Board Member – Program & Operations Leadership

About

Edgewood Community Farm is a community-rooted urban farm in Washington, DC, established in August 2022. We grow vegetables, flowers, and mushrooms on an acre of communal farmland, and we donate everything we grow through our Open Harvest program — 100% of our produce goes directly to the community. In addition to our production farm, we operate a 20-bed community garden, a fruit orchard, a greenhouse, and an aquaponics program. Every week, we host a volunteer day that draws 12 to 30 people and a food distribution in partnership with reDelicious where we distribute 1,200 pounds of food to roughly 150 people. We have a lively calendar of events, 2,500 people on our mailing list, and 3,500 Instagram followers — and we're just getting started.

We currently have six board members and are actively growing our board. Ours is a working board — members play an active, hands-on role in leading specific programs and functions that keep the farm running and growing. For example, Our current board members lead farm production, our portraits program, infrastructure and carpentry, legal compliance, financial compliance, and irrigation engineering. We're recruiting for the volunteer roles below. You don't need to check every box; we're looking for people who are genuinely excited about one of these areas and ready to dig in.

If any of these roles resonate with you, we'd love to hear from you. You don't need to have board experience — you need to care about the farm's mission and be ready to lead in your area. Please email jose@ecfarm.org with the subject line “Board Interest - [Your Name]” and we’ll set up a time to talk.

General Board Member Expectations

All board members are expected to attend one annual board meeting, fulfill an annual Give/Get of $600 (through a combination of personal giving, fundraising, and/or in-kind contributions), and actively lead or contribute to their assigned area of focus. Board members serve as ambassadors for the farm in their personal and professional networks. Board members can be fully remote depending on the position.

Grants & Development Lead

We have an eight-person volunteer grant team made up of community members who each dedicate about five hours a month to writing and prospecting grants for the farm. We're looking for a board member with a background in grants and foundation relations to mentor this team and keep the work moving. Responsibilities include assigning grant opportunities to team members, reviewing and providing feedback on draft applications, tracking deadlines, and project managing submissions from start to finish. This is a meaningful leadership role for someone who wants to put their development expertise to work for a community organization they believe in. Experience with foundation grant writing and/or grants management is required. This may be a fully remote position.

Community Raised Beds Program Lead

Edgewood Community Farm operates 21 community raised beds that generate earned income for the farm. We're looking for a board member to oversee the annual administration of this program, including managing renewals, maintaining the waitlist, communicating with current and prospective renters, and fielding questions and providing basic technical assistance (farm staff are available to support). This role also involves coordinating volunteers four days a year for seasonal maintenance — cleaning and prepping the raised bed area, setting up the irrigation system with staff support, and turning over beds as needed. This is a great fit for someone who's organized, communicative, and enjoys working with people in a hands-on outdoor setting.

Operations & Backend Lead

We're looking for a board member to help keep our backend systems running smoothly. This role focuses on accessible, non-technical administrative and operations work including managing our Zeffy account for events and donations, updating our website, supporting our social media team with post scheduling, and other day-to-day operational tasks. Comfort with Squarespace, Google Suite (Gmail, Drive, Calendar), and a willingness to learn Zeffy is appreciated. This role is a great fit for someone who's detail-oriented, reliable, and gets satisfaction from making sure the behind-the-scenes work is in good shape. This may be a fully remote position.

Event Venue Rental Lead

The farm's event space is a beautiful and underutilized asset, and we want to grow our venue rental program in a more intentional, strategic way. We're looking for a board member to take ownership of this program — promoting the space, marketing to potential clients, managing inquiries and bookings, and serving as on-site manager during rental events. Farm staff are available to assist during events. This role is ideal for someone with experience in events, hospitality, marketing, or sales who wants to help grow a meaningful earned income stream for the farm.

Small Donor Program Lead

We have a mailing list of 2,500 supporters and a giving history to build from — but our small donor program has been more reactive than strategic. We're looking for a board member to change that. This role involves developing and implementing a small donor strategy, growing our base of recurring donors, and increasing overall contributions from individuals. The right person is someone who's energized by donor engagement, comfortable with data and email outreach, and has experience or strong interest in individual giving and fundraising strategy. This may be a fully remote position.

Finance Support

We're looking for a board member to support our Treasurer in keeping our finances organized and compliant. Responsibilities include helping track expenses, matching expenses to specific programs and funding sources, and assisting with reconciliation. This role doesn't require a CPA, but comfort with spreadsheets and basic accounting concepts is important. It's a great fit for someone with a finance, accounting, or operations background who wants to contribute in a concrete, behind-the-scenes way. This may be a fully remote position.

Marketing & Events Promoter

Edgewood Community Farm runs a robust calendar of events including workshops, food distributions, yoga, trivia nights, community socials, and training programs. We already have a promotional system in place that drives strong traffic across our 2,500-person mailing list and 3,500 Instagram followers — and we want to build on it. We're looking for a board member to serve as a dedicated promoter and marketer for our events, taking ownership of our existing systems, identifying opportunities to reach new audiences, and helping grow attendance and awareness across all of our programs. Experience with social media, email marketing, or community outreach is a plus. This may be a fully remote position.