---
title: "CSTF Strategist"
summary: "Guide CSTF's strategic direction and long-term vision for advancing digital self-determination through coordinated initiatives, partnerships, and organizational development."
date: 2025-08-23
showDate: false
showWordCount: false
showReadingTime: false
---

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Lead strategic planning and organizational development to advance CSTF's mission of digital self-determination through coordinated technology development, education, and community engagement.
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## Position Overview

The Civil Society Technology Foundation (CSTF) seeks a visionary Strategist to guide our long-term strategic direction and coordinate our multifaceted efforts to advance digital self-determination. This role combines strategic planning, organizational development, and ecosystem thinking to ensure CSTF's initiatives work together effectively toward our shared mission.

As a volunteer-led US 501(c)(3) non-profit charity working across technology development, education, community building, and advocacy, CSTF needs strategic leadership that can see connections across diverse initiatives and guide our evolution as an organization and movement.

## About CSTF's Strategic Context

The Civil Society Technology Foundation operates in a complex landscape where technology, governance, and civil society intersect:

- **Technology Development**: Building practical tools like Wild Cloud that demonstrate digital self-determination
- **Educational Initiatives**: Creating accessible learning resources that democratize technical knowledge
- **Community Engagement**: Fostering networks of practitioners and advocates for technological autonomy
- **Civil Society Collaboration**: Working with aligned organizations to strengthen the broader ecosystem

Our strategic challenges involve balancing immediate practical needs with long-term vision, coordinating distributed volunteer efforts, and maintaining principled approaches while achieving meaningful impact.

## Primary Responsibilities

### Strategic Planning & Vision Development
- Develop and maintain CSTF's long-term strategic plan aligned with our mission and principles
- Coordinate strategic planning processes that involve community input and distributed decision-making
- Identify emerging opportunities and challenges in the digital rights and self-hosting landscape
- Guide organizational evolution to meet changing needs while maintaining core values

### Cross-Initiative Coordination
- Ensure coordination and synergy between Wild Cloud development, educational initiatives, community building, and fundraising
- Identify opportunities for integration and collaboration between different CSTF projects
- Facilitate strategic decision-making processes across distributed leadership teams
- Manage strategic trade-offs and resource allocation decisions

### Ecosystem & Partnership Development
- Map and analyze the broader ecosystem of digital rights, open-source, and civil society organizations
- Develop strategic partnerships that advance CSTF's mission while respecting our independence
- Coordinate with aligned organizations on shared initiatives and collaborative projects
- Represent CSTF in strategic discussions within the digital civil society community

### Organizational Development
- Guide CSTF's organizational structure and governance evolution as we grow
- Develop frameworks for distributed leadership and transparent decision-making at scale
- Create systems for measuring impact and effectiveness across our diverse initiatives
- Support leadership development and succession planning for key organizational roles

## Required Qualifications

- **Strategic Experience**: 5+ years of strategic planning experience in nonprofit, technology, or civil society contexts
- **Systems Thinking**: Ability to understand complex interconnections between technology, governance, and social change
- **Nonprofit Leadership**: Experience with nonprofit governance, volunteer management, and mission-driven organizations
- **Technology Understanding**: Solid grasp of open-source, self-hosting, and digital rights concepts
- **Mission Alignment**: Deep commitment to digital self-determination and transparent, community-driven governance

## Preferred Qualifications

- **Civil Society Background**: Experience with civil society organizations, advocacy, or social movement work
- **Open Source Ecosystem**: Understanding of open-source project governance, community dynamics, and sustainability models
- **Digital Rights Knowledge**: Familiarity with privacy, surveillance, and digital civil liberties issues
- **International Perspective**: Experience with global civil society networks and cross-cultural collaboration
- **Organizational Development**: Expertise in organizational design, change management, and leadership development

## Key Strategic Focus Areas

### Technology Strategy
- **Wild Cloud Evolution**: Guide Wild Cloud's development priorities and roadmap in alignment with CSTF mission
- **Technology Ecosystem**: Strategic thinking about CSTF's role in the broader self-hosting and digital independence ecosystem
- **Innovation Priorities**: Identify emerging technology areas where CSTF can make meaningful contributions
- **Standards & Interoperability**: Strategic approach to technical standards and collaboration with other projects

### Educational Strategy
- **Learning Impact**: Develop strategies for maximizing educational reach and effectiveness
- **Knowledge Democratization**: Guide approaches to making technical knowledge accessible to diverse audiences
- **Educational Partnerships**: Strategic relationships with educational institutions and community organizations
- **Capacity Building**: Long-term vision for building technical capacity in civil society

### Community & Movement Strategy
- **Community Growth**: Strategic approaches to building and sustaining communities of practice
- **Movement Building**: CSTF's role in broader movements for digital rights and technological sovereignty
- **Geographic Expansion**: Strategies for global reach while respecting local contexts and needs
- **Generational Sustainability**: Ensuring CSTF's work continues across leadership transitions

### Organizational Strategy
- **Governance Evolution**: Guide development of CSTF's governance structures as the organization grows
- **Resource Development**: Strategic approaches to sustainable funding and resource mobilization
- **Impact Measurement**: Frameworks for assessing and communicating CSTF's effectiveness
- **Risk Management**: Anticipate and prepare for challenges to CSTF's mission and operations

## Strategic Planning Responsibilities

### Vision & Direction Setting
- Facilitate collaborative processes for refining and updating CSTF's mission and vision
- Develop strategic frameworks that guide decision-making across all CSTF initiatives
- Create long-term scenarios and strategic options for CSTF's evolution
- Balance visionary thinking with practical implementation considerations

### Coordination & Integration
- Design coordination mechanisms that respect distributed leadership while ensuring strategic alignment
- Create processes for strategic decision-making that involve community input and transparent deliberation
- Develop metrics and feedback systems for assessing strategic progress and course correction
- Facilitate strategic reviews and planning cycles appropriate to CSTF's volunteer-driven structure

### External Positioning
- Develop CSTF's strategic positioning within the digital rights and civil society landscape
- Guide public communication of CSTF's strategic vision and priorities
- Represent CSTF's strategic perspective in coalitions, conferences, and policy discussions
- Build strategic relationships that advance CSTF's mission without compromising independence

## Success Metrics

- **Strategic Coherence**: Clear alignment between CSTF initiatives and overarching strategic direction
- **Organizational Effectiveness**: Improved coordination and decision-making across CSTF programs
- **Ecosystem Impact**: Recognition of CSTF as a significant contributor to digital self-determination ecosystem
- **Sustainable Growth**: Organizational development that supports mission advancement without compromising principles
- **Community Engagement**: Effective community participation in strategic planning and direction-setting
- **Partnership Development**: Strategic relationships that amplify CSTF's impact while maintaining independence

## Organizational Culture & Values

This role requires deep alignment with CSTF's core principles:

- **Transparent Governance**: All strategic planning and decision-making processes must be visible and accountable
- **Tools Over Policy**: Focus strategic efforts on building practical alternatives rather than policy advocacy
- **Healthy Ecosystems Win**: Measure strategic success by genuine utility to communities, not organizational growth
- **Self-determination by Design**: Ensure strategic direction supports user autonomy and community empowerment
- **Contribution Defines Membership**: Design strategic processes that recognize and incorporate diverse forms of contribution

## Compensation & Structure

This is a volunteer leadership position with the Civil Society Technology Foundation. As we grow and secure funding, this role may transition to a paid position based on organizational capacity and strategic development success.

## How to Apply

CSTF seeks strategic thinkers who understand both the complexity of socio-technical change and the importance of principled, community-driven approaches. We welcome applications from individuals with experience in nonprofit strategy, technology governance, or civil society leadership who share our vision of democratic technology development.

To express interest in this position:

1. Join our community at [forum.civilsociety.dev](https://forum.civilsociety.dev)
2. Review our [principles and mission](/about/) and current initiatives to understand our strategic context
3. Introduce yourself as a reply to [this forum post](https://forum.civilsociety.dev/t/seeking-cstf-strategist/22/1) (or message the post's author) and share your vision for advancing digital self-determination through strategic organizational development

We operate with transparent, distributed governance and welcome collaborative input on strategic planning and organizational development.

## Contact

For questions about this position or CSTF's strategic development, [reply to this forum post](https://forum.civilsociety.dev/t/seeking-cstf-strategist/22/1).

Join us in developing strategic approaches that advance digital self-determination through coordinated community action, principled technology development, and sustainable organizational growth.