26750 Legal Sage

Opportunity

ArtsPond is seeking a volunteer Legal Sage (Charity and Hybrid Structures) to help us prepare a strategy and plan to apply for charitable status in Canada.

Our mission and mandate include activities that are widely recognized as charitable, such as education in arts and culture. At the same time, our work also currently includes developing open-source software, mutual aid networks, platform cooperatives, cultural land trusts, and other initiatives that may require different legal and economic structures to be sustainable.

We are seeking a lawyer who can help us think through how these activities can coherently sit within a charitable framework, when and how related entities may need distinct legal structures, and how best to articulate our public benefit in a way that aligns with regulatory expectations without compromising our values.

This is an advisory and strategic role focused on interpretation, framing, and scenario planning. It is not a compliance execution, filing, or ongoing legal counsel role.

Responsibilities

The Sage will provide guidance and support as they are available, including any of the following:

• Review our mission, mandate, and current and proposed activities through a charitable law lens
• Help identify which aspects of our work are clearly charitable and how to frame them effectively
• Explore how activities such as open source software development may qualify under charitable purposes like education, research, or public benefit
• Advise on appropriate boundaries between charitable activities and non-charitable or revenue-generating activities
• Help us think through structural patterns such as:
  • A charity with related for-profit, cooperative, or nonprofit entities
  • Subsidiaries, arms-length organizations, or partnerships
  • Charitable ownership or stewardship of IP, land, or platforms
• Identify common risks, misconceptions, or red flags in charity applications involving technology, networks, or hybrid models
• Support sensemaking around CRA guidance and case law as it applies to arts, culture, technology, and community infrastructure
• Help us develop a clear, coherent strategy and narrative for a future charity application
• Offer practical, proportionate recommendations grounded in real-world constraints

The work will be collaborative, conversational, and iterative, focused on helping us see pathways rather than producing formal legal opinions.

Qualifications

Our desired qualifications include one or more of the following:

• Legal expertise in Canadian charity law, nonprofit law, or social enterprise law
• Experience advising organizations with complex or hybrid missions
• Familiarity with CRA charitable purposes and public benefit requirements
• Experience with arts, culture, education, research, technology, or community development organizations
• Understanding of open source, cooperatives, land trusts, or platform-based models
• Ability to translate legal frameworks into accessible, strategic guidance

Formal legal credentials are required. Experience in values-aligned, community-centered, or innovative organizational models is a strong asset.

Fit

This opportunity might be a good fit if you:

• Enjoy untangling complexity and finding workable legal pathways
• Are comfortable operating in emerging or gray areas of practice
• Like advising and mentoring rather than owning implementation
• Are thoughtful about balancing regulatory compliance with mission integrity
• Care about arts, culture, care, and community-led systems change
• Prefer principled, pragmatic solutions over rigid templates

Commitment and Compensation

This is a volunteer, unpaid position only. The time commitment and schedule are flexible and shaped by mutual availability and capacity. Reimbursements are available for pre-approved expenses. This opportunity may lead to a paid role, pending availability of funding.

Apply

The desired deadline to apply is June 15, 2026. The posting will remain open until filled.

Please send a cover letter and curriculum vitae (or a 2.5 to 5-minute video) outlining your skills and interests related to the opportunity to:

Jessa Agilo, Founder, CEO
ArtsPond / Étang d’Arts
jobs@artspond.com

Please reference “26750 Legal Sage” in the subject line.

About Us

ArtsPond is a changemaker of a different kind. Our mission is to nurture thriving ecosystems of care in all realms of life via the wisdom and creativity of arts and culture. Join our team and help deepen the power and promise of arts and culture-led social change and care in Canada. For more information, visit https://artspond.com/volunteer/

Our Impact

Sharing stories | Shaping wisdoms
Through collaborative storytelling, we shape and share wisdoms rooted in the lived experience of justice-deserving groups from the edge. Creative expression helps people navigate challenges and deepen empathy, care, and understanding. Examples include Access Art, aHa!, Caring Cultures, Gentrification Survey, I Love My Gig Ontario, Groundstory, and Together There.

Sustaining ecosystems | Seeding platforms
With collective impact, we sustain mutual aid ecosystems and seed open-source tools and technologies that help people, communities, and systems to thrive. Cooperation helps strengthen pathways to reciprocity, prosperity, and belonging. Examples include DigitalASO, Hatch Open, and Groundtrust.

Settling crises
In moments of uncertainty and urgency, we support creative solutions to complex challenges, from personal emergencies to global crises. Supporting basic needs helps impacted groups to survive while nurturing hope by adapting alternative futures that are vibrant, strong, and resilient. Examples include I Lost My Gig Canada and ThisSpace.

Access

We are committed to make this opportunity accessible to all regardless of circumstances. If you have access needs in order to apply for this opportunity, please let us know what you require at jobs@artspond.com.

ArtsPond is an equal opportunity organization. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for engagement without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, creed (religion), colour, disability, ethnic origin, family status, gender identity or expression, place of origin, or race, veteran status or any other status protected by federal, provincial, or local laws. We particularly encourage equity and justice-deserving groups including 2SLGBTQIA+, Deaf, Disabled, Indigenous, Newcomer, New Generation, Outside the Core, Racialized, Women/Trans/Nonbinary, and other diverse identities, cultures, and origins to apply.

While we thank all who take the time to apply, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.