Company description

Through education, innovation, and collaboration, Quivira Coalition works in coalition with ranchers, farmers, government agencies, and land stewards to foster resilience on working lands. 

• Our New Agrarian program partners with skilled ranchers and farmers to offer annual apprenticeships in regenerative agriculture. Our apprentices learn from expert practitioners in full-immersion professional settings.
• Our Education program, through our annual conference and open-source publications, creates a space for our coalition to share ideas and resources, and for the general public to learn about the critical role working lands play in the health of our food systems, communities, and our planet.
• Our Carbon Ranch Initiative is working to build the capacity of producers, land managers, and technical service providers to implement land management practices focused on mitigation of and adaptation to climate change.

Since its establishment in 1997, Quivira has prided itself on its history of working across differences at the radical center, though we have not always accomplished this and continue to strive for improvement. We have become increasingly aware of the work that we must do to ensure that individuals and communities of all backgrounds are truly included and welcomed into our work, and the ongoing legacies of racism. Quivira is taking its steps toward becoming an antiracist organization, and reevaluating what diversity, equity and inclusion means for the organization. This is difficult, often messy, ongoing work, and we are committed to working through the challenges to join the movement for racially-just regenerative agriculture. We have made mistakes, committed harm, and are committed to growth. We hope new hires and the perspectives they bring will continue to help us navigate this path. We invite candidates to ask questions about where we are in this journey, and to join us in moving the organization and the regenerative agriculture movement toward becoming more just, equitable, and inclusive.

Job description

Quivira’s New Agrarian Program provides training and support for the next generation of food producers and land stewards in the West. We provide an entry-point into regenerative agriculture careers by partnering with experienced ranchers across the West to offer immersive, eight-month apprenticeships. Outside of the apprenticeship program, we help beginning producers expand their network within the regenerative agriculture community through a regenerative agriculture fellowship, a monthly podcast (Regeneration Rising), a regenerative agriculture job board, and other trainings, scholarships, and workshops. With over 120 alumni and growing, we’ve recently launched a manager fellowship program to support alumni in developing business and financial skills to successfully move into entrepreneurship and ranch management. We work to bring new people into agriculture, and to make careers in agriculture more accessible for people from diverse backgrounds. We do this by giving new agrarians the tools, resources, and community support to help them both enter and stay in agriculture careers.

Who we’re looking for
The New Agrarian Program Northern Plains manager will work closely with one other manager and the rest of the New Agrarian Program team to support beginning agrarians and mentor ranches in central and western Montana, the broader Northern Great Plains region, and beyond. This person should be a people-oriented facilitator who has worked with ranchers and farmers. An ideal candidate enjoys working with seasoned ranchers and farmers, mentoring young professionals in agriculture, and is passionate about solving current food production and ranching/farming challenges. This person is based in central or western Montana within close proximity to current New Agrarian Program mentor sites, has the flexibility to travel to ranches and farms, the capacity to engage with the Quivira team remotely, and is computer literate. The position also requires travel to conferences, presentations, and other work events (25-35 percent of work time is out of office).

About the work
The New Agrarian Program Northern Plains manager will provide support to mentors and apprentices in western and central Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. They will also work closely with mentor operations to help guide them through the apprentice application and hiring processes, partner with the New Agrarian Program team to deliver mentor training, assist with apprentice orientation, conduct site visits to mentor ranches, complete monthly check-ins with mentor ranchers and apprentices, provide support on supplemental education webinars, and assist in planning land health and livestock workshops. This position will also facilitate and provide guidance for both apprentices and mentors throughout their year together.

The New Agrarian Program Northern Plains manager is responsible, in partnership with the New Agrarian Program team, for recruitment, implementation, and partial fundraising for Quivira’s apprenticeship program. Specific duties include:

Coordination

• Serve as point of contact for mentors and apprentices in western and central Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming
• Support mentor/apprentice relationships and serve as a mediator as needed
• Support the application process for potential new mentors
• Facilitate successful apprentice placement at mentor locations
• Conduct in-depth, annual check-ins with mentors and apprentices to debrief apprenticeships and discuss program components, successes, and challenges
• Maintain regular contact with mentors and apprentices in western and central Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming to assess progress
• In partnership with the team, plan and conduct monthly supplemental education calls and regional apprentice gatherings
• Conduct annual site visits to all current mentor operations in western and central Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming (valid driver's license required).
• Facilitate connections between current and future generations of food producers and land stewards

Recruitment and outreach

• Participate in marketing, advertising, outreach, and public relations
• Conduct site visits to potential mentor ranches and farms in the Northern Plains
• Represent Quivira and New Agrarian Program at relevant events in the community and actively seek opportunities to present to relevant conferences
• Contribute to the New Agrarian Program monthly newsletter
• Regularly contribute content to New Agrarian Program social media

Development

• In cooperation with the New Agrarian Program team, expand the reach of the program by designing, funding, and implementing new ideas that provide leadership training, networking, and capacity-building support for new agrarians and prospective mentors
• Facilitate program growth while maintaining high quality standards and regenerative agriculture criteria for prospective mentors

Additional tasks

• Represent Quivira at various functions, conferences, workshops
• Collaborate with staff members and engage with other Quivira program areas as needed
• Attend and actively participate in the annual REGENERATE Conference as a representative for the New Agrarian Program team
• Participate in staff meetings, retreats, and strategic planning meetings
• Actively engage in Quivira’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism efforts
• Other activities as assigned

Qualifications and experience
We recognize and value the many ways to learn, grow, and succeed professionally, and acknowledge that individuals acquire skills, knowledge, and perspectives through diverse educational, professional, personal, and volunteer experiences. We take all relevant experiences into account when reviewing applications.

Required qualifications

• Established connections to Montana’s agricultural communities
• Passion for addressing issues in food production (focus on regenerative livestock/ranching operations) or land management in the West
• Interest in regenerative agriculture
• Access to reliable internet
• Comfortable working a computer-based job, flexibility to travel to current/potential mentor sites, conferences, and workshops
• Ability and desire to work outdoors, lift 50 pounds, and help on ranching/farming operations occasionally
• Proximity to central Montana

Compensation

this position is: salaried, 50k-75k

Location

job can be done remotely

Application instructions

Deadline

September 22, 2024