Position Available!

Community-Based Food System Coordinator, Renewing the Countryside 

Job Description:

Renewing the Countryside (RTC) seeks a Community-Based Food System Coordinator to support our Farm to Early Care & Education work. This role involves project coordination, as well as direct outreach, education, and engagement with early care St. Paul providers, parents, young children, and community partners.

The successful candidate will have experience working with early childhood nutrition, education programs, and/or local food systems. We aim to support integration of farm to early care concepts (gardening and/or farm visits, nutrition education, and local food purchasing for meals and snacks) into educational approaches for early care providers. A commitment to food justice and racial justice is a key component of this work.

RTC’s mission is to cultivate and embolden vibrant, sustainable and equitable communities. Since 2002, we have served as connectors and facilitators, bringing together community members to advance ideas that contribute to economic, social, and environmental wealth. At RTC, we have a clear vision: to be an organization where a varied mix of talented people want to come, to stay, and to do their best work. We believe deeply in diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin and all the other fascinating characteristics that make us different.

Location:

Our primary Farm to Early Care & Education projects currently take place in the Rondo/Frogtown/Midway neighborhoods of St. Paul. We anticipate this position mostly working from home (and potentially in a St. Paul office space that we anticipate opening in 2023), and working closely with the other members of the Farm to Early Care team.

Hours:

Part time: 75% time (negotiable). 

Compensation:

$22/hr or more based on experience. Dental and health benefits, paid time off, sick leave, and parental leave are offered in proportion to full-time status.

Tasks:

Contribute to Farm to Early Care initiatives as follows: 

• Coordinate RTC’s Farm to Early Care & Education project
  • facilitate team meetings
  • analyze project progress in relation to project requirements, and provide guidance on tasks and deliverables
  • support project evaluation and reporting
  • communicate project updates/progress to all RTC staff
• Serve as primary contact with project partners, including UMN Extension, childcare providers, a local project advisory team, The Good Acre, Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA), and others
• Lead programming related to nutrition education, garden-based education, CSA box distribution, Early-Care connections to local farmers, and community outreach and engagement
• Facilitate continuing education related to Farm to Early Care topics for providers
• Represent RTC and our Farm to Early Care project at public events, partner meetings, group discussions, or advisory roles as needed
• Communicate project news and highlights on social media
• Additional tasks as needed to support RTC’s Farm to Early Care and related Community Based Food System projects

 Qualifications:

• Familiarity with Minnesota’s early childhood education and school systems, nutrition standards, food/farming issues, and/or school garden best policies and practices
• Experience managing projects and facilitating meetings
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• High degree of organization, attention to detail, and persistence
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English
• Comfort with computer technology, including Google applications (Drive, Docs, Spreadsheets) and Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel).  
• Preferred: Resident of the Frogtown/Midway/Rondo neighborhoods (or otherwise connected to these communities)
• Preferred: 2-plus years of experience or education in sustainable food systems, early childhood education, and/or nutrition
• Preferred: experience supervising interns or volunteers
• Preferred: language skills in Hmong, Somali, or Spanish

How to apply:

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume by email to: [email protected] Applications will be accepted until March 17, 2023. 

This position will remain open until filled. We actively encourage people of diverse backgrounds and experience to apply for this position and all positions at RTC.