The Edible Schoolyard Project (ESYP) is dedicated to transforming the health and wellness of children in the Bay Area and beyond. By designing hands-on educational experiences in our garden, kitchen, and cafeteria, we connect children to food, nature, and one another. At the heart of an edible education is a dynamic and joyful learning experience for every child. The Edible Schoolyard Project was founded in 1995 by Alice Waters, the sustainable agriculture champion, school food reform advocate, and founder of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, CA.

The Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California serves as the Edible Schoolyard Project’s demonstration site and innovation hub. We garden and cook with sixth, seventh, and eighth graders and the program is fully integrated into the fabric of the school and the academic experience of every student. In addition, we produce a robust curriculum, host family focused programing and welcome guests from around the world for tours and workshops.

Position Description

The Edible Schoolyard Project is looking for a Director of Development and Communications. This is a full-time position providing management and execution of the fundraising and communications goals of The Edible Schoolyard Project. This position reports to the Executive Director and will build and manage a staff of three.

We are seeking a person who is highly skilled in team management and has a strategic mindset. Candidates will provide the resources and systems necessary to have a positive and productive work environment for their team. In addition, we are seeking a candidate with great interpersonal skills who can engage with a wide audience and has a passion for food and education.

The Development and Communications Director will be responsible for achieving annual fundraising goals of $2 million through a variety of revenue streams including individual cultivation and solicitation, engagement of family foundations, writing grants, planning and executing events, and recruiting corporate support. The Director is responsible for providing significant development support to the Executive Director and Founder Alice Waters, tracking actual revenue against budget forecasts and generating reports for the management team and Board of Directors. The Director will concurrently be responsible for developing and executing an annual communications calendar for both online, direct mail, and printed promotional materials throughout the year. In addition, the Director will produce an annual report and quarterly updates for the public pertaining to the work of the organization. All communications will help to engage the ESYP vision on a national and international platform across a broad group of constituents and stakeholders.  

Key Responsibilities

Development

• Work with management staff, Executive Director, and Board of Directors to implement an annual development plan that achieves an annual fundraising goal of $2 million.
•  Meet one-on-one with ESY’s current major donors to steward and solicit.
•  Work one-on-one with the Executive Director and ESYP Founder to set up donor meetings, proposals and successful solicitations.
•  Plan and execute ESYP’s annual fundraising events, including recruiting committee hosts, ticket sales, gaining corporate and family foundation sponsorship, and auction items.
• Manage an organization-wide fundraising calendar with deadlines for proposals, reports, activities, and events.
• Provide detailed reports about the fundraising progress on a regular basis and evaluate effectiveness of fundraising activities.
• Manage a collaborative grant writing process involving multiple team members, including writing proposals, grant reports, and communicating with grantors.
•  Ensure grant terms are met with compliance, records are maintained and that funders are acknowledged in a timely fashion.
• Research and identify new individual donors, foundations, corporate, and other funding opportunities.
•  Oversee planning and implementation of beneficiary events.

Communications

• Develop and maintain a communications strategy and work plan in partnership with the Management and Communications team.
• Lead the execution and dissemination of content and messaging including regular donor communications, social media, newsletters, and website content.
• Manage deadlines, schedules, and assets for all communications projects including website content, newsletters, direct mail appeals, and the annual report.
• Copyedit and proofread outgoing documents.
• Direct the process for designed printed collateral and promotional materials annually.

The Strongest Candidate Will Have:

• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in development and communications, including online marketing or a demonstrated track record that matches this experience.
• Successful track record of overseeing a major gifts program, such as a capital campaign, an endowment campaign and/or a planned giving program. Success in identifying, cultivating, and directly soliciting major gifts of $100,000 and more.
•  Success writing and winning grants from significant national foundations.
•  Experience working with Berkeley and the Bay Area’s philanthropic community.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including strong presentation skills.
• Ability to effectively work with and within a donor database in order to track donor “moves” and history.
• Excellent computer skills, direct experience working with website development, social media, and newsletter services.
• Excellent time-management skills with the ability to plan, organize, and prioritize workload and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Experience with content management systems and proficiency in MS Office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Google Suite, CiviCRM, MailChimp, and Adobe Creative Cloud tools (Photoshop, Dreamweaver). This is a Macintosh environment.
• Enthusiasm for food and food systems, and an understanding of how healthy food supports students’ ability to learn.
• Ability to motivate and reward a team of colleagues in pursuit of stated objectives.
• An innovative mindset and able to dream big, while being mindful of day-to-day fundraising needs.
• Strong, demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

What We Offer

The Edible Schoolyard Project offer a competitive salary commensurate with experience and a comprehensive benefit package.

The Edible Schoolyard is an equal opportunity employer and gives consideration for employment to qualified applicants without regard to age, race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, marital status, disability or protected veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.