach to increase knowledge about and broaden the reach of SHEAR Civics Exchange.
• Experience with public-facing programming, ranging from event planning to event promotion and virtual and in-person networking.
• Familiarity with website design and backchannel oversight, including updating the directory, troubleshooting any issues with the developer team, and incorporating the site directly into promotion and recruitment efforts. Comfort working with the professional web design company used by SHEAR to build and maintain the SHEAR Civics Exchange website.

The SHEAR Civics Exchange Outreach Coordinator will work directly with the SHEAR current and past presidents, grant PI, and incoming SHEAR president, Andrew Shankman, and liaise with the SHEAR social media coordinator and conference coordinator as needed. The position carries a stipend of $12,000 per year and is renewable for up to five years. The Outreach Coordinator is required to attend the SHEAR annual convention to provide an annual report to the SHEAR Advisory Committee. In addition to the stipend, SHEAR will cover the cost of conference attendance.

For further questions or to apply, please provide a brief statement of interest (1-2 pages), a brief CV (1-2 pages) to Martha Howard, shear@wm.edu. Deadline for applications is April 24, 2026. The Search Committee will conduct interviews in the second half of May with the intention of announcing the SHEAR Civics Exchange Outreach Coordinator in early June.