Careers

Description:

The Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON) is beginning its own growing season! We’re looking for strong candidates for the new role of Membership Coordinator - though the position will be in large part remote, the successful applicant will live in or be willing to relocate to a state in the Southeastern US - preferably North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, or Mississippi. SAAFON offers a competitive benefits package, including health insurance, 12 weeks of parental leave, and more. See below for more information on the position and how to apply.

Title: SAAFON Membership Coordinator

Overview: SAAFON is a network of small-scale Black sustainable farmers in the Southeastern US. The Membership Coordinator holds an important dual role at the center of SAAFON’s work:

1. Cultivating on-going development of respectful, responsive and intimate relationships with SAAFON Farmer-members and the SAAFON team; and 2. Coordination and supervision of SAAFON farmer-membership benefits, including communication to members, capacity-building, supporting member event-planning, and assisting in the identification and provision of other benefits to respond to farmer needs.

The Membership Coordinator will work in deep collaboration with the Field Team, liaising between staff specialist coordinators (Education, Farmer Practices, etc.) and Farmer-members, maintaining a focus on the needs of membership and articulating the impact of the work that is happening in the field to internal and external stakeholders.

The position being solicited would support and assist SAAFON farmer members in connecting to programs, resources, and opportunities offered by the organization. This role is a part of the Field Organizing & Membership Department of SAAFON. The successful applicant will participate in thought partnership and strategic development with the Field Organizing Director to ensure identification and communication of the needs and desires of membership.

They will also assist the Field Organizing Director in dot connecting, weaving assessments, and collecting and internalizing stories from the field to inform organizational strategy. The role also entails supporting SAAFON’s Field Organizing Team and farmers in coordinating logistics for projects & cultural activities and maintaining regular communication between the organization and our farmers. This position is part of SAAFON’s efforts to appropriately resource our work in the field, providing capacity for consistent, standardized, enriching engagement with membership across the network.

General knowledge of SAAFON’s politic of Black Agrarianism and afro/ agroecology; organic and sustainable agricultural practices generally; and alternative/cooperative labor models is a strong plus.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Specific duties include, but may not be limited to:

• Attending Field Organizing and Staff Team meetings ● Anchoring membership onboarding process: the person in this role will walk members through the actual membership application process and play an important role in their orientation; will be able to express to new members what membership entails and the benefits; and will be the person who helps connect them to these benefits.
• Internal Communication: holds regular membership communication, e.g., newsletter and email communications, notifying members when relevant webinars and events are happening, etc.
• Creating and maintaining a calendar of events hosted by members, and identifying priority events and openings for institutional engagement ● Support coordination between the Field Team/Resource Specialist and organizing fellows ● Support the coordination of the Farmer-to-Farmer spaces that SAAFON facilitates - webinars/calls, assemblies, and meetings.

○ Assist in scheduling and design of activities in the field to ensure appropriate coordination between project needs and farmer capacity; ○ Assist farmers and SAAFON staff in project identification and design, including labor needs, duration, special skills needed, safety concerns, feasibility, and technical alternatives ○ Ability to support positive morale, respectful interactions, and deep, trustful collaboration ○ Assist in documentation and capturing of event activities, outcomes, limitations, and learnings, including support (not primary responsibility) for notetaking and photography ● Membership Database maintenance - keeping information up to date on farmer members.

○ Case management / relationship maintenance and touches for members - if a member needs something, has a question, or is looking for a resource. Someone they go to first before they get to the specialized staff, or go through a SAAFON program.

• Serve as a knowledge source and/or connector generally around sustainable/ afro-ecology/organic practices, protocols, and innovations ● Execute operational and administrative duties connected to the position

Additional Opportunities:

• Developing connections and providing leadership in the Southeastern US towards building a cadre of skilled Black agrarians able to offer support to our membership, field team and organization over the longer term

Compensation: $20-25/hr plus benefits

Expected Time Commitment: Full time employment at 40 hours per week

Additional Information: This role is remote, but requires that applicants be based in the Southeastern US. This role will require some travel.

About SAAFON: Southeastern African American Farmers’ Organic Network (SAAFON) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Durham, NC. Since 2006, SAAFON has been working to strengthen Black farmers’ collective power to build an alternative food system rooted in progressive values. We are a network of Black farmers in the Southeastern United States who are committed to culturally relevant, ancestrally guided, and ecologically sustainable agricultural-based living.

For more information on the organization, please visit www.saafon.org

Required Qualifications:

• Experience working with a nonprofit or grassroots membership base ● High ability to think and re-plan on the fly ● Experience using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software; productivity software (e.g., Teams, Asana, Podio, Slack); and spreadsheet and document creation, collaboration and maintenance (e.g., GoogleDocs, Microsoft suite)

• Self-starter, Very task-oriented
• Excellent critical thinking/problem solving skills ● Excellent verbal and written communication skills ● Emotional intelligence and deep listening skills ● Excellent ability to observe and support positive interpersonal dynamics across gender, sexual, age, and other axes of diversity ● Can provide own transportation to and from farm sites (eligible for reimbursement from SAAFON) ● Proof of right to work in the US

Desirable Qualifications:

• Organizing experience in the US South/Southern Black context ● Hands-on farming/growing training and experience ● Deep knowledge of sustainable/organic/afro/agroecological practices and possibilities ● Experience developing close, trust-based relationships with Farmers ● Experience in group facilitation and coordination ● Experience with/knowledge of agro/afroecology movement spaces, alternative economies, Black ancestral and herbal knowledge, cooperative economics and practices

Please send cover letter and resume to assistant@saafon.org with the subject heading “Membership Coordinator.”