Executive Director

Milk with Dignity Standards Council (Executive Director)

About the Milk with Dignity Standards Council (MDSC)

The Milk with Dignity Program, founded and created by farmworkers of Migrant Justice, brings together farmworkers, consumers, farmers and corporate buyers to secure dignified wages and humane labor and housing conditions in the dairy industry in the northeastern United States. The principal goal of the Milk with Dignity (MD) Program is to foster a sustainable northeast dairy industry that advances the human rights of farmworkers, the long-term interests of farmers, and the ethical supply chain concerns of retail food companies and consumers.

The MD Program is a Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) initiative inspired by the groundbreaking work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and adapted from the CIW’s highly acclaimed Fair Food Program. Above all, the WSR model rests on a strong commitment to empower workers through labor rights education and access to a protected complaint mechanism, so that they may form the first line of defense against labor abuse, and to supplement these efforts with independent audits of Participating Farms’ operations.

MDSC is a unique organization emerging from Migrant Justice's successful Milk with Dignity campaign to secure the human rights of dairy workers and improve the conditions under which they labor. Based in Burlington Vermont, MDSC was established by Migrant Justice to monitor and enforce its standards under the farmworker-defined Code of Conduct. The Code represents dairy workers’ definition of the human right to work with dignity.

MDSC works closely with Participating Farms to help them reach compliance with the Code of Conduct. MDSC is responsible for conducting farm audits to verify compliance with Code standards, and also conducts investigations of complaints lodged through the Program’s bilingual 24/7 worker complaint hotline. When audits or complaint investigations result in findings of Code violations, MDSC works with farms and farmworkers to create Corrective Action Plans and Complaint Resolutions to remedy identified violations. MDSC also issues public annual reports documenting the transformations to labor and living conditions that farmworkers are achieving through the Program.

Description of Executive Director position

MDSC is seeking to hire an Executive Director, who will report to a Board of Directors composed of worker, human rights, and agricultural representatives. Directing a small staff of investigators and analysts (currently four people) the Director will play a major role in advancing the mission and strategy of the MDSC and furthering the implementation of this exciting model of worker-driven human rights enforcement in the dairy industry.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Oversee application of enforcement mechanisms, including complaint investigations, farm audits, reports, and resolution processes with workers and farmers
• Facilitate organizational development and planning, including the maintenance of financial, programmatic, and internal governance infrastructure
• Oversee the hiring and day-to-day management and supervision of MDSC staff, including: developing collaborative decision-making processes, promoting long-term sustainability, workload management, and staff growth
• Coordinate fundraising strategies to ensure the ongoing financial stability of MDSC
• Collaborate with Migrant Justice’s MD Program Coordinator and other Migrant Justice representatives to ensure that the overall MD Program makes progress to fulfill farmworkers’ vision for human rights
• Manage relationships with Participating Buyer(s), ensuring mutual compliance with terms of agreement(s)

Additional potential responsibilities include:

• Direct external communications strategies, including participation in presentations and the writing of public reports
• Design strategies and engage with organizational partners to strengthen implementation of the Program and expand the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model

Qualifications:

• At least 5 years leadership or program experience in human rights, workers’ rights, or some other field of social change that provides demonstrable evidence of a commitment to the principles underlying the Milk with Dignity Program
• At least 5 years of management experience
• Experience working with immigrant populations in the United States or rural/agricultural populations elsewhere
• Familiarity with negotiating and enforcing contracts
• Conflict mediation and resolution experience
• Demonstrated fundraising and public speaking experience
• Fluency in English and Spanish

Knowledge desired:

• Familiarity with human rights or other relevant social justice issues
• Familiarity with codes of conduct and the world of corporate social responsibility
• Familiarity with labor laws and legal processes

Skills and abilities desired:

• Excellent management and facilitation skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong writing and editing skills
• Strong networking and coalition-building skills
• Ability to work across a broad array of constituencies, including immigrant workers, farmers, large corporations, and other organizations in the field
• Ability to set priorities and undertake a wide range of responsibilities in a fast, response-driven environment
• Ability to help staff improve their capacity through generative feedback and learning processes
• Ability to work collaboratively as well as independently
• Ability to communicate the vision and goals of the organization effectively to a wide range of audiences

Salary range starts at $70,000 and can increase commensurate with skills and experience. Benefits include employer-paid health insurance, including a Health Reimbursement Account, retirement benefits, generous paid vacation and sick leave policies, thirteen paid holidays per year, paid parental leave, auto insurance reimbursement, and mileage reimbursement. Candidates moving to Vermont from out of state for the position may be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement: https://thinkvermont.com/relocation-incentives/. MDSC may also be willing to pay relocation expenses for the right candidate if they are unable to access Vermont's Worker Relocation Incentive Program.

The Milk with Dignity Standards Council is an equal opportunity employer committed to developing a workforce that reflects and can relate easily to the diverse populations involved in the MD Program.

If the job description excites you, even if you don’t meet the full list of qualifications, please apply!