Indigenous Communities Liaison,

Climate-Smart Farming & Marketing

Mission: Cultivating environmentally sound, economically viable, community-focused farms and food systems.

Program overview: Pasa's Climate-Smart Farming and Marketing program (https://climatesmart.org/) will offer technical assistance and financial support for implementing regenerative and resilient practices on 2,000 working farms from Maine to South Carolina and on lands stewarded by Tribal Nations and Indigenous farmers in the same geographic region. By engaging farms in our Soil Health (https://pasafarming.org/soil-health-benchmark-study/) and Financial (https://pasafarming.org/financial-benchmark-study/) Benchmark Studies, we will monitor and measure the benefits from climate-smart practices and work to expand market opportunities for climate-smart commodities.
This program is supported by a Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (https://www.usda.gov/climate-solutions/climate-smart-commodities) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number NR233A750004G025.

Position overview: The Indigenous Communities Liaison will maintain consistent communications with all Indigenous partner organizations participating in Pasa's Climate-Smart program. They will build relationships, communication, and collaboration with Indigenous farmers, communities, and organizations to ensure that their perspectives and needs are embedded in Pasa's Climate-Smart work. The ideal Indigenous Communities Liaison will be intimately familiar with farming and food system topics, particularly as they relate to Indigenous food sovereignty.

This is a 5-year grant-funded primarily remote position with regular regional travel (estimated 3-4 days per month), some in-person workdays, and 2-3 annual in-person staff retreats at 3-4 days each. All employees are required to attend our annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference, which takes place each February in Lancaster, PA. Employees must comply with Pasa's remote employee policies.

Responsibilities

• Build relationships with Indigenous communities and organizations to ensure their perspectives and needs are included in Pasa's Climate-Smart programs
• Timely and consistent communication with supervisor and sub-awardee program leads
• Engage with project partner organizations to support their outreach efforts to Indigenous farmers and communities
• Collaborate with Pasa team members to design and implement Climate-Smart programs that meet the unique needs of Indigenous communities
• Conduct outreach to Indigenous communities to promote our Climate-Smart programs and engage a diversity of participating Indigenous farms
• Coordinate with Pasa partners to identify opportunities for collaboration on Climate-Smart programs that benefit Indigenous Communities
• Provide support for the development of an indigenous farming practices learning library
• Communicate indigenous learning library resources with broader Climate-Smart programs, in collaboration with Pasa's communications team support

Qualifications

• Experience in environmental science or indigenous studies or a bachelor's degree in a related field
• At least 3 years of experience working with Indigenous Communities and organizations
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders
• Extensive experience and knowledge of climate change and its impacts on Indigenous communities
• Ability to work collaboratively with other team members and stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications

• Understanding of Indigenous farming practices and food systems
• Working proficiency in English, Spanish or an Indigenous language used in the region
• Familiarity with Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive etc.)
• Excellent interpersonal and conflict resolution skills
• Experience with program design, implementation, and evaluation

Compensation: This position is grant-funded through April 2028. This is a full-time exempt position. Annual salary for this position is $75,000. Benefits include health, vision, and dental insurance; 401K retirement match; flexible scheduling; paid holidays; and a generous leave policy, along with a work computer provided, travel expenses and mileage reimbursement.

Initial interviews will be conducted remotely via Zoom beginning April 1, 2024.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

If you have any questions, please contact jobs @pasafarming.org.