The Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) is seeking an outgoing, collaborative and detail-oriented events organizer, with a passion for ecological agriculture, to join the staff team as Events and Resources Manager.
EFAO is a membership organization that for over 40 years has helped farmers build resilient ecological farms and grow a strong knowledge sharing community through farmer-led education, research and community building. Momentum and support is growing for ecological and regenerative agriculture, and this position with EFAO is critical to providing members with practical and exciting educational opportunities and resources, and supporting grassroots farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing.
Reporting to EFAO’s Executive Director, the Events and Resources Manager is responsible for developing and managing all of EFAO’s events and resources, including the annual conference.
EFAO is committed to upholding the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. In pursuit of these values, EFAO actively encourages applications from members of groups experiencing barriers to equity, such as BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+.
Position Details
Position: Events & Resources Manager
Location: Guelph, Ontario or option to work remotely from home office
Employment type: 30 to 37.5 hours/week (flexible)
Start date: May 3, 2021
Duration: 1 year with possibility of extension
Salary: $48,000 – $55,000/year FTE, depending on qualifications and experience
Application deadline: March 31, 2021 11:59PM EST
Responsibilities include
- Organize and manage all EFAO educational and networking events, including Meet-Ups, Farm Tours, Field Days, Webinars and Workshops. Due to current public health guidelines, all events will take place virtually until further notice.
- Oversee the planning and execution of EFAO’s annual conference, including collaboration with EFAO staff, members and other stakeholders to manage the budget, program development and speaker outreach, venue contract negotiation (when in person), promotion and communications, sponsorship, and evaluation. The 2021 conference will be held virtually and will take place at the end of November/early December online.
- Work with EFAO staff to support educational goals of individual programs.
- With EFAO’s Communications Manager, develop and implement a communication and outreach strategy for EFAO’s educational activities, using print, online, and in-person methods (when appropriate).
- With the EFAO staff, edit, post and distribute event recordings and materials.
- Oversee and work closely with staff and volunteers engaged in EFAO’s events and resources work.
- Support existing EFAO farmer networks and advisory committees and the development of new networks and committees as appropriate.
- With EFAO’s Communications Manager, help shape content and seek contributors for EFAO’s quarterly print publication Ecological Farming in Ontario.
- With EFAO staff, manage the maintenance and development of new and existing online resources (i.e. Online Community Forum, member resources).
- Develop and maintain partnerships with regional and provincial groups engaged in farmer training; seek opportunities for collaborative development and/or delivery of training events.
- With EFAO senior staff, design and implement strategies to assess member and community needs, and develop opportunities in response to those needs.
- Coordinate and represent EFAO at external events (i.e. agriculture and food sector conferences and Trade Shows).
- With EFAO senior staff, design and implement evaluations for educational activities in line with EFAO’s overall evaluation plan.
- Contribute to the development of the annual operating budget and maintain events and resources budgets.
- Oversee relevant grants, including writing applications, tracking deliverables, managing budgets and preparing reports.
- With EFAO’s Executive Director, identify potential sources and strategies for new funding.
- Other projects and initiatives, as determined collaboratively with EFAO’s Executive Director.
Requirements include
- 2-3 years experience organizing and managing events in the agriculture and/or food sectors. Experience organizing both in-person and online events essential.
- Post-secondary education in a relevant field or equivalent experience.
- Working knowledge, experience and appreciation of ecological agriculture, farmers and local food systems in Ontario.
- Excellent interpersonal and professional communication skills with a demonstrated ability to build relationships and work collaboratively.
- Ability to comfortably manage and facilitate meetings and events in person and online.
- Strong writing skills, in both informal and formal settings. Experience in outreach and communications is an asset.
- Experience writing grant proposals and reports.
- Ability to work efficiently and accurately, and a commitment to delivering high-quality work in a busy and dynamic work environment.
- Experience in financial management, including event and project budgets.
- Ability to work both independently and as part of a dynamic staff team and broader EFAO community.
- Experience with Microsoft Office suite, Google documents and virtual meeting platforms (i.e. Zoom). Knowledge of and experience in any/all of video editing software, Mailchimp, Slack, Wordpress and Airtable an asset.
- Experience working in a not for profit environment is an asset.
- Some offsite, evening and weekend work required.
This list indicates the experience and qualifications needed to succeed in this role. We understand candidates may not have all the qualifications listed. If you possess approximately 80 percent of these experiences and qualifications, we encourage you to apply.
EFAO offers
- A family-friendly work culture
- Flexible work schedule
- Contributions to a Health Savings Account
- Generous paid time off
Application
Please apply by sending a cover letter and resume or CV (in one PDF document) to Ali English at jobs2@efao.ca by March 31, 2021.