Position Title: Program Director
Growing Hope is a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to empowering individuals, groups and communities through gardening and increasing access to healthy food.
Position Description:
We are seeking an experienced and dedicated full-time Program Director to oversee programs at Growing Hope. This position will manage and coordinate programming that emphasizes gardening, nutrition education and healthy food access, particularly for Food Stamp eligible audiences. Example programs include youth after-school and summer clubs, garden summer camps, a youth internship program, youth-related volunteerism, farm-to-school related efforts, classroom visits, and additional youth activities that arise. Example adult programs include home, community & school garden support, various trainings & workshops, job training, and health food demonstrations and tastings. Many of these programs involve working in partnerships with other organizations and agencies, including research partnerships with area universities. This person will be responsible for supervision of full and part-time staff, Americorps*VISTA members,
seasonal program staff, youth interns, and other interns and volunteers as appropriate.
Qualified candidates will exhibit the following:
• Program management experience including handling multiple projects/programs at once; experience with database management;
• Ability to juggle multiple projects simultaneously, and make quick decisions; mange and following through with details
• Experience working with youth of all ages from diverse backgrounds, particularly high-risk young people in school and out-of- school settings; Knowledge of lesson-planning, curriculum, school structure
• Experience in developing and overseeing program budgets; grant writing and grant management experience
• Demonstrated ability to develop systems for and oversee extensive tracking & documentation of all programs and activities; experience in program evaluation (quantitative and qualitative)
• Experience in working on and leading teams, including with staff, volunteers, and partners
• Supervision/management experience (of both youth and adults) at a variety of skill levels, including experience developing and implementing workplans and managing workloads; Volunteer management/coordination experience also preferred
• Highly skilled communicator (oral, written), experience working with people from diverse backgrounds and comfortable communicating in person, by phone, email, in front of groups, and to a variety of audiences; Spanish or Arabic language skills a plus
• Ability to interface with multiple school, education, and community stakeholders, including teachers, parents, administrators community members, organizational partners, et al.
• Experience in nonprofit and community-based organizations
• Proactive, self-learner who can see the big picture and anticipate organizational needs
• Experience in community & school gardening, food security, organic gardening/farming, nutrition, sustainability, and community food systems; knowledge or involvement with other local or national actors in our field a plus
• Passion for Growing Hope’s mission and work. Dedication to working as a member of and in partnership with diverse communities; Desire to encourage local community members to share ideas, talents and resources.
• Highly competent in use of computers (Mac & PC both) and comfort using technology on a daily basis; additional software experience a plus (database, graphic, accounting)
• Willingness to adapt to changing organizational conditions and extremely limited resources.
• Creativity, flexibility, resourcefulness and positive thinking.
• Flexibility to work non-traditional hours, including evening and weekends as scheduled
• Some preference given to Ypsilanti-area residents, or those willing to relocate to and engage in the Ypsilanti community
• Willingness to know more about and respond to needs of communities and schools
• Belief in asset-based, social justice approach
• Ability to start at or around June 16, 2014
Compensation: Salary of $36-40K, based on experience; vision, medical and dental benefits available after 90 days.
To apply: Resume & 2-page cover letter, complete with references, to Amanda Edmonds, Executive Director at
[log in to unmask]. Samples of written or visual work also welcome, though not required. Position open until May 25, 2014.
Growing Hope is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate potential employees based on race, creed, age, color, disability, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or marital status. We encourage the following groups to apply: people of color, individuals who possess an in-depth understanding of poverty or economic hardship, and men.