Indigenous Editors Association

Is there a way for non-Indigenous people to join as supporters?

There is no non-Indigenous class of membership at this time. We are very grateful for your interest in supporting! We will update the public via our newsletter if we find a way to add more membership classes.

Can I donate?

Yes! Please visit our donate page.

Can I volunteer?

Yes! Please contact us to share your areas of experience and interest. We will do our best to respond as soon as possible with more information.

Can I have access to your members’ directory?

Soon! We are developing a members’ directory as one of our top priorities, and we hope it will be available in Winter 2020/2021. Our volunteers are currently working hard to build a directory that is secure, easy to maintain, and highly user-friendly. We’re working on an off-the-shelf solution for now, and our long-term goal is to work with a developer to create a custom members’ portal with lots of functionality. For those who wish, please feel free to donate to the IEA to support the directory and other initiatives.

Can you direct me to a person from [specific Nation/community] with experience in [specific form of editing]?

The best way to find the right person is to submit your paid opportunity to our Jobs Newsletter. Once your job opportunity has been shared transparently with all of our members, we are then able to forward it to our connections, and our volunteers are able to apply for the job themselves. This system ensures that all of our members, and not only those with whom our volunteers are personally familiar, are given the opportunity to respond to your job posting.

Won’t I be swamped with unqualified responses?

Nope! This has never happened to our knowledge. Our membership is smaller than you think, and each of us has specific backgrounds, qualifications, interests, experience, and availability. However, you are welcome to provide detailed information about the terms, application requirements, and qualifications of your opportunity, and the conditions on which you will respond.

Can you recommend or refer one of your members?

The IEA is unable to make referrals. Broadly speaking, this is because we’re hoping to build a more equitable and accessible system, not just a larger network of insiders. More particularly, IEA volunteers are not personally familiar with each of our members’ backgrounds and experience, and so are not able to fairly and accurately make the best personal referral. Those of our members who have not personally met or worked with our volunteers are no less qualified than those who have. In addition, we may not know that a given member has excellent experience that is not showcased in their membership application. Finally, Indigenous identities and their different names and spellings are quite diverse, and volunteers could easily miss a connection between the way you describe a given Nation or community and the way our members might describe their own communities. The best way to find the right person is to share your opportunity via our Jobs Newsletter.

Do you test your members, require proof of identity, or otherwise guarantee your members’ skills and qualifications?

No. We ask our members to self-identify as Indigenous and to describe the services they provide as part of the application system. We provide the jobs newsletter and the forthcoming members’ directory as a service to our members. Employers are expected to do their due diligence in order to ensure an applicant is qualified.