Executive Director

Through a partnership with the city of San Jose, Veggielution is located on six acres at Emma Prusch Farm Park. We achieve the goals set forth in our mission through a variety of programs:

• Education Programs: Through opportunities that bring people together at the farm, we create leadership opportunities, and educate people about where their food comes from so they can make healthier choices for themselves and their families.

Volunteer Workdays: In 2014, we engaged over 3,000 unique volunteers of diverse ages and cultures in more than 17,000 volunteer hours, during which they gained skills and knowledge of all aspects of farm operations.

Workday Leader Program: Workday Leaders are committed volunteers who participate in a six-week training course that provides in-depth training in farm operations and leadership skills that they use to facilitate groups of volunteers during workdays.

Internships: Veggielution offers internships in farming, outreach/marketing, education, non-profit administration and farm distribution.

Youth Garden: Each Saturday, we offer activities where the whole family can come to enjoy gardening, crafting and preparing food together.

Sponsored Workdays: Sponsored Workdays connect corporate employees and other groups with Veggielution's farm and community and offer opportunities to learn about Veggielution's mission and goals, receive training from our skilled farmers and Workday Leaders, and do integral work on the farm, all while engaging in a team-building activity.

• Community Food Access Programs: By growing vegetables, we strive to ensure that fresh, healthy food is available to everyone in our community.

Farm Box: We offer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares for the Summer/Fall and Winter/Spring seasons. Currently, 70% of our summer Farm Box shares are sold at market rate, and 30% are sold at low-cost to people living in the two zip codes immediately surrounding the farm, as well as people who qualify for CalFresh (food stamps).

Farm Stand: Every Saturday from 10am-2pm, we operate an on-site farm stand where we sell our vegetables below market cost to provide fresh, locally-grown produce to the community at an affordable price.

Veggie Vouchers: Through a partnership with Santa Clara Valley Medical Center's Pediatric Healthy Lifestyles Center, families with children experiencing diet/lifestyle-related conditions are prescribed vouchers for purchasing vegetables at Veggielution's Saturday Farm Stand.

Produce Donations: We provide produce to our volunteers in exchange for their work, as well as make donations to other local non-profit organizations that provide free meals to homeless or low-income community members.

Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership & Management

1. Lead and manage the organization, ensuring that programs are aligned to successfully execute Veggielution's mission.
2. Directly supervise two full-time staff members, an Americorps VISTA member (beginning in August 2015), and interns.
3. Oversee the plan to effectively utilize and retain Veggielution's large volunteer base.
4. Maintain a regular presence in and understanding of on-farm activities, including periodic participation in Saturday Workdays.
5. Lead and model Veggielution's commitment to honest and constructive feedback, both formally and informally, as a means of achieving organizational and personal growth and excellence.
6. Develop, maintain and support a strong Board of Directors; attend monthly board meetings; serve as ex-officio member of each board committee; seek and build board involvement with strategic direction; and see that the board is kept fully informed of the condition of the organization and all important factors influencing it.
7. In collaboration with the Board of Directors, ensure that a multi-year strategic plan is developed. Work to achieve the goals set forth in the strategic plan.
8. Ensure that Veggielution has effective systems to track progress and regularly monitor program performance, in order to measure successes and identify areas for improvement or change.
9. Perform all human resources functions of the organization. Ensure that job descriptions are current, a personnel policy is in place, regular performance evaluations are completed in a timely manner, proper recognition and disciplinary actions are taken, and when necessary, that termination procedures are properly followed.

Fundraising

1. Drive the overall fundraising strategy for Veggielution by planning, securing and expanding a sustainable and diverse funding stream that will increase revenue to support existing and future programs and operations.
2. Devise and execute a robust individual giving strategy that includes actively stewarding relationships with individual donors.
3. Oversee plans for earned income from the farm.
4. Ensure that proposals for grants to support Veggielution's programs are continually submitted, and that reports on grants awarded are timely made.
5. Play an active role in planning and executing fundraising events.

Budget & Finance

1. Develop and maintain sound financial practices.
2. Working with the staff and Board of Directors, prepare an annual budget.
3. Ensure that the organization operates within budget guidelines. Veggielution's current annual budget is $350,000.
4. Ensure that adequate funds are available to permit the organization to carry out its work.
5. Work with outside accounting vendor to ensure that all necessary documentation is provided for timely bookkeeping and preparation of monthly financial reports and tax filings.

External Communications & Marketing

1. Using a variety of channels, clearly and compellingly promote and communicate Veggielution's vision, mission and programs to other agencies, organizations, and the general public.
2. Create meaningful opportunities to solicit input from varied groups of stakeholders and regularly update them on the state of the organization.
3. Affirmatively tend relationships with community partners, creating and fostering opportunities for collaboration within Silicon Valley and beyond.
4. Maintain Veggielution's relationships with the City of San Jose Parks Department and the board of the Prusch Park Foundation.

Required Qualifications

1. Demonstrated passion for advancing Veggielution's mission of fostering community and increasing food access through the cultivation and distribution of healthy, affordable food.
2. A minimum of three years of progressively responsible experience in the non-profit sector.
3. Experience working alongside and building relationships with groups of diverse cultures and ages.
4. Ability to nurture healthy working relationships and honest communication with staff and board.
5. Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate with a broad audience.
6. Proven success in project management.
7. Experience supervising teams of people.
8. Commitment to maintaining Veggielution's non-hierarchical, collaborative working environment.
9. Willingness to work a Tuesday-Saturday work week.
10. Proof of ability to work legally in the United States.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

1. Bicultural/bilingual Spanish, Vietnamese, or other relevant non-English language speaker.
2. Experience managing an organizational or program budget.
3. Experience creating a fund development strategy that includes individual giving, grants, corporate donations.
4. Experience working with a Board of Directors, or serving on a Board of Directors.
5. Desire to develop new, innovative strategies for achieving Veggielution's mission, in collaboration with the board, staff and community partners.
6. Familiarity with, or willingness to learn, how to use existing and new technology in day-to-day organizational management. Platforms currently utilized by Veggielution include: Google Drive, Quickbooks, Nationbuilder (donor management software), Podio (project management software).
7. Working knowledge of organic farming practices.

Location

647 S King Rd, San Jose, CA, 95116, US