FOOD, FARMING & AGRICULTURE

Young Agrarians is hiring a National Policy Coordinator!

Position: National Policy Coordinator
Organization: Young Agrarians
Location: Remote office in Canada, with a preference for a bilingual Ontario or Quebec based lead. Please indicate where you live on your application.
Deadline for Applications: End of day May 20th, 2024. This position will start when we find the right candidate.

The National Policy Coordinator will play a crucial facilitation role in convening to advance policies and programming to support new and young farmers in Canada.

The ideal candidate has experience in building reports and public communication materials, as well as convening stakeholders online and through in-person events towards common goals.

ABOUT YOUNG AGRARIANS

Young Agrarians (YA) is an educational resource network for new and young ecological farmers in Canada. YA recognizes the Indigenous lands and territories that we work on and grows relationships towards Truth & Reconciliation. YA is committed to providing programs and services that are inclusive and available to farmers and friends of diverse backgrounds. Since 2012, the YA network is volunteer-driven with farmers across the country organizing on-farm events and building community to create spaces for knowledge sharing and growth.

YA began as a seed of an idea in B.C. and has since has grown into a dynamic educational network and set of programs and projects that target the educational needs of new and young farmers. YA’s Grow-a-Farmer Strategy works to deliver the following programs:

1. National: aggregate resources and opportunities online;
2. National: coordinate educational and networking events on and off farm year-round, as well as e-learning;
3. Western Canada: on-farm apprenticeship training program (YAAP) in regenerative agriculture;
4. BC: land access programming and supports (BCLMP); and
5. Western Canada: business mentorships (BMN).

YA works to grow the sector by supporting new entrants through farmer-to-farmer learning. The theory of change is to engage new and young farmers and the farm-curious online, bring them together to network and learn together on and off farms, support access to training opportunities and resources, and when ready to start farms, provide educational supports for on-farm training, land access, business readiness, and peer mentorship. The long-term goal is to grow connections to each other and the land in order to grow a resilient and climate-adapted food system for a healthy future.

WORKPLACE CULTURE: We strive to create a workplace that reflects the diverse communities we collaborate with and serve. The organizational culture is focused on bringing your whole self and working together to support farmers to overcome barriers and challenges through educational supports and resources, and emotional intelligence.

COMPENSATION & HOURS

• This is an employment position ending March 31, 2025, and starting as soon as we find the right candidate! Possibilities of continued employment may exist.
• 35 – 40 hours / week
• $35 / hour
• Hours are Monday to Friday with some evenings required (up to two evenings per week).

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

This role will work alongside the Executive Director, National Director, provincial managers, and other YA staff teams as needed, to support the development of a National Strategy for New Farmers.

Policy development through stakeholder engagement:

• Conduct consultations with stakeholders including YA staff, farmers, agricultural organizations, and government to assess existing needs and identify challenges, gaps and opportunities for supporting new and young farmers by province and nationally.
• Further map out available resources for new farmers based on existing research and create a new entrant framework (best practices for new farmer supports).
• Support YA managers with policy language and document creation for public outreach, government, and other sector stakeholders.
• Coordinate content for webinars including stakeholder meet-ups / consultations and content for the the public.
  • Develop and coordinate a virtual E-Learning Policy Jams Series, bringing together sector stakeholders on specific topics including but not limited to access to: land, training, mentorship, capital, processing, and housing.
• Support the planning of a national policy meet-up in Ottawa, and oversee a contractor coordinating activities.
  • Lead the organization of and attend a national gathering with workshops and panel discussions, which will convene farmers, organizations, government representatives across Canada.
• Compile a National Strategy Document identifying patterns of needs and opportunities, by province, including recommendations for filling gaps.
• Work with the YA managers to prepare outreach materials on key findings for government, the nonprofit sector, and the public.
  • Offer project materials (e.g. brochures, kits, handouts, newsletters, articles, reports, social media posts, videos, emails, etc.) in both official languages.
  • Either translate key materials and activities into French as needed, or work with a translator.
• Assist with developing a plan for rolling out programs and support services to under-resourced and under-serviced provinces, including funding.
  • Create a 2-4 page business plan brief.
• Keep project deliverables within budget. Support with fundraising for activities as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience working in the non-profit / charitable sector, coordinating or managing policy, projects and events.
• Strong connection to and familiarity with food and farming, with a minimum of five years of experience in diversified sustainable / ecological / organic agriculture.
• Strong relationship building, networking, and stakeholder outreach, communication, facilitation and engagement skills.
• Comfort facilitating structured conversations with stakeholders.
• Knowledge of qualitative research methodology.
• Ability to communicate both in writing and verbally to create engagement, motivation and action.
• Excellent administrative skills and organizational capabilities with a love for process-oriented workflow and workplace documentation.
• A high level of self-motivation as part of a remote team.
• Home office, computer, reliable Internet connection, and cellphone.
• Working proficiency and ability to adapt to and learn how to use online platforms including but not limited to: Google Workspace, WordPress, Canva, Zoom, Mailchimp, Salesforce, and Monday.com.

TO APPLY

Please submit applications by email to Taina Uitto at om@youngagrarians.org with the following:

Subject line: [Your Firstname Lastname] – National Policy Coordinator

Please attach a PDF cover letter and resume as one document with the following file name: [Your Firstname Lastname] – National Policy Coordinator. In your application, please:

• Indicate where you are located (and whether you are bilingual)
• Answer the following 3 questions in your cover letter:

1. 1. What is motivating you to apply?
   2. What skills and abilities can you bring to this position?
   3. What is your experience and understanding of working with farmers?

• Optional: submit a video (up to 1 minute), telling us what inspires you about farming/farmers. Feel free to have fun and be creative! Videos should be submitted in one of the following ways: 1. As an attachment to the same email containing your PDF, or 2. As a link in your PDF to a video hosting platform where we can view the video. Your video can be filmed as an Instagram Reel or Tiktok and the link submitted.

Please indicate you saw this posting at FoodWork.ca.

Deadline for Applications: May 20, 2024. This position will start when we find the right candidate.

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we will not be available for phone calls or lengthy email inquiries. If you have 1-2 questions, please ask by email. Thank you for your time and interest!

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUNG AGRARIANS

Website: youngagrarians.org
Facebook: facebook.com/YoungAgrarians
Instagram: @youngagrarians