Applicants must complete and submit an electronic application for employment to be considered. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of completing an electronic application.

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) and the Farm to School Coalition of NC are seeking an Outreach Extension Assistant.

The primary purpose of this Outreach Extension Assistant position is to provide broad support of the outreach efforts of the farm to school (f2s) Initiatives of CEFS and the Farm to School Coalition of NC. The Extension Assistant will report to CEFS F2S coordinator and support CEFS Farm to School efforts, and will manage coordination of regular Farm to School Coalition of NC member meetings and work teams. Under the guidance of the CEFS F2S coordinator, the Extension Assistant will also assist the Farm to School Coalition partners to develop, design, implement, and access an outreach initiative, crafting an annual NC Award program for farm to school. Other outreach efforts will include website maintenance, social media management, as well as development of materials and publications for promotion, training, education in support of farm to school stakeholders. This position will be responsible for facilitating the gathering of project information and assisting in developing the information into a variety of outreach and training resources and well as data bases for documentation and evaluation.

The Outreach Extension Assistant’s primary responsibilities focus on engagement with farm to school partners across the state. The specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Work with Principal Investigators and project leads on Award development, promotion, implementation, data collection, and assessment.
  • Support on development of promotional, training, and educational resources.
  • Event support and Coalition Logistical Support.
  • Social Media, Listserv, Website management and communications.

Other Responsibilities:

The Extension Local Foods Working group is developing a collection of on-line mini courses in farm to school each with multiple modules, and this position will coordinate the organization of those teaching each module as well as coordination with the curriculum designer who will be contracted to design the course.

  • Weekly planning sessions.
  • Bi-weekly coordination sessions with the curriculum specialist and film crew.
  • Monthly development sessions.
Apply here.

Minimum Experience/Education – Master’s degree in Food Systems, Agriculture, Rural Development, Education, Nutrition, Dietetics or related fields, or Bachelor’s degree in above disciplines with at least 3 years or related experience, possibly as an intern, apprentice, or early career position in related area.

Other Required Qualifications:

  • Must be knowledgeable of food systems and farm to school generally, the impacts of racial inequities and strategies for building Racial Equity in Food Systems/Farm to School.
  • Clear racial equity lens and ability to analyze impacts of programs and processes.
  • Knowledge of educational systems as well as farm to school challenges, needs, and key players.
  • Excellent communication skills (written and oral).
  • Excellent organizing, people, decision making, computer and social media skills for a variety of audiences.
  • Experience working independently as well as with multiple partners and on multiple projects, including a large state-level project.
  • Demonstrated success supporting pursuit of goals and outcomes.
  • Desire to learn and develop a network and skill sets in farm to school.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • A passion for educational systems as well as farm to school challenges, needs, and key players in North Carolina.
  • Knowledgeable of food systems and farm to school generally, the impacts of racial inequities and strategies for building Racial Equity in Food Systems/Farm to School, and of the North Carolina context in particular.