Southern Regional Director

Who We Are:

FoodCorps partners with schools and communities to nourish kids’ health, education, and sense of belonging so that every child, in every school, experiences the joy and power of food. Our AmeriCorps members serve alongside educators and school nutrition leaders to provide kids with nourishing meals, food education, and culturally affirming experiences with food that celebrate and nurture the whole child. Building on this direct service, FoodCorps advocates for policy change, grows networks, and develops leaders in service of every kid’s health and wellbeing. Our goal is that by 2030, every child will have access to food education and nourishing food in school!

How We Work:

At FoodCorps we are intentional about how we do our work, and how we show up in the world. We practice being in charge of accessing, feeding, and evolving our worldviews. We connect with our history, own our flaws, evolve our biases, and deepen our understanding of ourselves. We are willing to hold ourselves and others accountable with care through courageous conversations while celebrating diversity, embracing complexity, and building belonging. We recognize that we do not have all of the answers, we create space for divergent perspectives. We are intentional and collaborative about shifting power, access, and resources to those most impacted by systemic oppression.

What We’re Looking For:

The Southern Regional Programs Director to join our team of entrepreneurial, strategic, and impact-centered leaders with a vision for achieving FoodCorps’ impact at every level by ensuring high-quality direct service within current partner communities, growing our reach to new markets and deepening our reach in existing markets, building a powerful advocacy engine to advance policy change, and ensuring the financial health and sustainability of the regional program.

The Southern Regional Director will lead the implementation of strategy for their region that aligns the impact and growth of our programming and partnerships towards FoodCorps’ goals for broad reach and policy change. They will lead the teams who are responsible for FoodCorps’ community-level programming and partnerships across the existing geographies: Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky. They will directly supervise and mentor state-level staff: Student Impact Leads and Impact & Partnership Leads—toward individual growth and performance. The Southern Regional Director will cultivate deep knowledge of existing and prospective partnerships across the south, using examples of local impact.

As our programs work enters into a new season of clarity and alignment, the Regional Director will report to the Senior Director or Program Impact; and the department will continue to be led by the Vice President of Impact Programs. The Regional Director role will serve on the Impact Programs Leadership Team, collaborating with staff across the organization on regional and national initiatives related to policy, communications, evaluation, and fundraising.

Who You Are:

You are passionate about FoodCorps’ mission and have a demonstrated dedication to food justice and racial equity. You are driven by the goal of ensuring all students have access to hands-on food education and nourishing meals in school, while being deeply invested in the local FoodCorps partnerships that produce meaningful impact to students, schools, and districts across the south.

You are skilled at developing and leading hard-working teams through periods of change, cultivating trust, collaboration, and accountability. You are exceptional at building relationships, both internally and externally, and enjoy working across teams and departments to establish shared goals aimed at achieving organization-wide impact. You find value in program evaluation and measurement, using data to drive decision-making. You are adept at seeking and using feedback to craft your work.

The Southern Regional Impact Programs Director will be expected to travel out-of-state up to ten times throughout the year; and, more travel might be required for progress-monitoring student and community outcomes.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead the development, implementation, and assessment of regional partnership strategy to advance FoodCorps’ programmatic, power-building, and policy goals in collaboration with Impact Programs teams, Power-Building, and External Relations.
• Build deep understanding of current and prospective partnership opportunities across the region, determining their alignment with FoodCorps’ mission, assessing the potential size and scope of new market investments, and playing an active role in building and managing high-visibility partnerships, in order to map programmatic strategy to policy and advocacy goals.
• Cultivate a culture of team collaboration, individual accountability, and continuous professional learning (technical and adaptive) in the Southern Regional Team, by functioning as a manager, model, and mentor.
• Identify important story sharing opportunities that connect the local work happening in our partnerships to national or state policy opportunities, fundraising opportunities and pathways for replication in other communities.
• Partner with the Policy and Advocacy team on community-based, local, and regional advocacy and communications strategies that elevates Impact & Partnership Lead’s local advocacy and policy efforts and successes.
• Lead multiple state-level Impact Programs teams to deliver highest quality direct service throughout the Southern region through effective teaching and learning, people management, as well as partnership and program management.
• Provide insight and engage diverse staff and partner perspectives from your region to inform the development and evolution of regional strategy, as well as national program and partnership resources and processes that are responsive to partner needs.
• Collaborate with the Policy team to develop the strategy necessary to build a powerful advocacy engine to drive policy change across the region, including holding relationships with key partner organizations, influential decision-makers, and community partners.
• Ensure financial sustainability through effective budgeting, earned income, and support for fundraising strategy.

Measures of Success:

By the end of year 1, Regional Directors will have:

1. Internalized our Theory of Change and Program Theory, particularly with a focus on our metrics and outcomes for students and community.
2. Ensured that FoodCorps’ delivers high-quality programming across the south by creating and implementing a professional learning scope-and-sequence, which sets clear goals, objectives, and expectations for supporting the consistent implementation of effective teaching and learning practices, an equity-centered AmeriCorps member recruitment and selection approach, ongoing role-specific training, site visit protocols and look-fors, and overall cohort development.
3. Partnered with the Director of Program Expansion to research, asset-map, and begin exploration with 3-5 new district partners, or new geographic markets, conducting research and inquiry, initiating partnership discussions, and collaborating with Policy & Advocacy, Revenue, and Power-Building teams.
4. Collaborated with the Policy & Advocacy team to identify, project, and define FoodCorps’ role in regional and state policy opportunities, the effective utilization of regional alumni for movement activations (with at least one activation by the end of the program year) to help drive policy efforts and investments.
5. Identified at least two (2) story-sharing opportunities within each state that connects the local work happening in our partnerships to national or state policy opportunities, fundraising opportunities and pathways for replication in other communities.
6. Ensured the ongoing financial health of regional programs, in partnership with External Relations and Finance, by managing towards a balance of program costs-to-earned income opportunities (strategic partnerships, broad adoption, and direct service) and philanthropy.

Thriving at FoodCorps:

In addition to generous medical benefits and an annual $3000 401(k) matching, FoodCorps provides:

Time Away:

Social justice work is both vital and demanding. FoodCorps recognizes this and provides ample time to step away and recharge, including:

• half-day Fridays
• 5 weeks of accrued time off
• 12 federal holidays (AND your birthday!)
• 2-week winter break
• a sabbatical policy

Family Planning:

As an organization that supports youth development, our family policies need to match our values. To that end, we offer:

• 16 weeks paid parental leave
• Up to $7500 in financial support towards adoption fees, surrogacy expenses, contraceptive services, and travel for abortion services

Ongoing Support and Professional Development:

At FoodCorps, we want our people to work in the way that works best for them. We provide:

• $850 annual home office funds
• Internet bill reimbursement
• Partial cell phone reimbursement
• $500 annual professional development funds

How to Apply:

Applications will be accepted until a match is made. To be considered, submit your résumé and cover letter through our hiring site at https://foodcorps.org/careers/. Please note that incomplete applications may not be considered.

This position is a Director role with a starting salary of $125,000.00/yr.

People of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and LGBTQ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. FoodCorps is committed to a diverse workplace, and to supporting our staff with ongoing career development opportunities. FoodCorps is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its employment decisions. FoodCorps provides reasonable accommodation to applicants and employees as required by law.

Applicants with disabilities may request reasonable accommodation at any point in the employment process.