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ustainable Community Gardens
Full Circle Farm, Sunnyvale

Job Description:  Education Program Manager

Full Circle Farm is a project of Sustainable Community Gardens located on the campus of Peterson Middle School in Sunnyvale, California.  The Education Program Manager oversees all aspects of the education garden; develop curriculum for the garden classes for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students, supervises AmeriCorps and other education staff, facilitates lesson and garden planning and guides the garden team in the development and maintenance of a productive, educational garden.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Teaching
• Develop curriculum for garden classes
• Ensure students experience propagation, planting, cultivation, composting, and maintenance of the garden
• Support and cooperate with the Peterson classroom teachers and the development of garden lessons that are integrated into classroom teaching and curriculum
• Mentor individual students in and out of class, model respect, curiosity for learning and encourage students’ interests and talents
• Model effective classroom management and the ability to approach discipline creatively

Management

• Provide consistent leadership, training and collaboration with the volunteer garden staff. AmeriCorps and other educators; facilitate weekly education staff meeting
• Hire and oversee training of AmeriCorps members; attend AmeriCorps site supervisor trainings/events and ensure accurate record keeping and documentation and timely filing of reports
• Schedule and facilitate regular, individual check-ins with education staff, to assure clarity of expectations and goals, and provide constructive feedback
• Participate in FCF/Peterson staff meetings, staff and program development meetings
• Maintain working knowledge of garden budget and budget management

Communication and Outreach

• Cultivate communication and relationships with FCF staff, Peterson classroom teachers and administrative staff; extended community of parents, local businesses, neighbors, school garden educators and potential FCF affiliates
• Stay abreast of Peterson events and activities; be an active presence in the school community; attend Peterson all-staff meetings as appropriate
• Organize and participate in monthly garden trainings for FCF garden educators; organize volunteer and community garden workdays
• As a member of educational and sustainable agriculture communities, represent FCF to the wider community, to include public speaking, attendance and/or participation in related meetings or conferences
• Welcome the program’s many visitors; be aware of classes with media visits and give interviews; participate in FCF events and community outreach
• Ensure an engaging and rewarding experience for volunteers; provide orientation to the garden and garden class
• Document and develop tools to ensure dissemination of FCF program information

Supervision and Reporting

The Education Program Manager reports to the Executive Director and collaborates with the entire FCF staff
Annual evaluations will be led by the Executive Director to assess performance and establish goals
Qualifications

California Teaching Credential
Minimum 3 years experience teaching middle or high school youth in a culturally and racially diverse setting
Minimum 3 years experience with an educational garden, sustainable agriculture and/or nutritional programs with a focus on middle school grades.
Significant experience and success with managing and training staff
Strong interpersonal skills; ability to work well with youth, the media, within a public school and wide range of situations.
Bi-lingual a plus
Possession of a valid California Drivers License
Compensation

Full-time, year-round position
Salary DOE
Health benefits
To Apply

Please e-mail your resume and cover letter to jobs@scgardens.org
Address your correspondence to:

Rebecca Jepsen
Executive Director
Sustainable Community Gardens
1055 Dunford Way
Sunnyvale, CA  94087

www.sustainablecommunitygardens.org

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Program Director, Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops

Ag Innovations Network (AIN) is now hiring a Program Director to serve as the lead
coordinator, project manager, and communications representative of the Stewardship
Index for Specialty Crops (SISC), an unprecedented multi-stakeholder initiative to
develop an industry-accepted system for benchmarking and reporting sustainable
performance in the specialty crop sector.

Position Description
The Program Director will serve as the lead coordinator, project manager, and
communications representative for the implementation of the Stewardship Index for
Specialty Crops. Primary responsibilities for this position include coordinating the efforts
of many participating organizations to develop sustainability metrics, pilot test draft
metrics, and develop tools and protocols for using SISC metrics in commerce. Additional
responsibilities will include managing communications, outreach and fundraising. The
Program Director will report directly to the President of AIN and will work closely with
the SISC Steering Committee to implement the project. In collaboration with these and
other project participants, the Program Director will:

Support the SISC Coordinating Council and Steering Committee, including meeting
scheduling, managing the agenda and meeting logistics, tracking work products and
facilitating discussions and decision-making.

Provide project management for the development and completion of sustainability
metrics. The Program Director will work with metric facilitators and other
stakeholders to develop metric solutions and evaluate them through in-field pilots.
Coordinate SISC’s process for achieving consensus on how to use sustainability
metrics in commerce, including any necessary protocols, policies and tools.

Work with the Steering Committee and the Coordinating Council to develop a
communications plan and implement that plan, for both internal and external
audiences. Communications efforts will include regular communication to project
participants, outreach to the media, and recruitment of new stakeholder
participants.

The Program Director will serve as a spokesperson for the project and may present
on behalf of the project at conferences and meetings.

Oversee fundraising efforts, in collaboration with the Steering Committee and
Coordinating Council, including the solicitation of contributions from project
members, writing grant proposals and reports, and manage project finances.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have the following skills and experience:
Demonstrated ability to manage complex projects, including at least five years of
relevant professional experience. Qualifying experience may include work in
not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, the private sector, and time
pent earning a graduate degree in a related field. Expertise in one or more of
the many sustainability issues relevant to food and agriculture is highly desirable.
Previous leadership or extensive participation in multi-stakeholder initiatives.
The ideal candidate will have a demonstrated ability in working with diverse
stakeholders, including industry representatives and public interest advocates.

Experience in creating and executing communications and public relations
programs.

Experience in fundraising, including corporate contributions and foundation
and/or government grant writing and grants management.

Excellent communication skills, including both written and verbal.

Excellent meeting management skills including agenda preparation and meeting
facilitation.

Ability to use Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and project management
software applications.
Meticulous organizational skills and ability to keep track of multiple project
efforts.
Working knowledge of organizational development, financial management, and
budgets.
Ability to work as part of a team to solve problems, coordinate projects and to
develop short and long-term business plans.
Ability to multi-task; work within a fast-moving environment, while also driving
toward clarity and solutions.

Position location
Position location is flexible, with preference for proximity to AIN’s offices in Sebastopol,
CA (i.e.: Greater San Francisco Bay Area)

Compensation
Compensation is negotiable, depending on experience. Medical and retirement benefits
are included.

About AIN
Ag Innovations Network (AIN) is a leader in the effort to create a vibrant, healthy, and
enduring food system (see http://aginnovations.org/). Since 2000, AIN has worked with
farmers, ranchers, farm labor advocates, environmentalists, food processors,
distributors, retailers, and health and food access advocates-virtually every
stakeholder in the food system-to devise strategies that create better results at every
stop from farm to fork. AIN focuses exclusively on facilitating the dialogue between
stakeholders that will lead to new business models, new ways to grow and distribute
food, new community efforts, and new public policy to create a better food system. AIN
provides coordination, facilitation and leadership to implement the Stewardship Index
for Specialty Crops.

About the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops
The Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops is a multi-stakeholder initiative to develop a
system for measuring sustainable performance throughout the specialty crop supply
chain. The project seeks to offer a suite of outcomes-based metrics to enable operators
at any point along the supply chain to benchmark, compare, and communicate their
own performance. To date, more than 400 people have joined SISC’s open effort to
develop sustainability metrics including growers and representatives from trade
associations, nonprofit public interest organizations, universities, government agencies
and consulting firms, among others. The project is governed by a Coordinating Council
representing many of the nation’s most influential agricultural organizations, food
buyers and NGOs. A project Steering Committee provides day-to-day administration of
the effort. Visit SISC on-line at http://www.stewardshipindex.org/

To apply:
Please send a résumé and cover letter describing your interest and qualifications to:
Dan Schurman, CEO
Ag Innovations Network
101 Morris Street, Suite 212
Sebastopol, CA 95472
dan@aginnovations.org
Deadline for receipt of applications is May 31, 2010.
Ag Innovations Network is an equal opportunity employer.

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