Target Start Date: May 1, 2019
The Community Ambassador Program (CAP) supports emerging community leaders and their existing networks to organize and empower their communities, and bring attention to the ways community members are taking action. CAP will facilitate networking, leadership development, and community organizing through field interviews, conducting Community Food Systems Assessments, and collecting and sharing oral histories.
Community Farm Alliance is seeking applications for 3-5 Community Ambassadors to spend one year working within their communities to help foster cross-sector (education, nonprofit, for-profit, philanthropy, and government) partnerships, provide needed capacity to local efforts, and build personal and professional skills. CFA will provide each cohort of Ambassadors with professional skill building, cross-community networking, financial support, and limited travel reimbursement.
CAs are anticipated to work an average of 10 hours per week at $15.00/hour
About Community Farm Alliance (CFA):
CFA is a statewide grassroots membership organization that strives to bring a voice on issues affecting family farmers and local food consumers to both state and national policy makers. Since 1985 Community Farm Alliance has led major innovations in Kentucky’s agriculture, food, and community policy development.
CFA has over a thousand passionate, committed members from across the Commonwealth. CFA members are a mix of urban, rural, farmers and non-farmers, rich, poor, young and old. The “community” in Community Farm Alliance is not defined by geography but by values that govern good stewardship of land, family, and community.
Description
The Community Ambassador Program is a year-long fellowship program designed for a cohort of emerging community leaders, who are committed to working with CFA staff on local and healthy food access initiatives, by building short- and long-term strategies and solutions that address community-identified needs through community engagement, equity building, assessing impact of existing programs, and policy development.
The Community Ambassador’s primary role is to increase community engagement through grassroots organizing, targeted outreach, and contributions to CFA’s communications campaign.
Each Community Ambassador will be in charge of one-on-one community engagement; conducting and recording interviews for CFA’s oral history collection, and for accompanying multimedia distribution of finalized stories; a primary contact and facilitator for community outreach, with a focus on connecting to low-income residents and Kentucky’s food and farming community; and a point of contact for ground-level community organizing and networking.
Preferred Qualifications
- Must possess excellent oral and written communication skills;
- Must be able to self-organize and multi-task;
- Must be capable of facilitating productive conversations and meetings;
- At least one year of experience in farming, journalism, or community organizing;
- Current or past participation in, or possess a good baseline knowledge of, SNAP, WIC, Seniors Farmers Market, School Lunch, and other relevant Federal Food and Nutrition Programs;
- Proficiency in Spanish language.
Personal Qualifications
- Committed to the values inherent in community organizing and leadership development;
- Committed to advancing diversity and equity;
- Able to perform in a variety of environments and diverse social settings.
- Able to initiate contact with persons not known, in person and by phone;
- Able to occasionally travel throughout the state and accommodate a schedule that will include occasional evening and weekend commitments;
- Must have access to reliable transportation;
- Able to take the initiative; be self-motivated; able to work independently as well as in a team; work well under pressure; be a creative thinker and; be a good problem solver;
- Open and honest – must enjoy working with people!
CFA is an equal opportunity employer – We strive to build diversity and equity!