Job description

About Us:

Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is a private nonprofit, membership organization founded in 1982 to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture, and to develop sustainable communities. LSP is dedicated to creating transformational change in our food and farming system.

LSP believes that by working together with our members and partners, culturally and racially diverse rural and urban people can take practical steps that build toward greater stewardship of the land, more family farmers, healthy food for all and resilient, racially just communities.

LSP’s urban food program began six years ago developing community gardens, working on urban land access issues and organizing advocacy for clear zoning policies that support rather than hinder urban agriculture in Minneapolis. The primary thrust of our current program is developing and implementing a year around food and gardening program through our relationship with Hope Community in the Phillips neighborhood. Both Hope Community and LSP are fundamentally about organizing people to build power to transform their communities and their lives. We came together three years ago around common values of racial and economic equity and to develop a year-round food program that has moved from just a few people to engaging over 100 residents.

The community gardens at Hope, along with regular and evolving cooking/nutrition and gardening skill building classes as well as the new 5000 square ft. Garden at the Rose provide the arena for leadership development. These learning opportunities create a forum for participants to consider how the current food system affects them, and opportunities for them to develop their power to create a food system that works for them and their community.

The Opportunity:

The LSP Organizer will work closely with LSP and Hope staff to:

• Plan and implement outreach, engagement and communication strategies
• Identify and develop potential leaders
• Conduct one on one interviews with community members
• Coordinate with Hope staff to develop and conduct community outreach and engagement
• Support Hope Staff to develop a leadership team of Phillips neighborhood residents
• Support/supervise food program interns
• Coordinate with Hope Staff on day to day tasks organizing the gardening and cooking programs
• Garden logistics, scheduling, tool care and use
• Plan and produce skill-building workshops related to food (growing, processing, entrepreneurism, etc)
• Coordinate field trips and rural/urban farmer visits
• Involve LSP members in skill sessions.
• Other organizing around food system and community building activities as they develop and are assigned.

The LSP Organizer will have responsibility for LSP member recruitment, some grassroots and grant fundraising and reporting. The position’s supervisor, Director of Community Based Food Systems Program, may assign other activities. This position will work with LSP Community Based Food Systems Program Coordinator Dylan Bradford-Kesti as team lead and will report to the Director of Community Based Food Systems Program Terry VanDerPol.

The successful applicant will have:

• Strong communication skills
• Preference for Spanish or Somali language skills
• Gardening/food production knowledge
• High comfort level with people of diverse ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds
• An interest in developing organizer skills to bring people together to create the power they need to make positive changes in their communities and their lives
• Some scheduling flexibility
• Passion for growing healthy food and building power in community. 

The position is currently 75% FTE with prorated benefits including health and dental. There will be occasional Saturday and evening work, especially Tuesday/Thursday evenings and some Saturdays during growing season.

Compensation

this position is: salaried

Application instructions

Deadline

January 15, 2016