Communications & Engagement Specialist

Location: Chicago, IL (virtual + in-person work, prefer someone based on Chicago)

Reports to: Managing Director, Communications and Engagement

Status: Full-time non-exempt

Who We Are

Community Food Navigator envisions a food system rooted in justice, in which the people who produce, distribute, and consume food also control its production, distribution, and governance.

We are a fiscally sponsored project working towards food sovereignty for the Chicago regional food system. We focus on supporting Black, Brown, and Indigenous growers, educators, and organizers in order to build power, increase system coordination, and tell truthful stories about our food

We do this by elevating community-led solutions, building dialogue both digitally and through in-person gatherings, and by amplifying the voices of people doing this work on the ground. For more information, visit the communityfoodnavigator.org.

Position Summary

We are a community-driven organization. The Communications & Engagement Specialist role focuses on maintaining the Navigator’s visual and written messaging, developing communications strategies, telling stories, engaging our community, and activating and stewarding our community intelligence. This person is a self-starter, community builder, facilitator, project manager, and enjoys using their creative skills in collaboration with other team members, leaders, and community members. The Community Food Navigator is a network-driven resource hub intended to support community food system practitioners who set priorities and steward solutions based on their lived experiences. We are immersed in our community. This is a hybrid role: the team currently comes into the office once a week and regularly hosts and engages in in-person events in the Greater Chicago area, some of which occur on evenings and weekends. We are a small, start-up organization; all team members are integral to the direction and success of reaching our communities’ goals. This role does not have any direct reports.

Responsibilities and Tasks

Communications, Marketing and Branding

• Co-create and execute a communications strategy with the Managing Director, Communications and Engagement to activate community intelligence, increase community’s access to urban agriculture resources, communicate to funders, tell grower stories, and articulate our communities’ shared visions of food sovereignty
• Create strategies for external engagement via graphic design, social media, website copy, newsletters, and resources for broader community (eaters, advocates, funders, etc.) use beyond resources in the Digital Tool
• Create promotional materials for Navigator events
• Update the Navigator website with content, resources, and tools
• Draft communications including emails, forms, surveys, and related materials for Navigator programs and events that allow the Navigator to communicate clearly to diverse audiences
• Grow the Navigator community through targeted outreach, identification of service gaps, and marketing campaigns
• Maintain Navigator brand assets and develop the Navigator brand to better represent the community the Navigator is embedded within
• Design visually compelling graphics, visuals, and templates

Community Storytelling

• Capture narratives of Navigator’s work and impact in the community
• Work with growers to tell their own stories through multimedia projects, writing copy, and assisting with grant narratives
• Research and familiarize yourself with food justice, land sovereignty, and social justice history, causes, and statistics
• Synthesize community intelligence to create guides, resource kits, and blog posts

Community Engagement

• Coordinate internal team volunteer days with community partners
• Develop relationships between growers and local organizations, communities, volunteers and resources
• Coordinate communications efforts with staff of other organizations in our networks to better resource our community
• Attend events to build relationships and share Navigator resources
• Set up tabling and pop-up experiences at partners events on behalf of the Navigator
• Problem solve and think critically in real time with the Navigator team as needs from community members arise
• Provide input into our organization’s projects, plans, and activities to reach food justice goals both in the present and as we expand our work
• Assist with planning and staffing events with Community Engagement Manager
• Perform other related duties as assigned

Skills and Experience

Skills

• Video, graphic design, visual media skills
• Ability to synthesize large amounts of information and communicate it clearly to diverse communities
• Strong copy-writing and editing skills
• Wordpress/Website management experience
• Maintaining communities and cultures of care
• Engaging diverse communities and building trust and solidarity between them
• Empathy, compassion, and ability to regulate oneself and navigate conflict
• Managing multiple high priority projects and timelines
• Confidence in taking initiative and problem-solving
• Multilingual (English/Spanish) preferred but not required
• Knowledge of and high comfort level with computer software systems: Google GSuite, Monday.com, Slack, Canva, and video conferencing
• Familiarity with email promotion and marketing tools

Experience

• Experience as a community builder, project manager, organizer, communications specialist, graphic designer, multimedia artist, writer and/or event planner
• Experience working with Chicago-region community-based organizations forwarding racial and economic equity and justice-centered work with and for Black, Brown, and Indigenous people
• Familiarity with Chicago’s food ecosystem and experience with/passionate about organizing towards food sovereignty.
• Demonstrated experience with managing, creating plans, and reporting on project goals
• Experience creating marketing strategies and materials
• Managing email communications, forms, databases and/or spreadsheets

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Mobile for 3+ hours on event days
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.

Hiring Statement

Community Food Navigator is a project of Windward Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. Windward is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. Windwards work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.

E-Verify: Windward participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with employees’ Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the United States. Job candidates and employees authorized to work may not be discriminated against on the basis of national origin or citizenship status.