Food Justice Job Opportunity in Hartford, CT

Grand Aspirations| Job Description

Summer of Solutions - Hartford 2011 Program Leader

www.grandaspirations.org/hartford

OVERVIEW

Grand Aspirations, an organization that empowers, connects, and supports youth leaders as they create innovative, self-sustaining, and inter-dependent initiatives that integrate climate and energy solutions, economic security, and social justice, is seeking a Program Leader for the Summer of Solutions - Hartford 2011. Your purpose in this position will be to work in a team of four leaders to design, coordinate, and implement a two-month long youth summer program that will interweave leadership, community organizing, personal and collective transformation, and social entrepreneurship while building tangible models for social change.

Location: Harford, Connecticut

Type of Position: Part Time in Hartford or remote (10 hours/week) March - May | Full Time in Hartford (40 hours/week) Late May - Early August (some flexibility of program start date)

Application Deadline: March 30, 2011, or until filled

Start Date: Immediately

Compensation: $1,000 start-up stipend (additional funding may be available)

Benefits: Housing and food may be provided. Travel stipends may be available based on need.

To apply: Submit a cover letter and resume to Jennifer Roach, jennifer_roach14@pitzer.edu.  You can expect to hear back from us within one week.

SUMMER OF SOLUTIONS

In the face of a falling economy, an energy crisis, fragmented and inequitable communities, and the growing threat of global warming, youth are coming together to create and implement solutions that address all of these challenges together.  These are solutionaries – youth leaders who work as innovative organizers across issue lines to build the green economy as an engine for local opportunity, climate and energy solutions, and social justice.

Every summer, youth gather in communities across the nation for the Summer of Solutions – a training ground for its participants and a launching pad for the solutionary vision.  With the support of local partnerships and a national network of fellow solutionaries, participants create self-sustaining projects that have a direct impact on their communities and that serve as models for others to build on.

The Summer of Solutions (SoS) is a locally-rooted program supported by a national leadership structure composed of numerous volunteer-based working groups, forty (and growing) part-time program leaders, and one full-time national staff member. This summer, SoS programs are being coordinated in fifteen different cities all over the U.S., in partnership with countless non-profit organizations, businesses, community associations, affiliate groups, religious centers, and academic institutions.

RESPONSIBILITIES

As a Program Leader, you will play a key role in the development, planning, and implementation of the Summer of Solutions Hartford program scheduled to occur from approximately May 20- August 15th, 2011. Between April and May, you will work as part of a dynamic team of four Program Leaders to:

Design  the elements of the summer program, including a comprehensive training week, in-depth program timeline and strategies, community-building activities, and more

Enroll a large and diverse pool of applicants for the program, aiming for approximately half of full-time participants from the Hartford Area and the other half from national and international networks.

Develop the infrastructure for meaningful, sustainable, solutions-based projects in the Hartford community and in Connecticut at large. Project areas include:

Urban agriculture, permaculture, and gardening

Integrating arts, music, and social entrepreneurship

Empowerment of young at-risk people of color

Community development projects

Support and mentor participants as they are accepted to the program. You will help integrate them into the program team, connect them with resources, and provide avenues for leadership.

Communicate our story to local and national media outlets, write blog posts for the Grand Aspirations blog, engage Facebook, Twitter, and develop messaging and framing for our program

Fundraise and develop a resource generation plan to support our program costs, stipends for participants, and additional needs.

QUALIFICATIONS

We are looking for young (ages 18 - 30), inspired, and committed leaders who understand how environmental sustainability, social justice, and personal transformation are interrelated, and want to use their passions, skills, and talents to bring about change through the Summer of Solutions model of social entrepreneurship.

Skills  

Experience training others or being in a position of leadership

Proven strategic project oversight, planning and implementation

Strong skills in resource generation, including grant writing, grassroots fundraising, etc.

Strong written and verbal communication skills

Spanish speaking a plus

Experience working in a community a plus

You know you’re a good fit if....

You effectively enroll others in a vision and empower them to step into leadership.

You are a creative, big-picture strategist and a meticulous tracker of small details.

You are compassionate, generous, and present in your interactions and relationships.

You are a self-starter, able to oversee projects independently.

You are an empowering team leader and a supportive team player.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY

We are an equal opportunity employer, with a deep commitment to engaging the skills and leadership of people of color, people from low-income backgrounds, people of LGBT orientation and identity, and people of other diverse backgrounds.  If you identify with these and/or other historically marginalized backgrounds and communities, we strongly encourage you to apply.

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Jennifer Roach

Grand Aspirations -- www.grandaspirations.org

Pitzer College

(860) 539-7231

Jennifer_roach14@pitzer.edu