Director of Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative

Who Are We?

Chicago Food Policy Action Council (CFPAC) was founded in 2002 as a coalition, became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2011, and added full-time staff in 2017. CFPAC supports, facilitates, and participates in several active networks by providing coordination, communication, funding, policy development, and advocacy support around food justice and sovereignty. CFPAC serves as the coordinator for the Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI), which is a coalition that works with community institutions to purchase and serve food that invests in an equitable, sustainable, and healthy food system for all. GFPI formed as a result of the City of Chicago and Cook County Governments adopting the Good Food Purchasing Program by policy resolution in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Our Mission & Vision

CFPAC co-develops, facilitates, advocates for, and helps implement policies that advance food justice & sovereignty for Chicago and across the region. We envision a food system where residents of all races, genders, and social identities have the right to produce and access food through community-driven, ecologically regenerative, and economically resilient processes. To that end, we specifically focus on dismantling structural racism in the food system and lifting up food policies that support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Please visit www.chicagofoodpolicy.com to learn more.

The Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative works to ensure our community institutions purchase and serve food advancing a good food system for all: one that is racially just, fair, humane, culturally affirming, healthy, and environmentally sustainable. We envision a world where our community institutions contribute to a more liberatory and resilient foodshed led by those who have been structurally excluded from power and control over food production and access.

Position Overview

The Good Food Purchasing Initiative Director stewards the Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI) toward achieving its goal of creating an institutional food procurement system that is more equitable, healthy, and sustainable - where access to good food is a right, not a privilege. The Director is a strategic and adaptive leader bringing the ability to activate multiple stakeholders in a Coalition membership model that will work collectively to achieve that vision. This person is an experienced and highly emotionally intelligent people leader who can develop and execute complex concurrent plans, projects, and working groups. The Director is a strong relationship manager, nurturing external and internal partners toward achieving the mission and vision of GFPI reflective of CFPAC's culture and values.

Background on GFPP in Chicago

The City of Chicago (alongside its sister agencies, Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District) adopted the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) by policy resolution in 2017, and Cook County’s Board of Commissioners adopted the same policy in 2018. The two jurisdictions have since been working toward shifting their public food procurement to be more racially equitable, transparent, and accountable through five Good Food Standards: Local Economies, Environmental Sustainability, Valued Workforce, Animal Welfare, and Nutrition. Cities, counties, and other institutions all across the country are working on GFPP adoption and implementation with leadership from the Center for Good Food Purchasing and advocacy partners at the Food Chain Workers Alliance and HEAL Food Alliance.

The Center for Good Food Purchasing supports institutions in making shifts toward the Good Food Standards by analyzing their food purchasing data and helping the institution understand its current buying practices. The institution then collaborates with the Center and local Partners (like CFPAC) to develop a Good Food Action Plan that guides their purchasing shifts forward. This includes activities such as revising menu items, changing language in solicitations for food service and supplies, and identifying more GFPP-aligned products on the market that an institution can purchase.

CFPAC coordinates the Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI) to leverage local GFPP adoption for racially equitable supply chain development and normalizing values-based food procurement with institutions across the region. Learn more about GFPI here.

Objectives You’re Here to Meet

• Provide strategic, people-centered leadership over GFPI implementation efforts of equitable Supply Chain Development, Community Fund, Public and Private institutional procurement, and expansion efforts.
• Guide the transition of GFPI and ongoing support as a Steering Council co-chair to an inclusive and accountable coalition membership model, and support the initiative by measuring and tracking its activities to achieve its strategic goals and objectives.
• Contribute and serve on the Senior Leadership Team of the organization to ensure all organizational programs, budgets, and fundraising efforts are aligned with strategic plans.
• Be an active participant in the development of a people-centered work culture.

Position is Accountable for…

GFPI Leadership

• Team Leadership: Manage a strong, cohesive GFPI team providing strategy and guidance to the team’s work plans and activities toward the achievement of goals and outcomes within the GFPI 2026-2030 strategic plan (see below for GFPI Team information).
• Coalition Management: Lead the transition of GFPI’s coalition to a democratic membership model, with an elected steering council, and lead its Operations Working Group.
• External Communications: Oversee the communication of GFPI's work through regular newsletters, an active web presence, public speaking opportunities, and a comprehensive Annual Report.
• Measurement, Evaluation, and Impact Management: Support the efforts in Measurement, Evaluation, and Impact in collaboration with CFPAC staff and evaluation consultants to track the initiative’s goals and outcomes.
• Partnership Relationship Management: Serve as an ambassador of GFPI with both local and national partners, working on aligned good food purchasing efforts.

GFPI Grants & Budget Management

• GFPI Budget Management: Collaborate with the CFPAC Director of People and Operations and the Grants Manager to maintain and sustain the GFPI budget, helping ensure programs/projects operate within approved budgets and timelines.
• Relationship Management: Regularly check in and steward relationships with funders to share updates on the initiative’s activities and progress.
• Budget Management: Review and approve grant budgets and co-develop reports used in reporting on activities to funders.
• Initiative Ambassador: Support and identify resource development opportunities to enable the initiative to implement its strategic plan effectively.

GFPI Team You Will Lead

GFPP Implementation & Expansion Team

• Chicago GFPP Manager: Provides technical assistance and support to implement GFPI across all City of Chicago departments and sister agencies. Works in collaboration with the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office, Food Equity Council, and Chicago Department of Public Health.
• Cook County GFPP Manager: Provides technical assistance and support to implement GFPI across all Cook County departments and agencies in close collaboration with partners at the Cook County Department of Public Health.
• GFPI Expansion Manager: Coordinates with local agencies, institutions, and organizations to pilot and adopt practices in alignment with GFPP. Primary areas of expansion include hospital systems, higher education institutions, and local pantries.

Equitable Supply Chain Development Team

• Community Fund Manager: Oversees a grantmaking fund and the Community Fund Steering Committee, filled by community-based organizational partners, to increase access to GFPP-aligned produce and/or food products in the Metro Chicago region.
• Equitable Supply Chain Development Manager: Oversees activities and efforts to engage small, local producers in building their capacity to enter institutional market channels and supply community-based meal programs.
• GFPI Supplier & Small Business Resource Manager: Oversees technical assistance (TA) program, seeking to develop and expand the TA network offered, and strategically coordinate TA services to support food suppliers and businesses to achieve their “Good Food” and institutional market goals.

What You’ll Bring

• 10+ years of experience in the food system, including institutional food service, procurement, and/or supply chain operations.
• 5+ years of Director or Senior Manager-level experience leading teams, preferably with experience managing multifunctional or cross-disciplinary teams.
• In-depth understanding of institutional food procurement, U.S. agriculture and food production, distribution systems, and community development.
• Ability to lead and collaborate in evolving environments and situations with multiple stakeholders of varying priorities and perspectives.
• Comprehensive understanding of structural and systemic factors driving racial and social inequities in power, access, and control across food systems.
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently and strategically in a virtual environment, effectively leading, managing, and aligning a distributed team toward organizational priorities with clarity and accountability.
• Relational and emotionally intelligent approach to your work and mindfulness to uphold and steward our organizational values and add to our team culture!

Desired Competencies

• Organization/Planning: Excellent time management ability; able to effectively balance and prioritize multiple projects and initiatives with various stakeholders.
• Relationship Management: Ability to effectively build, sustain, and navigate varying relationships across multiple stakeholders and partners
• Judgment/Decision Making: Ability to intuitively make sound decisions when all the information is not available. Knowing when to engage and when to listen, and how to combine knowledge and context
• Conflict Management: Identifies conflict and is equipped with effective conflict resolution skills and tools
• Adaptability: Ability to react positively to change and remain productive in a continually changing environment. The capacity to change one’s actions, approach, or decisions based on new information or a new situation

We are proud to offer a premium benefits package starting day 1, with 100% employer-covered health care through Blue Cross Blue Shield for employees, fully covered vision and dental insurance, professional development opportunities, approximately 30 accrued PTO days in addition to over a dozen paid holidays, and 401(k) with employer contributions up to 4%.

Chicago Food Policy Action Council is a semi-distributed team, providing individual and team-collaboration workspace in the Loop. We host mostly hybrid meetings for staff to attend in person and virtually. However, we do expect staff to live in relative proximity to Chicago with regular availability for in-person partner meetings, events, and staff gatherings.