01/07/2026
Anyone up to the task?
📢Project Athena – Volunteer Project Steward
Project Athena is a long-term digital history project focused on preserving and contextualizing Canada’s experience in Afghanistan through maps, photographs, and firsthand contributions. It is an active, living project with an existing platform, contributors, and direction.
We are looking for a Volunteer Project Steward to take responsibility for the day-to-day health of Project Athena and help guide its growth in a steady, sustainable way.
This role is about stewardship, judgement, and consistency. It is not an administrative support role, and it is not short-term or ad hoc volunteering.
Role Overview
The Project Steward is responsible for overseeing the daily operation of Project Athena on behalf of the project lead. This includes community moderation, light historical writing, and maintaining a modest but consistent public presence.
The Steward is trusted to act independently within clear boundaries and to help ensure the project remains active, respectful, and historically grounded.
Key Responsibilities
Project Stewardship
• Take responsibility for the day-to-day health and continuity of Project Athena.
• Act as a consistent point of stewardship for the project and its contributors.
• Flag issues, concerns, or opportunities to the project lead as needed.
Community & Moderation
Serve as head moderator for Project Athena.
• Review and approve user-submitted content (photos, descriptions, metadata).
• Ensure submissions meet basic standards for accuracy, tone, and respect.
• Help maintain and apply clear moderation standards.
Participate in moderator coordination via Discord.
Historical Context & Writing
• Write short historical or contextual pieces related to Afghanistan.
• Provide factual framing for user-submitted photos and stories when appropriate.
• Focus on clarity, accuracy, and context rather than opinion or commentary.
Social Media & Outreach
• Maintain a modest and sustainable social media presence.
• Share new contributions, project updates, and calls for participation.
• Be comfortable operating on social media platforms.
• Experience using social media scheduling tools is an asset but not required; training and support can be provided.
Time Commitment
• Approximately 3-5 hours per week, flexible and self-directed.
• No fixed schedule and no expectation of daily activity.
• Breaks and vacations are completely reasonable.
What matters most is consistency. This role requires steady, week-to-week involvement rather than short bursts of activity followed by long gaps. Communication is key—if availability changes, a simple heads-up is sufficient.
Who This Role Is For
This role may be a good fit if you:
• Are a veteran, a retired historian, or someone earlier in life who wants to contribute something meaningful and lasting.
• Care deeply about how Canada’s Afghanistan story is preserved and understood.
• Are comfortable exercising judgement and working independently.
• Are willing to use Discord as the primary communication platform for moderation.
• Value consistency, responsibility, and respect for the subject matter.
Formal credentials are less important than reliability, sound judgement, and a genuine interest in the project.
Important Notes
• This is a volunteer role. Project Athena currently operates without dedicated funding, and this position is based on contribution rather than compensation.
• The role will begin with an informal trial period to ensure it is a good fit on both sides.
How to Express Interest
If this role sounds like a good fit, please reach out using the Google Form below:
• Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeTgMkD0PgOS-W73Mr4aGWg-8j9WLg_bbBPvnRcIrgsWjhe1A/viewform
• Email for more generic questions to: [email protected]
