Youth on the Farm Program Coordinator

Upgrade your skills in Fundraising, Marketing, Leadership, and more.
All 100% Free!

Youth on the Farm Program Coordinator
Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society
Vancouver & Lower Mainland
Vancouver and Coquitlam, BC

Closes in 20 days (Wed, 22 Jan)
Canada Summer Jobs / Summer Students • $21-$24/hr DOE

Position Location: East and South Vancouver (David Thompson and Vancouver Technical Secondary School) and Coquitlam (Millside Centre), BC.

Application Deadline: Review of applications begins January 22nd.

The Position

As a Youth on the Farm Program Coordinator (YFPC), you will work with the Youth on the Farm Program Lead (YFPL) to ensure the SOYL program runs smoothly in two locations. You will assist with logistics, communications, and planning the SOYL Program and support SOYL facilitators before and during the program.

During SOYL, you will support the facilitators, youth, and other program staff, moving between sites in East and South Vancouver, as well as on weekly off-site field trips. You will communicate closely with the YFPL and the Farm Team to ensure SOYL youth are engaging in the farm, including leading youth in crop production (seeding, weeding, transplanting), harvesting, and perennial/landscape care. After SOYL has completed, you will help document the summer and reflect on how the program went, as well as clean-up and prepare the sites for next season.

Before SOYL begins (May and June), working hours can be completed between 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday with work locations including our program sites in Vancouver and Coquitlam, the Fresh Roots office, or your home. On market days (Wednesdays in Vancouver and Thursdays in Coquitlam), your schedule may be shifted to accommodate the markets. When SOYL is running, your working hours will be 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at the program sites.

Pay Rate: $21-$24/hr. All seasonal staff receive paid sick leave.

Hours of Work: Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm. Average of 37.5 hours/week with longer hours during SOYL.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Position is pending funding, which may alter final employment contracts. This is a Canada Summer Jobs position. Applicants must be 30 or under, eligible to work in Canada, and a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or have refugee status.

• Assist the Youth on the Farm Program Lead in the selection of SOYL youth participants
• Support SOYL Facilitators and SOYL Jr. staff when SOYL is running
• Assist in the planning of the program schedule, including adaptations to curriculum, planning field trip logistics, and coordinating with external guest speakers/community partners, Chef Educators, and other Fresh Roots staff
• Assist the Youth on the Farm Program Manager in implementing training for SOYL Facilitators
• Support SOYL Youth at Vancouver Market and Coquitlam Market
• Work collaboratively with the Director of Farm and Operations to engage youth in work on the farm
• Work collaboratively with Fresh Roots Operations and Digital Engagement Specialist on communications and program documentation goals
• Documenting the SOYL program through photos, videos, etc.
• Follow all policies and procedures to ensure participant and staff health and safety
• Follow up with SOYL Facilitators to complete incident/accident reports and other documentation as needed
• Reflect on the SOYL Program and how it can be improved in future
• Support the Fresh Roots team inter-departmentally on organization-wide projects

Qualifications

• Post-secondary degree or equivalent experience in education, youth work, social work, teaching, environmental education, or related fields
• Knowledge or interest in land and food systems, agriculture, Indigenous food sovereignty, or related fields
• Minimum 1 year experience working with youth grades 8-12 as a tutor, teacher, camp counsellor, or similar position
  • Experience working with youth from diverse backgrounds and complex learning and life challenges is strongly preferred.
• Experience in farming, gardening, outdoor leadership and/or facilitation
• Able to work with a team and independently
• Strong organizational capacity & good attention to detail; able to prioritize and balance many different tasks.
• Confident in event planning and managing complex logistics.
• Outgoing, energetic, responsible, and mature.
• The ability to speak multiple languages is a plus. Languages frequently spoken in our communities include Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, Punjabi, Farsi, French, Arabic, and Ukrainian.
• Willingness and excitement to work outdoors in ALL weather conditions for up to 8 hours a day, rain or shine!
• Able to follow and establish policies and procedures to ensure youth and staff health and safety.
• Able to carry out a variety of physical tasks that involve bending, squatting, lifting up to 50 lb, and repetitive motion
• Current First Aid and CPR will be required before the position starts.
• Driver’s license, with access to a personal vehicle an asset
• Must pass a criminal record check to be able to work with children and vulnerable populations

Pay: $21-$24 DOE plus 4% in lieu of vacation

On-the-job training and professional development workshops

30% discount on produce and access to free culls

How to Apply

Fresh Roots is committed to employment equity and encourages applications from underrepresented groups.

Submit a resume, a short cover letter OR video introduction, and name, phone number, and email address for 3 references. At least one reference should be able to speak to your experience with kids and one speak to your cooking experience.

Your cover letter or video should

• Introduce yourself
• Share why you want this position and what makes you uniquely qualified
• Share what you hope to gain from the position if hired

Videos should be no more than 3 minutes, and must be shared via a link in the “website, blog, or portfolio” line. Cover letters should be no more than 500 words and must be uploaded as a document. Please note that we are not judging videos based on your video editing skills, and neither videos nor cover letters are preferred. Choose the option that best lets you shine.

We regret that due to the high volume of applicants only those selected for interviews will be contacted.

About SOYL

The SOYL (Sustainable Opportunities for Youth Leadership) program engages ~45 high school youth each summer at two Lower Mainland locations: Vancouver & Coquitlam. The program focuses on collaborative work, practical skills, food-systems thinking, and social-emotional development. SOYL runs for six weeks (July 7th-August 13th) during the summer at two locations: Coquitlam & Vancouver. Each SOYL location is situated on a Fresh Roots schoolyard farm, with two SOYL facilitators at each location, who work collaboratively on each site with the Youth on the Farm Program Lead (YotFPL) and Farm Director to lead youth. Youth receive a stipend for participation, which includes work on the farm and at markets, preparing food for shared meals, and engagement in workshops, field trips, and activities. If you want to know more about SOYL, please look at freshroots.ca/soyl.

About Fresh Roots

Our Vision is Good Food For All, which is realized when youth have the skills, capacity, and will to act as food citizens and land stewards, to grow and share healthy food for themselves, their families, and the planet! To make this vision a reality, we cultivate educational farms and programs where students dig into meaningful connections with the land, food, and each other, inspiring communities to build just food systems.

How to Apply

Please mention you saw this posting on WorkInNonProfits.ca.

Apply here: https://freshroots.bamboohr.com/careers/77