The Food Security Partners has an immediate opening for Activities Coordinator for the Faith and Food Justice Initiative

Summary:

The Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee bring people together to create a more healthy, just, and sustainable food system for our region. The organization, which is based at the Child and Family Policy Center at Vanderbilt University, has more than 130 Partners and Members working together to make sure all Middle Tennesseans have access to healthy, affordable food.

The Food Security Partners has an immediate opening for Activities Coordinator for the Faith and Food Justice Initiative, a faith-based campaign aimed at promoting food security and decreasing the incidence of childhood obesity by increasing the availability of fresh, healthy foods in our community. Responsibilities will be focused on organizing and motivating communities of faith to act on behalf of economic development and transportation policy changes that promote access to fresh foods in three Nashville neighborhoods that have an abundance of convenience stores and fast food restaurants but no healthy food retailers or supermarkets. The range of organizing approaches will include grassroots meetings, grassroots leadership development, mobilizing response to action alerts, developing and disseminating policy research, creating faith-based communications tools, and more. The Faith and Food Justice Initiative is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Position responsibilities include:

.Coordinating the project leadership team, advisory council, and youth advisory council.
.Coordinating faith-based outreach and organizing efforts, including the development of a food justice worship service and communications tools.
.Managing communication with stakeholder groups, leadership team and advisory council, and volunteers.
.Coordinating development of a research briefing on food (in)access in Nashville.
.Working with project leadership team to develop and implement action plan.
.Organizing events, forums and trainings as outlined in the action plan.
.Coordinating policy and media advocacy campaigns and organizing efforts on public policy issues as outlined in the strategic plan.
.Providing support for fundraising, grant writing and reporting activities.

Minimum Qualifications:

A minimum of three years of program management or community, faith-based, or political organizing experience required.

Qualifications of the ideal candidate:

.College degree in social science, environmental studies, public policy, community development, health and human services, or social work preferred.
.Experience working with the faith community.
.Experience coordinating policy campaigns or doing political organizing.
.Excellent writing, organizing, communication, and inter-personal skills.
.Substantive knowledge of community food security, nutrition, public health, or anti-hunger fields in Nashville.
.Detail oriented and well organized.
.Able to complete multiple projects on deadline.
.Able to work with diverse constituents.
.Able to work some weekends and evenings.
.Excellent computer skills, including Excel, Word, Access, Outlook, and desktop publishing software.
.Comfort developing and posting written and audio/visual content to blogs, website, and social networking sites.
.Successful fundraising and grant writing experience .
.Ability to organize and carry out work plans independently and cooperatively.

Additional information:

.This is a full-time position (40 hours per week).
.Salary ranges from $2,171 to $3,036 monthly; dependent upon years of education and experience.
.Vanderbilt is a smoke-free workplace in compliance with the Non-Smoker Protection Act, Tennessee Code Annotated 39-17-1801-1810. In accordance with that law and Vanderbilt policy, smoking is prohibited in all enclosed areas on Vanderbilt property.

Applications must be received by 2/7/2009 to be considered although the position may be extended until a suitable candidate is found. To apply, visit https://www5.recruitingcenter.net/Clients/vanderbiltjobs/PublicJobs/ and enter requisition number JAM11017.

***Please note that applications must be submitted through the Vanderbilt University Human Resources job system at the link found above. Applications submitted directly to the department will not be considered.***

To learn more about the Food Security Partners, visit www.foodsecuritypartners.org