Farm & Food Education Programs Manager

About Pie Ranch:

Pie Ranch is a unique food system education center located on a diversified regenerative farm on the San Mateo Coast, about 55 miles south of San Francisco. Our home near Pescadero, CA, is in the ancestral homeland of the Quiroste Tribe, now stewarded by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band with whom Pie Ranch partners in a variety of ways. The home site of Pie Ranch includes two parcels, 27-acres in total. These neighboring pieces of land are each shaped like a slice of pie, and also grow the ingredients to make pie. In 2018 we began leasing 418-acres to the north at Cascade Ranch where we are building up a regenerator program for new farmers and land-based businesses. Pie Ranch’s vision is to support a multiracial community of growers and eaters with access to land, education, and resources necessary to bring abundance and reciprocity into our relationships with each other and the earth. Each day we work toward our mission of cultivating a healthy and just food system from seed to table through food systems education, farmer pathways, and regional partnerships. Our ongoing partnership with Be Present Inc grounds us in our daily work of centering justice and equity in our programs, policies, structures, and communication with each other.

Our programs for K-12 learners and the public are grounded on the land at Pie Ranch and provide participants with the inspiration and experiences to affect food systems change in their communities. Our programs include fee-for-service public programs, field trips for youth, partner school relationships, summer programs, on-farm jobs for youth, and other internships.

For more information on the organization, see http://www.pieranch.org

About the Position:

Under the direction of the Program Director, Sharif Musaji, the Farm & Food Education Programs Manager’s (FFEPM’s) main duties are to lead, manage, maintain, enrich and deliver our farm-based educational programs at Pie Ranch. Additionally, this position supports the execution of programming for the public: corporate events, tours, culinary events and more. This position will manage the implementation of these programs; develop food justice and regenerative agriculture curriculum; and deliver lessons to youth and adults, including both on-farm and at school sites, when possible. The FFEPM will manage the Youth Corps and Volunteer Programs, and be involved in scheduling, training, coordination of activities, paperwork, data tracking, and generally ensuring smooth operations through coordination with department managers (Farm, Culinary, Conservation, and Farmstand).The FFEPM will be a farm liaison and work with the farm team to tend the .23 acre program plot on a weekly basis, facilitate farm project activities throughout Pie Ranch for program participants and visitors to Pie, and find ways to meaningfully interpret the work of the farm team for all visitors. The FFEPM supports the development team through occasional meetings with program officers, donors and other supporters of Pie Ranch. In order to best accomplish these tasks, this position is a Tuesday - Saturday weekly schedule. 

Job Responsibilities (Percentages are rough estimates for the year):

Educational & Public Programs (50%):

• Deliver food justice oriented experiential education curriculum & events through the culinary, farm, conservation, animal, and public programs at Pie Ranch.
• Write, revise, & update Pie Ranch food systems and food justice curriculum and materials for partner schools, non partner schools, the public, and YouthCorp as needed.
• Lead 2-4 educational & public programs per week on-site in coordination with Pie Ranch staff, Interns, & Youth Corps.
• Meet weekly with the programs team to discuss upcoming visits, roles and responsibilities for visiting programs.
• Ensure that group feedback is collected at the close of a program.
• Ensure detailed data collection in Pie Ranch Visitor Log or similar system.
• Occasionally contribute to newsletter and other public communications about programs.
• Assist Program Director with developing & refining MOU’s for each partner school or organization.
• Manage and deliver assessment & evaluation tools to measure learning and growth among all education programs and partner schools.

Youth Corps (20%):

• In collaboration with Program Director, bottom-line the operation and success of the Youth Corps program, including recruitment & outreach, orientation & closing of the summer session, and development of meaningful hard and soft job skills and personal development of youth in the program
• Maintain the Youth Corps handbook.
• Facilitate scheduling of YC in tandem with YC Track managers (farm, culinary, conservation, farm stand), and manage transportation of Youth Corps members as needed.
• Manage & maintain Youth Corps documents and materials, including onboarding slides, waivers, directory, alumni list, etc. 
• Direct relevant Pie Ranch staff in continual development and execution of meaningful and relevant YC tracks.
• Facilitate clear communication and regular feedback sessions between Youth Corps and Pie Ranch Staff. 
• Maintain systems for submitting and reviewing timesheets, tracking job skills training, milestones, etc.

Volunteer and Internship Management (5%)

• Manage or coordinate with the culinary & farm team the welcome/intake process of all onsite volunteers (waivers, forms, snacks, welcoming, etc.)
• Schedule Interns and other volunteers as needed in support of program events and programming.

Farm Liaison and Support (20%)

• Meet weekly with the farm and program team to organize the week.
• Work on the farm at least 4-8 hours per week with a focus on crop planning, maintaining, harvesting, and caring for the .23 acre program garden plot in collaboration with the Farm Manager.
• Additional farm work will happen during weeks when there is light programming due to the season (3 winter months, for example).
• Communicate weekly with the Farm Manager about the availability of produce/ingredients for programming at Pie Ranch.
• Communicate weekly with the Farm Manager how many volunteers, and Interns, and Youth Corp will be working on the farm
• Engage all program participants and visitors to Pie Ranch in farm based activities.

Facilities, Finance and Other (5%)

• Develop and strengthen relationships with all partner schools and mission aligned organizations around food and farm education.
• Meet or communicate weekly with Facilities to assess needs for the weekly programs.
• Serve on the Safety committee and the communications committee to ensure that safety for all programs are updated and that the public is informed on program updates.
• Assist chef educator in making produce orders from neighboring farms and Pie Ranch, or coordinating shopping for items for the Pie Ranch kitchen for upcoming programming. 
• Work with the program team to assess economic viability & sustainability of education programs.
• Manage receipts for programs.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

Required:

• Flexibility, adaptability, self-direction and positivity are critical to a successful execution of this role. 
• Flexibility to occasionally run events on off-scheduled days (Sundays) in exchange for comp days during other days of the week.
• Ability to provide leadership/on task modeling for all staff; arriving early for set up/coordination of programs/events, Youthcorps, and other visitors. 
• Understanding that the nature of farm work requires occasional harvests, animal care, etc. 
• Understanding that several months at Pie are “slow” months for visitors and that other months are much more busy.  
• A minimum of three to five years of experience in a similar role (as a teacher or coordinator).
• Experience in sustainable farming or gardening.
• Experience working with diverse crops and farm animals; enthusiastic about learning about crops and farm animals.
• Experience working with youth of diverse backgrounds in a classroom or garden context.
• Commitment to Racial Justice and Anti-Oppression work.
• Understanding of and commitment to food sovereignty and food justice.
• Youth leadership development experience and skills.
• Strong organizational, coordination, and collaboration skills.
• Strong ability to communicate clearly and enthusiastically with students, teachers, and school administrators.
• Experience with developing curriculum, educational tools, lesson plans and activities related to sustainable agriculture and food justice. 
• Understanding that work is within the rustic reality of a farm.
• Understanding the realities of working at a non-profit with ongoing needs around funding and infrastructure.
• Understanding of the Be Present model of communication and willingness to integrate the model into all forms of communication at Pie Ranch.
• Understanding the importance that public programs and fee-for-service programs play a part in supporting school/youth visits and general operations.
• Understanding and acceptance of Pie Ranch current staff structure, decision making process, policies and procedures.
• Friendliness, approachability, and enthusiasm for working with other people.
• Experience and interest in developing evaluative tools and educational program evaluation.
• Proficiency with Word, Excel and Gmail.
• Ability to coordinate funds and follow the program budgets.
• Ability to drive and access to a vehicle for regular travel to and from Pie Ranch and partner schools.
• Ability to work 40+ hours per week. 

Desired:

• Proficiency in Spanish 
• Commitment to personal health and interest in cooking and nutrition.
• Access to a smart phone or personal computer for out of office communications.