Relationships & Sector Development Fellow - TSNE

The Carrot Project (thecarrotproject.org) works toward a just and resilient farm and food system. The entrepreneurs we serve face barriers to becoming financially viable, so we support them to develop financial management skills, by providing information, training, skill-building, and capital, within a carefully crafted ecosystem of support.

The Carrot Project’s work is grounded in a commitment to racial equity and an inclusive sector. The majority of our clients are in their first generation of operating a farm or food enterprise, including beginning farmers and pre-revenue startups. Overall, 90% of our clients are BIPOC, women or low-income/limited resource. Currently, 50% of our educational offerings and 20% of our 1:1 in-depth business advising services are provided specifically to BIPOC clients.

We combine our on-the-ground programs with our research, collaboration, and advocacy to create transformational change on farms, across our region, and at a national scale. We intentionally pivot our programs to respond to our clients’ changing needs. Our deep network of collaborative partnerships is one of our core strengths, and we design our programs to address sector gaps.

One of our programs catalyzing systemic change is the Agricultural Viability Alliance (thecarrotproject.org/agricultural-viability-alliance), which connects farm, food and forestry viability advisors in New England and the Hudson Valley.

The Carrot Project is a fiscally sponsored organization of TSNE (tsne.org).

The Relationships & Sector Development Fellow (RSDF) is a position within the Farm Viability and Access to Capital Fellowship. This position combines relationship building and education for the organizations’ two key audiences: partner organizations and farm and food entrepreneurs, within the context of centering sector transformation and underserved audiences.

The RSDF acts as a resource and educator on farm and food business viability, financial, business, risk management, and access to capital topics for primarily BIPOC, women, and low-income/resource and early-stage business owners. The RSDF engages in 1:1 business coaching, delivers educational trainings, and develops online resources and client-oriented newsletters for farm and food businesses.

The work takes place in MA, CT and RI, within greater Northeast regional and national collaborations. The work is primarily performed remotely from a personal home office located in New England. Ability to regularly travel throughout MA, CT and RI is a requirement.

The RSDF position is a temporary two-year position, with the possibility of extending for an additional 1 to 2 years, with a 4-year term maximum.

For additional information about this position, and the Farm Viability and Access to Capital Fellowship, please visit the Fellowship website (www.thecarrotproject.org/fellowship). 

Relationships & Sector Development Fellow Responsibilities

This position is: 25% organizational relationship building; 25% financial & business educational training & events coordination; 25% farmer coaching, outreach & engagement; 10% digital educational resources & newsletters; and 15% project administration and grant reporting.

Relationship Building, Communications and Events

• Serve as a public face and voice of The Carrot Project and the Agricultural Viability Alliance, in addition to other staff.
• Cultivate relationships with partners and Agricultural Viability Alliance network participants, including organizations that are led by and/or serve BIPOC individuals. As needed, recruit and orient new network participants, prioritizing recruitment of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC).
• Coordinate and maintain clear, equitable and effective program outreach for all of Carrot’s farmer and partner facing programs.
• Coordinate execution of Carrot’s events (workshops, trainings, conferences) for both farmer and partner audiences.
• Coordinate and prioritize event attendance among Carrot’s Executive Director, and other staff at other organization’s events, for outreach and relationship building purposes.
• In coordination with Carrot’s Communications team, contribute relevant content to Carrot’s Farmer E-News, Alliance E-News and General E-News.

Sector Development & Agricultural Viability Alliance

• Contribute to a vibrant, effective, bi-annual professional conference.
• Organize in-person and remote workforce and professional development trainings.
• Support and enable effective group work throughout the Alliance network. Facilitate meetings and provide staffing to the Alliance’s Professional Development Working Group.
• Coordinate workforce and professional development support for specific professional cohorts.
• Ensure that the program’s commitments to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are central to and embedded in all programs and activities and that the commitments continue becoming operationalized.

Shared Programming

The Relationships & Sector Development Fellow will frequently operate with shared programming operated by staff from two or more organizations, including:

• Participate as a leading member of collaborative projects, such a national professional development cohort of 20 multi-racial business assistance providers working with underserved farmers.
• Coordinating with lending and loan guarantee partners to increase coordination, lending, and services to underserved farmers as part of this Fellowship.

Farmer Services

• Deliver farmer coaching on topics related to areas of expertise.
• Deliver and adapt existing business and financial management, access to capital and risk management curriculum to underserved audiences, using interactive delivery methods.
• Contribute to program delivery concepts and outreach approach, especially as it relates to best practices learned from broad sector participation in the role.

Resource Development

• In coordination with Carrot’s Development team, support Carrot and the Alliance’s efforts to meet the operating budget, including assisting with grant prospecting or grant reporting, especially as it relates to fostering ongoing and new partnerships with BIPOC-led organizations.
• Inform Alliance partners and stakeholders about specific Federal and State advocacy efforts to increase permanent funding for Business Technical Assistance.

Other

• Participate in partner and client recordkeeping and CRM management. Collect, track, and manage client/participant data, program/project data, and monitor outcomes, accurately and on a regular and timely basis.
• Contribute to software & technology solutions and related organizational knowledge, especially in recordkeeping, Excel and CRM and related topics, to enhance the operations of clients and our team.
• Contribute to regular team meetings, both virtual and in
• Undertake other tasks or projects to support The Carrot Project and Agricultural Viability Alliance programs, team, or operations as available and assigned.

We will consider exceptional candidates who demonstrate a strong combination of the specific qualifications and skills described below.

On the job training is available for those with the right combination of soft skills and a baseline of agricultural or regional food system industry exposure. The ideal candidate would both have a background in adult education and have worked within agriculture or the regional food system, although some candidates may apply having one or the other.

Required

• 4+ years of for-profit or non-profit project coordination experience
• 3+ years of direct experience playing a role in the regional food system, such as farming
• 2+ years of experience in any sales or customer-facing role
• Experience with adult education best practices, collaborative and interactive adult learning
• Ability to forge new organizational and individual relationships
• High comfort level with public speaking
• Strong interpersonal skills including 1:1 with clients and in group settings
• Highly motivated learner capable of mastering new topics and educating others on them
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including the ability to make complex topics approachable for lay audiences while maintaining technical subject matter accuracy
• Ability to quickly understand and synthesize new information in real-time classroom settings
• Ability to understand client and partner needs quickly and make recommendations
• Computer literacy skills in Microsoft Suite including Excel, CRM (Salsa and Salsa Engage preferred), as well as cloud collaboration software such as Dropbox
• Knowledge of small business or non-profit applicable software technology solutions, especially in operational recordkeeping, Excel and CRM and related topics, to enhance client/team operations
• Proven commitment to racial equity and economic justice, to advancing DEIB, and broad cultural competencies relevant to the farm and food sector
• A member of a BIPOC, women, or low-income/limited resource community
• Experience working with BIPOC, women, or low-income/limited resource communities
• Experience working with a large, diverse workforce of people with different cultures backgrounds, and opinions
• Ethical leadership capabilities and commitment to promoting a healthy environment for collaboration
• Attention to detail, strong project coordination and logistical skills
• Proven ability to work independently and as part of a highly collaborative team
• Proven ability and job satisfaction in a diversity of environments within one role: remote, in-person, in the classroom and traveling to meet with clients and partners
• An undergraduate degree

 Preferred

• 3+ years of experience combined in any of: agricultural production/management; OR agricultural risk management or insurance; OR farm and food underwriting, business advising, bookkeeping, or accounting; OR food system market channels and purchasing; OR related academic training to any of these topics
• A second language relevant to New England’s agricultural community, especially Spanish
• Experience managing farm, food business or non-profit recordkeeping and program budgets
• Experience producing educational videos or presentations for online content
• Experience in facilitation, leading large and small groups to build alignment, including a grasp on complex group dynamics
• An undergraduate degree in a topic of social context (such as Geography, Social Ecology, Government, Political Economy, Anthropology, Cultural/American Studies or History)

Special Requirements

• Ability to regularly travel in MA, CT, and RI as well as occasionally to other locations as required by program and project terms and funding;
• Ability to maintain a remote office and work from it;
• Ability and interest in working a flexible schedule, including:
  • Up to 16 evenings and a portion of 6 weekends per year
  • Travel and training commitments which require more hours on some days and less on others
  • Greater client services demand in November 1^st – March 31^st, and lesser demand from April 1^st – Oct 31^st
• Valid driver’s license and successful driver’s license check are required.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those for this position. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. Work is primarily performed remotely from personal home office.

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is required to:

• Ability to sit and/or for extended periods of time in front of a computer screen is an essential aspect of the position;
• There may be a need to lift and/or move materials or equipment;
• Talk, hear and see in the normal range with or without correction.
• Use hands or fingers, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls.
• Move, Traverse; sit (usually for longer periods of time); reach with hands and arms; occasionally.
• Ascend/Descend; and position self (to), move.
• Job is not subject to significant occupational or environmental hazards.
• Likelihood of personal injury would be relatively slight.

To Apply

Please include your Resume and Cover Letter (Required)

In your cover letter, please address either or both of the following questions as they apply to your experience:

• Describe a role or instance when your job required you to maintain or build relationships for your organization, what was your approach? What was the outcome?
• Describe a role or instance where you delivered educational content to a group. If adult education best practices, learning by doing, or curriculum adaptation played a role, please include this in a description of your approach.

Optional materials: We recommend you provide a link or attachment to one or more work samples showing your capacity to deliver written or oral educational content to an adult audience. An acceptable work sample could be any of:

• A slide presentation and complementary teachers’ guide or delivery notes
• An educational video
• A written piece of educational content

Compensation and Benefits

Location: The work is primarily performed remotely from a personal home office located in New England. Ability to regularly travel throughout MA, CT and RI is a requirement.

Schedule: Flexible schedule, including some evenings and weekends.

Compensation: The salary range for this position is $63,000 - $68,000/yr commesurate with qualificaitions and experience.

Benefits: This position is eligible for a full benefits package including:

• Generous Paid-Time-Off (PTO): twelve paid holidays, three weeks of vacation, one week of personal holiday, and ability to accrue up to 487.5 hours of health leave time for benefited staff.
• 80% Employer-paid, offering some $0 deductible Health Insurance through Harvard Pilgrim along with several low-deductible plans;
• Low-cost Guardian Dental and Vision.
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for Health and Dependent Care.
• Employer-paid Life, Long- and Short-Term Disability Insurance.
• Employer-paid Pension and Employee-paid 403b plan through TIAA.
• ...and more!

TSNE/HPbD strives to achieve excellence through a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment that embraces all of our individual and collective differences. Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Middle Eastern and North African, Bilingual and/or Bicultural candidates, and LGBTQ2SIA+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We value and honor the unique talents, learning styles, and lived experiences of each individual that enrich and strengthen our workplace culture, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

All employment conditions are based on an individual’s performance and job qualifications. TSNE/HPbD prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, creed, color, religion, native language, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, parental status, pregnancy, race-based hairstyles, or any other protected characteristic stated by federal and state law. Regardless of any class’ protection under the law or lack thereof, TSNE/HPbD celebrates diversity and values the strengths that come with having a diverse team of employees. It is represented in our workplace culture, and it is who we are.

TSNE/HPbD's EEO statement extends to volunteers, interns, contractors, vendors, and clients.