Youth Program Manager

Job Description: We are hiring a Youth Program Manager to join our small team, mentor youth employees during the day-to-day work of farming, cultivate community partnerships, and develop curriculum and programming.

Start Date, Schedule, and Location: Full time (~35 hours/week) beginning in late February or early March 2025. This position will entail 35-40 hours per week from March through October with the potential for a more flexible schedule (~30-32 hours/week) and significant time off during the winter. This position requires 3-4 days per week on-site at the farm in Hillsboro during the spring, 4-5 on-site days during the summer, and 3-4 on-site days during the fall. There is significant flexibility for hybrid work during the winter.

About us: Working Theory Farm is an organic farm and youth development nonprofit located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb of the Portland metro area. Our mission is to empower youth through the shared work of farming to grow food for partner organizations who distribute this food to families in need. We support youth through a mixture of mentorship and employment programming, and work with partners to hire youth who have been impacted by the carceral system, homelessness or housing instability, developmental disabilities, and other barriers.

From our founding, Working Theory Farm has been focused on addressing the harms caused by systemic and institutional inequity. Our programming is focused on uplifting youth and feeding community members who historically and currently face injustice. The community members and youth we work with are primarily from Latino/Latinx backgrounds, and we seek to leverage our access to land and our skills as facilitators, educators, and farmers to benefit the people and communities around us. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People Of Color), LGBTQI2S+ folks, immigrants, and anyone who has experienced systemic marginalization are strongly encouraged to apply.

We’re looking for someone passionate about the work of youth engagement, education, and empowerment who also has an interest in collaboratively shaping this growing organization. We practice a collective model of leadership and integrate both adult and youth staff voices before finalizing crucial decisions. We annually revisit farm finances and compensation as we work together to establish a sustainable operating model. There is significant potential for growth, on-the-job learning, and cross-training in areas such as nonprofit administration, grant-writing, vegetable and animal production, and more. We would ideally like to find someone who’s interested in growing into a co-director role if that fit is right.

Job Responsibilities:

• Build affirmative, supportive relationships with youth participants while working side-by-side on farm tasks.
• Teach and facilitate daily farm tasks such as seeding, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, and feeding animals. Farm experience is not a requirement; all farm skills can be learned on the job.
• Communicate with community partners to schedule youth programming, identify potential youth employees, and conduct working interviews. Develop new community partnerships.
• Work with other staff to hire youth employees, communicate expectations, and hold youth accountable to expectations.
• Develop curriculum and programming to support youth in the development of socioemotional skills and support youth as they work towards self-identified goals such as finding employment or graduating from high school.
• Approximately 25 hours per week from April to October will be outdoor, hands-on, working with youth while farming. Approximately 15 hours per week will be meetings, planning, communicating, etc.
• Collaborate with the Development Director to implement, adapt, and create surveys, exit interviews, and other program evaluation tools.
• Implement existing trainings and develop new trainings to support staff mentors in the continued development of skills as youth mentors and educators.
• Participation in farm tasks will require the ability to lift and carry 50 lbs over short distances, walk over rough ground, bend at the waist, and squat repeatedly throughout the course of a workday, as well as the willingness and ability to work in all weather conditions.

Skills and Experience (what we’re looking for from all candidates):

• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills
• At least two years experience as a teacher, social worker, or some other form of youth mentor
• Comfort working both interpersonally and independently
• Strong resonance with our mission and program
• Reliability, organization, and attention/commitment to work
• Ability to adapt and be responsive to the needs of multiple stakeholders
• Willingness to give and receive feedback and engage in conflict processes

Skills and Experience Could Include: (We don’t expect you to be a unicorn and have all of these experiences. Anything on this list will catch our eye):

• Bilingual: English/Spanish
• Life experience or family experience reflective of the youth and communities we serve
• Experience as a farmer or landworker
• Experience training other educators and mentors
• Experience in curriculum development
• Experience in program evaluation