Director of Communications and Storytelling

The Southeastern African American Farmers’ Organic Network (SAAFON) seeks a visionary and strategic communicator to serve as our Director of Communications and Storytelling. This leader will steward the organization’s voice, narrative strategy, and public presence, honoring and amplifying the rich legacies of Black agrarianism in the U.S. South and Caribbean. The Director of Communications and Storytelling will shape how SAAFON tells its story across platforms, will support farmer-members in lifting up their own narratives, and mobilize communications as a tool for cultural transformation and movement-building. This is both a hands-on and strategic role, best suited to a candidate who can move between big-picture vision and day-to-day implementation, and tell powerful stories while managing the structures and workflows that bring them to life.

The Director of Communications and Storytelling will lead the development of SAAFON’s cultural production priorities, collaborating with partners, farmers, and storytellers in the region to leverage communication channels and platforms to propagate Black agrarian values, practices, and lifeways. Working closely with the Co-Executive Directors, Director of Development, SAAFON’s field team, and farmer-members, they will align messaging across audiences and spaces, while staying grounded in the ancestral, political, and ecological roots of our work.

Note: This is a new role within SAAFON and provides the space to build, design and deliver narrative strategies from the ground up, taking SAAFON further in alignment with our values, geographical context, culture, and history. It is an opportunity to join a growing, grassroots organization committed to the culture keeping of Southern Black Agrarian organizing lineages and play a central role in shaping the vision and direction of Black agrarian storytelling in the region.

Responsibilities

Communications Strategy & Leadership

• Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive communications and storytelling strategy aligned with SAAFON’s mission, goals, and programmatic offerings
• Craft and maintain a consistent organizational voice that reflects the richness and diversity of Black agrarian experiences, and speaks to SAAFON’s politic and values
• Create and evaluate annual strategic communications and storytelling plan and departmental budget development and tracking
• Collaborate with the Director of Development and Associate Director of Membership to align communications to donors, funders, and members with fundraising and programmatic priorities
• Collaborate with the Director of Development and SAAFON’s program teams to produce materials for members programs/events, fundraising campaigns, and partnerships
• Build and maintain a media list, cultivating and maintaining relationships with journalists, editors, and media outlets to secure coverage that elevates SAAFON’s work and mission
• Draft press releases, op-eds, and talking points for organizational leadership, preparing reports and PowerPoint presentations for internal and external communications
• Support SAAFON board and staff with media training and preparation for public engagements
• Participate in the Director’s Circle holding cross organizational analysis, and collaborate on decision-making as needed
• Manage communications vendors, consultants, and interns as needed

Cultural Production and Storytelling

• Lead the production of multimedia stories and campaigns - written, visual, audio - that uplift the voices and perspectives of Black farmers and land stewards, SAAFON’s programs and offerings, and landscape happenings
• Lead in identifying best practices and fresh ideas for leveraging SAAFON’s platforms for direct benefit to SAAFON’s membership
• Lead and manage partnerships with farmers, artists, and cultural workers to co-create narrative projects rooted in community experiences, and SAAFON’s cultural production, including management of media permissions and release forms, and vetting storytellers
• Plan and support farmer and funder facing mobilizations through in-person, SMS, and email activations and strategic outreach campaigns that engage the public around Southern Black agrarian culture

Platform Management & Content Creation

• Lead the design, content creation and aggregation process for the publication of SAAFON’s quarterly newsletter, ensuring that messaging aligns with the needs of SAAFON’s various audiences and stakeholders
• Collaborate with the Associate Director of Membership and Programs to support the design, content creation, and aggregation for the publication of SAAFON’s monthly farmer digest
• Create and manage platform-specific content for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn, including short-form video, photo storytelling, and long-form narratives
• Oversee and implement content creation for SAAFON’s website, making quarterly updates to programming pages, membership metrics, and news articles
• Track engagement metrics across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn to refine strategy and increase audience reach and impact

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-7 years of experience in communications, media, or storytelling roles, preferably within social justice, food systems, or cultural organizations
• Familiarity with the historical and contemporary landscape of Black land ownership, food
• systems, and land justice in the South at the intersection of land access, climate, and economic resilience
• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills across formats (print, digital, audio, video), with the ability to craft communications for various stakeholders
• Proficiency in communications design tools (e.g., Canva, Adobe Creative Suite, etc.).
• Demonstrated success in using digital strategies and tactics on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and/or LinkedIn, including content creation and messaging through short-form video, social graphics, and digital storytelling campaigns
• Flexible, adaptive, strategic thinker with the ability to translate complex issues into accessible narratives, effectively toggling between strategy and execution
• Self-starter with the ability to work both independently without close oversight and in highly collaborative workspaces Strong time management skills, attention to detail, and experience managing projects, timelines, and people
• Demonstrated professionalism in media relations and comfort representing the organization publicly

Preferred Skills

• Knowledge of CRM, social media management tools and email marketing platforms (e.g.,
• Salesforce NPSP, Meta Business, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact)
• Comfort with using project management platforms (e.g. Monday.com, Asana, Trello)
• Connections with journalists, media outlets, or cultural institutions are a plus

Please note: this role requires travel regionally across the U.S. South and Caribbean for

SAAFON events, convenings, and gatherings. Please only apply if you have the ability

and willingness to do this.

The salary range for this position is $80,000-$84,000 (commensurate with experience) annually plus a competitive benefits package including but not limited to:

• Health insurance at 100% coverage
• An annual professional development allocation
• Work from home reimbursement
• Paid time off
• Flexible, remote work environment