Bilingual Communications & Farmer Engagement Co-Director

POSITION SUMMARY

CAFF has grown in size over the past few years and refined its focus on communities of farmers we aim to serve. This position will support staff and programs and provide direct engagement of Latino/a/é/x (Latinx) farmers, helping facilitate cross-team engagement and weaving together existing technical assistance through CAFF communications channels. The position is situated in the Communications and Membership Team at CAFF and serves as Co-Director of that team and is responsible for ensuring outreach and technical assistance is both linguistically and culturally appropriate. With strong facilitation skills and a collaborative leadership style, this position will work closely with Program Directors to resource their teams to better engage Latinx farmers in our four core program areas. 

In 2020, after an extensive discussion and reflection process, CAFF affirmed justice and equity as a core value, and a commitment to better serve the needs of BIPOC farmers. In 2021, we developed and adopted a Racial Equity Action Plan, with a particular focus on growing our capacity to serve Spanish-speaking Latinx farmers. CAFF’s internal staff-led Justice & Equity Committee and Las Semillas, a staff Spanish-language peer-support cohort, have offered some organizational accountability and capacity in this work. We are seeking additional communications and engagement leadership to advance organizational changes.

CAFF is headquartered in Davis, CA. This position is preferred in Northern or Central California, given trips to Davis and proximity to other CAFF staff but open to considering applicants from across California. Additional travel will be required throughout California to support staff. 

We are concurrently hiring an Equity Associate Director who will also support this work. Please see the listing for that position at caff.org/jobs-at-caff 

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Essential responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

% Time — Description

40% – Relationship Building & Latinx Farmer Accountability

• Support peer-to-peer learning structures (e.g. Las Semillas) to enhance individual staff capacity to serve Latinx farmers
• Cultivate strong, professional relationships with partners serving Latinx farmers in California
• Support landscape analysis of Latinx farmer-serving organizations with partners, including who is providing what support in particular regions of the state, how they are providing it, and where needs remain
• Contribute to and represent CAFF at relevant Latinx farmer events, e.g. Latino Farmer Conference, EcoFarm’s Spanish Language track, etc.
• Participate in and represent CAFF as part of any local or state working groups, committees, etc. focused on Spanish-speaking farmers
• Conduct individual relationship-building with Latinx farmers to anchor CAFF’s work in regions of the state (locations TBD, depending on other staff) 
• Support and enhance annual or bi-annual farmer listening and accountability process partnering with CAFF’s Policy Director and CAFF’s Equity Associate Director

40% – Communications Strategy & Assessment 

• Work across teams and program areas at CAFF to understand internal needs and resources needed to develop CAFF’s capacity to serve Spanish speaking farmers
• Collaborate with the Co-Director of Communications & Membership and Bilingual Communications & Events Manager to develop and improve effective, accessible, and culturally appropriate communications framework and tools for Spanish-speaking farmers and improve existing communications channels for English-speaking farmers
• Develop high-level strategic roadmap for Spanish language content: website, newsletter, social media, etc.
• Act as liaison between staff serving Latinx farmers and the Communications team to ensure effective collaboration, cohesive voice, content creation, storytelling, etc.

10% – California Small Farm Conference

• Collaborate with the Bilingual Communications & Events Manager to grow and enhance Spanish language track at the CA Small Farm Conference
• Serve on the Conference Planning Team, solicit speakers, panels, and subjects
• Partner-building and promotion of Spanish language track to a wider community
• Assist in hosting at least one Spanish-language event as part of the regional gatherings taking place on the final day of the conference 

10% – General CAFF responsibilities

• Support fundraising for activities identified above and participate in additional fundraising activities
• Participate and contribute to organizational racial equity action planning discussions
• Participate in weekly CAFF all-staff meetings and two retreats or full-day all-staff meetings per year 
• Participate in local grassroots engagement efforts, including outreach and relationship-building with farmers in your local community
• Represent CAFF by participating in community activities and events as necessary
• Participate in other administrative tasks as needed 
• We know it’s impossible to convey every single task for a particular job in one job description. Our hope is that as we work together, and your role evolves over time, we can adjust your job description accordingly.

QUALIFICATIONS 

Education and Experience

• High School, Associate’s, or Bachelor’s Degree (a degree or emphasis in Chicanx Studies or Spanish language is a plus)
• At least 3 years of experience in communications-related work in an organization or institution
• Passion for food and agriculture issues and engaging underrepresented voices
• Demonstrated ability to create processes to advance justice and equity goals is preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 

• Strong facilitation skills
• Collaborative leadership style
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English and Spanish, including strong experience communicating in conversational Spanish
• Experience with team building in a virtual/hybrid work environment
• Demonstrated ability to effectively work with and support diverse team members through your understanding of self, language, culture, and community
• Resourceful and able to perform a variety of organizational tasks with a creative approach to problem-solving 
• Flexibility to work independently, with minimal supervision, as well as collaborate with others in a team setting 
• Flexibility to work on a variety of projects, simultaneously 
• Proficiency with collaborative working platforms such as Salesforce, Dropbox, and Google Workspace 
• Familiarity with and enthusiasm about social media platforms: WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube

Physical Abilities 

• Ability to sit for long periods of time working at a computer
• Ability to travel to different regions of the state

CAFF’s policy is that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, religion, gender, marital status, or sexual orientation. We strongly encourage those from diverse backgrounds and from historically underserved communities to apply.

https://caff.org/bilingual-communications-farmer-engagement-co-director/