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Thursday, September 6, 2018

Food Program Director

Location: Crescent City, California

Employed By: Family Resource Center of the Redwoods

Reports To: Executive Director 

Time Commitment: 40 hours per week including some evening and weekend hours

Compensation: $48,000 - $54,000 annually (depending on experience) plus monthly health and wellness stipend, retirement benefits, and paid vacation/sick time.

Deadline to Apply: This position will remain open until filled. The first review of applications will take place on September 24th.

Overview
The Del Norte and Tribal Lands Community Food Council (DNATL Food Council) is seeking a collaborative and driven Food Program Director. This is an exciting opportunity to increase health and equity in one of California’s most beautiful and isolated regions.

This position will work out of Del Norte County, the beautiful northern corner of coastal California. This region is home to Redwood National and State Parks, the Wild and Scenic Smith River, and miles of Pacific Ocean beaches. There are abundant opportunities for hiking, camping, surfing, and kayaking. Del Norte is also only a short drive from Arcata, home of Humboldt State University and Ashland, home of Southern Oregon University, the Shakespeare Festival, and the Britt Festival.

About the DNATL Food Council
The DNATL Food Council works to build a vibrant local food system that provides healthy, affordable food to all DNATL families. Our programs are organized around three primary efforts: ensuring food security, growing our local food economy, and shifting DNATL’s resident food culture towards healthy foods. The DNATL Food Council is housed within the Family Resource Center of the Redwoods (FRC). We work closely with many community partners including: Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Del Norte County Unified School District, the Cultural Fire Management Council, College of the Redwoods, SNAP-Ed, First 5 Del Norte, local farmers, and local farmers markets.

DNATL is one of 14 communities in The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities (BHC) initiative, a ten-year, place-based initiative to improve health outcomes for all residents, with a strong emphasis on equity. The DNATL Food Council was founded with a BHC grant in 2010 to bring together food system stakeholders, including residents and consumers, to improve healthy food access and opportunity for all. Recent DNATL Food Council work includes:

·      Collaborating with the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation on a USDA Community Food Project grant to create four food forests across DNATL
·      Designing and opening DNATL’s first choice-based food bank at the FRC
·      Launching Del Norte’s Seamless Summer meals program and expanding it to serve over 50,000 meals each summer
·      Bringing Market Match funding into DNATL’s farmers markets
·      Establishing DNATL’s first college-level agriculture education course offerings
·      Hosting over 50 DIY food and garden workshops at the FRC and throughout DNATL

Job Description: The Food Program Director oversees the management and growth of all DNATL Food Council activities. The Food Program Director essential job duties include the following:
·      Leads program strategy development and implementation
·      Integrates community priorities into overall program strategy
·      Supervises a staff of approximately five employees
·      Coordinates and supports regular meetings of the DNATL Community Food Council
·      Oversees program budget in collaboration with FRC staff
·      Manages current sources of grant funding and seeks out additional funding sources
·      Oversees the completion of all grant reporting requirements
·      Collaborates with numerous community groups and other BHC funded teams
·      Serves as a spokesperson for the DNATL Food Council
·      Liaisons with the FRC Executive Director and Board

Supervisor: The FRC Executive Director supervises this position.

Qualifications and Experience
The Food Program Director will have a passion for creating a just food system. This position requires innovation, flexibility, and a high degree of administrative independence. The successful applicant will have strong writing and story-telling skills, have a high level of empathy and the ability to listen to learn, be culturally competent, and will be intellectually curious. A desire to work with communities experiencing high levels of poverty is also required.

The applicant will have demonstrated skills and abilities in community organizing, public policy, project management, and building positive relationships with staff, community members, public and nonprofit organizations, appointed and elected officials, and others. Practical cooking, gardening, permaculture, and/or farming experience will be helpful. A successful track record of grant writing and management is strongly desired.

A BA in food studies, agriculture, sociology, public health, or other relevant field is required. A Master’s degree in a similar field is preferable. Applicants should have a minimum of two years of increasingly responsible experience with food system or community organizing work, as well as supervisory or administrative experience. Extensive food system and/or community development experience will be considered in lieu of education for an outstanding candidate.

To Apply: Email a cover letter, resume, and two references to brymer@frcredwoods.org.

Questions: Contact Brittany Rymer at 707.464.0955 ext. 2116 or email brymer@frcredwoods.org.