Sustain Ontario and the Ontario Children, Youth and Food Network Seek a Coordinator
Posted: December 21, 2012
Categories: Edible Education Network / Food in the News / News from Sustain Ontario / Opportunities / Volunteer. Job and Writing Opportunities
Job Posting:Children and Youth Food Network Coordinator
One-year Term; 2 – 5 days/week
Position Overview
Sustain Ontario – The Alliance for Healthy Food and Farming is a province-wide, cross-sectoral alliance that promotes healthy food and farming. Sustain Ontario, a Project of Tides Canada Initiatives Society, takes a collaborative approach to research, policy development and action by addressing the intersecting issues related to healthy food and local, sustainable agriculture. Sustain Ontario advocates for a food system that is healthy, ecological, equitable and financially viable by:
- Strengthening Ontario’s farm and food networks
- Showcasing food system innovations and champions
- Pressing for farm and food policy reform
Sustain Ontario chairs Ontario’s Children Youth and Food Network (CYFN) which is now seeking its first Coordinator to move this network from idea to action.
The CYFN shares a vision of having healthy food environments across Ontario where children and youth have equal access to healthy and sustainably produced food and where food literacy is supported through a range of educational and hands-on activities. The mission of the Network is to:
- Bring together groups working to connect children and youth with good food to share resources, ideas and experience
- Work together on advocacy
- Make it easier for people across Ontario to get children and youth eating, growing, cooking, celebrating and learning about healthy, local and sustainably produced food
The Coordinator will play a central role in bringing the Network to life.
Anticipated Start Date: This position will start at the end of January or beginning of February 2013.
Location: Location is flexible.
Salary: Hours and salary are also flexible. The selected candidate must be available at least 2 days a week; salary and hours based on experience. The maximum salary for this position is $36,000 total, but up to $60,000 annually, pro-rated.
Key Responsibility Areas
While reporting to the CYFN Steering Committee, which is under the supervision of Sustain Ontario, the Coordinator will be responsible for:
- Convening the CYFN Steering Committee and Advisory group
- Collaboratively developing and implementing a communications strategy including website and social media
- Coordinating and implementing action planning for network activities
- Completing the environmental scan and needs assessment
- Designing a developmental evaluation process for the network
- Developing and implementing a financial sustainability plan
- Coordinating network events
- Liaising between the network and other relevant stakeholders
- Collaboratively supporting the development and advancement of policy relevant to the aims of CYFN
- Developing research partnerships to support the advancement of the network
- Developing a Children, Youth and Food stream for the Bring Food Home conference and coordinating other CYFN events
- Supporting the creation of a membership approach
- Grant management and reporting
Qualifications Required
- Very strong facilitation, consensus building and negotiation skills
- Proven network building experience with a demonstrated ability to encourage collaboration and develop strategic, non-traditional partnerships
- Strong skills in strategic thinking and planning, with an ability to identify challenges and opportunities, create effective plans and deliver results
- Strong grant writing and fundraising skills
- Demonstrated administrative skills in a not-for-profit setting, including sound budgeting and financial management
- Experience with website design and maintenance
- Strong skills in outreach, communications, and social media
- Event planning experience
- Self-directed with exceptional time management skills and the ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team
- Personal creativity, strategic judgment and vision
- A high level of personal and professional integrity
- Experience with children, youth and food programming an asset
- Ability to speak French is an asset
How to Apply
Together with your resume, please forward a cover letter, which includes your responses to the following questions:
1. What interests you most about this position?
2. Based on our requirements, why are you a strong candidate?
3. How many hours a week are you interested in working?
Please send your resume and cover letter with your responses to the above questions to coordinator@sustainontario.ca. Please direct any questions about the position to ravenna@sustainontario.ca.
Application Deadline: Thursday January 10, 2013; interviews will take place the third and/or fourth week of January.
For more information about Sustain Ontario and Tides Canada Initiatives, please visit:
http://tidescanada.org/projects/
As Sustain Ontario is a Project of Tides Canada Initiatives Society (TCI),
the selected candidate will be an employee of TCI.