Farm Viability and Access to Capital Fellowship
Current Opening: Relationships and Sector Development Fellow
Applications before July 15, 2024, are given preference.
What are the Goals of the Fellowship?
The Relationships & Sector Development Fellow is a position within the Farm Viability and Access to Capital Fellowship. The position combines relationship building and business and financial education for the organizations’ two key audiences: partner organizations and farm and food entrepreneurs.
The Fellowship has the following goals:
- For the Fellow, the goal is to utilize The Carrot Project and Agricultural Viability Alliance as a training ground to be a highly effective sector participant in farm viability and access to capital.
- The Fellow is a knowledgeable sector actor, connector, champion, and agent of impact for the sector, The Carrot Project, and the Agricultural Viability Alliance.
- The Fellow secures underserved farmers’ futures by connecting them to key resources and by providing wrap-around business assistance and access to capital.
Is this an academic fellowship?
This is not an academic fellowship. The Fellowship is for professional development and applied learning in farm viability and access to capital work. The Fellow will make professional connections throughout the sector and will be supported with on-the-job training. The Fellowship is designed as a stepping stone or career transition to roles such as 1:1 business advising at The Carrot Project or within the sector.
What does a Relationships and Sector Development Fellow do?
The RSDF acts as a resource and educator on farm and food business viability, financial, business, risk management, and access to capital topics for primarily BIPOC, women, and low-income/resource and early-stage business owners. The RSDF engages in 1:1 business coaching, delivers educational trainings, and develops online resources and client-oriented newsletters for farm and food businesses.
The RSDF’s responsibilities are divided as follows:
- 25% organizational relationship building
- 25% financial & business educational training & events coordination
- 25% farmer coaching, outreach & engagement
- 10% digital educational resources & newsletters
- 15% project administration and grant reporting
What type of farm and food businesses will I work with?
The Carrot Project’s work is grounded in a commitment to racial equity and an inclusive sector. The majority of our clients are in their first generation of operating a farm or food enterprise, including beginning farmers and pre-revenue startups. Overall, 90% of our clients are BIPOC, women or low-income/limited resource. Currently 50% of our educational offerings and 20% of our 1:1 in-depth business advising services are provided specifically to BIPOC clients. Our clients are working to build financially viable businesses and operations range from startups to $2M in annual gross revenue.
What is the Mission of The Carrot Project?
We support agricultural businesses securing their futures by breaking down financial barriers, and building their path to sustainability. We do this as business advisors and through education, advocacy, and research.
What are the Operating Values of the Fellowship?
The Fellowship centers sector transformation and underserved farmers in our work, through a human capacity and relationship perspective, by building individual and organizational relationships and by building the capacity of business advisors, farmers and partners to support the farm viability and access to capital readiness of underserved farm operators.
What is the Fellowship term?
The RSDF position is a temporary two-year position, with the possibility of extending for an additional 1 or 2 years, with a 4-year term maximum.
We invite you to chat further with us about your career goals as it relates to this Fellowship opportunity.
What is the Fellowship compensation?
The salary range is $63,000 – $68,000 range depending on qualifications and experience. An employer contribution to a pension plan, access to a 403b retirement plan for employee contributions, as well as robust benefits and vacation time are included. Please view the job posting for a complete package description.
Where can I view the job posting?
For additional details about RSDF responsibilities please visit the job posting here.
In the job posting, are the years of experience cumulative?
Professionals enter this work through a variety of backgrounds. We have included a variety of experience to provide flexibility and as indicators of what may make someone successful in this work. You may meet the required experience flexibly in a number of configurations, for example, you may work 4 or more years in one role, such as a farm or food business manager, that meets all three required work experience categories simultaneously. The job posting should not be read as requiring 9 years of work experience, however, a mid-career professional may apply.
For reference, the job posting lists the following work experience as required:
- 4+ years of for-profit or non-profit project coordination experience
- 3+ years of direct experience playing a role in the regional food system, such as farming
- 2+ years of experience in any sales or customer-facing role
- Experience with adult education best practices, collaborative and interactive adult learning
The job posting lists the following work experience as preferred:
- 3+ years of experience combined in any of: agricultural production/management; OR agricultural risk management or insurance; OR farm and food underwriting, business advising, bookkeeping, or accounting; OR food system market channels and purchasing; OR related academic training to any of these topics
We will consider exceptional candidates who demonstrate a strong combination of the specific qualifications and skills described. On the job training is available for those with the right combination of soft skills and a baseline of agricultural or regional food system industry exposure. The ideal candidate would both have a background in adult education and have worked within agriculture or the regional food system, although some candidates may apply having one or the other.
What is the application process?
The Fellowship application process is approximately as follows:
Application review: July 8th – July 19th
Informational calls: July 15th – July 23th
Interviews: July 30th – Aug 23rd
Notification of applicants: Aug 30th
Fellowship begins: September 23rd
A portion of the interview process will be conducted in person, please be prepared to travel to Massachusetts to interview.
Applications are accepted until the Fellowship is filled but preference will be given to those submitted by July 15th, 2024.
How should I apply and what should I submit?
Please click here to apply.
Required materials: Resume, Cover Letter
Optional materials: We recommend you provide a link or attachment to one or more work samples showing your capacity to deliver written or oral educational content to an adult audience. An acceptable work sample could be any of:
- A slide presentation and complementary teachers’ guide or delivery notes
- An educational video
- A written piece of educational content
In your cover letter, please address either or both of the following questions as they apply to your experience:
- Describe a role or instance when your job required you to maintain or build relationships for your organization, what was your approach? What was the outcome?
- Describe a role or instance where you delivered educational content to a group. If adult education best practices, learning by doing, or curriculum adaptation played a role, please include this in a description of your approach.
What is the background on The Carrot Project?
The Carrot Project has a 15-year history of sector change in access to capital and farm viability.
The Carrot Project works toward a just and resilient farm and food system. The entrepreneurs we serve face barriers to becoming financially viable, so we support them to develop financial management skills, by providing information, training, skill-building, and capital, within a carefully crafted ecosystem of support.
We combine our on-the-ground programs with our research, collaboration, and advocacy to create transformational change on farms, across our region, and at a national scale. We intentionally pivot our programs to respond to our clients’ changing needs. Our deep network of collaborative partnerships is one of our core strengths, and we design our programs to address sector gaps.
One of our programs catalyzing systemic change is the Agricultural Viability Alliance, which connects farm, food and forestry viability advisors in New England and the Hudson Valley.
The Carrot Project is a fiscally sponsored organization of TSNE.
Who is the contact for questions?
You may contact Benneth Phelps at info@thecarrotproject.org. Time allowing, we will answer inquiries. You may also choose to hold your questions until the informational calls to be held between July 15th and July 23rd.