Lead Trainer

The Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive cultivates a more sustainable, community-oriented culture through college campuses by inspiring and equipping students to create and run thriving, cooperative, sustainable food businesses. We've been featured as a Slow Money Entrepreneur, one of the world's best 50 ideas for sustainability on Forbes.com and garnered national attention from The Huffington Post to fast food industry media.

Position Overview:

CoFed worked with 14 schools to begin organizing food co-ops this summer, and now we're continuing the vital work of supporting these teams by hiring new Lead Trainers. Additionally, our new hires will begin offering support services and membership shares to operating student food cooperatives.

Dates: November 2011, possibly sooner
Hours: Flexible full-time hours
Prefer San Francisco, Philladelphia or other coastal city  

Responsibilities:

CoFed's 2 Lead Trainers are full-time CoFed staff that coordinate the ROs in their region (West or East), and act as liaisons between CoFed core staff, member co-ops and Regional Organizers.

These knowledgeable individuals will provide consulting services and implement programs for our Member Co-ops.

Oversee Retreats

• Working with RO's, bottom-line week-long summer retreat for start-up teams
• Working with Core staff, plan and run January "Training-the-trainers" retreat

Mentor Regional Organizers

• Assist them in coordinating their region(s)
• Facilitate hiring of ROs by setting up hiring committee
• Facilitate weekly check-in calls with 3 ROs
• Keep RO's accountable to, and evaluate them on their contracts
• Collect weekly or bi-monthly reports from ROs, synthesize for staff/Board of Directors
• Log contacts into database
• Plan and facilitate occasional in-person meetings/trainings with ROs

Oversee Student Co-op Manager Fellowship Program

• Work with other core staff to develop programming for student storefront managers
• Check-in calls with 5 student fellows once or twice a month
• Connect students to mentors, opportunities

Be an Info Bank

• Research issues and topics relevant to cooperatives, food systems, campus organizing, etc. to supplement CoFed training
• Gather information for press releases and newsletter updates,

Create and Maintain Consulting Program

• Work with partner Lead and students to craft process and contract for carrying out a consultation
• Consult with member teams and start-up groups
• Develop new services
• Build relationships with outside experts for Consultants Cabinet/Advisory Board

Manage Memberships

• Create and maintain contracts with new and existing members
• Consult on-site or over the phone with members
• Develop and offer new services and resources to members
• Maintain Fiscal Sponsorship contracts

Qualifications:

• Must have experience working at and/or opening a cooperatively-owned cafe or market, as this will make them a bridge to connect students, organizers, and member co-ops with solutions to all types of challenges.
• Trainers will have experience with more technical aspects of running a successful grocery/food business as well as possess general knowledge around cooperative history, the cooperative model, Communication Facilitation and Strategic Planning Facilitation techniques.
• We are looking for a long-term commitment and are willing to fully train and support the right individuals.
• Cafe, grocery or worker cooperative management and development experience
• Interest and facility working with college students
• Training, facilitation and consulting experience
• Bachelor's degree preferred
• Candidates from historically discriminated groups encouraged to apply

Compensation:  Starting Yearly Stipend: Starts at $16,400
Qualifications

To Apply:

Send us a resume and cover letter via email by noon PST, October 16th; earlier applications preferred.