Slough Farm is a nonprofit educational farm and gathering place named for Slough Cove of the Edgartown Great Pond. The wisdom of our human and non-human neighbors inspires our work. We are proud to teach regenerative agriculture on our working farm, and to support our fellow farmers, food equity organizations, and creative communities.

We are committed to the integration of small-scale, sustainable farming and the arts through place-based educational programming. Facilitating collaborative exchange of skill, history, and perspective is part and parcel of our work. It is our hope that all our labors—from weeding and harvesting shoulder-to-shoulder, to feeding our island community, to hosting artists- and thinkers-in-residence—aids this vision.

Slough Farm Program Director

Slough Farm is a 45-acre working farm and non-profit foundation located in Edgartown, MA on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. In addition to practicing ecological agriculture, Slough Farm aims to become an educational hub supporting farmers, writers, artists, craftspeople, community organizers, and thinkers both on and off the island.   

The Program Director will be responsible for designing and implementing on-site educational, agricultural, and arts programming. They will work with the Slough Farm team to imagine, organize, and carry out programs throughout the year. A large part of their role will be to build on existing relationships with community-based organizations on the island and create meaningful programs that meet local needs. They will also design new programming that brings speakers, thinkers, artists, and organizations from off the island to spend time at Slough Farm. This is a Director Level strategic role and a unique opportunity to contribute to  building the vision and identity of Slough Farm from the ground up. The Program Director will report to the Executive Director. 

The position is based on Martha’s Vineyard. (Potential housing opportunities to be discussed during the interview process.) 

What You’ll Do:

• Work closely with the Executive Director, Property Manager, and Farm Managers to design and coordinate programming. As the point person for all on-site programming, responsibilities might include, but would not be limited to: 
  • Creation and coordination of a Slough Farm Arts/Cultural Residency; designing a call for proposals; running outreach to various audiences; managing the application and selection process; being available on-site throughout residencies to welcome residents and support their experience
  • Design and execution of one-off events; readings, presentations, workshops on ecological and environmental topics, community gatherings and meals, visiting speakers, a harvest festival, etc. These events will be designed with input from the whole team; the program director will be responsible for managing all incoming ideas from the team and will oversee outreach and day-of execution
  • Coordinate week or weekend-long educational gatherings; helping design invitations; communicating with attendees; being available all weekend to support and help facilitate programs
• Build new and maintain existing relationships with local community organizations and find ways that Slough Farm programs can support the ongoing work of farmers, artists, and educators on the island.
• Make sure the entire Slough Farm team is updated and informed about ongoing and upcoming programs.
• Maintain documentation of all ongoing programming, debriefing with the team and identifying metrics for tracking success.
• Create internal systems and processes to manage and evaluate all incoming programming ideas and build out long-term programming standards.
• Coordinate social media posts, update the website and events calendar; write and manage monthly e-newsletter.
• Manage budgets and reporting for individual programs.

Our Dream Candidate Has: 

• Demonstrated experience in designing and running educational, agricultural, and/or artistic programs for participants of many backgrounds
• An interest in sustainable agriculture and farming practices
• Astute decision-making skills and an ability to be highly productive with minimal daily supervision
• The ability to imagine and integrate a wide spectrum of creative public programs that will help to define the ongoing mission of the Slough Farm Foundation
• An eagerness to work with a collaborative team in an environment with a lot of creative freedom and self-direction
• An appetite for getting hands dirty, throwing on a pair of farm shoes, and stepping in at any given point to help make a program successful
• Prior experiences that allow the candidate to “hit the ground running” and develop an org-specific programming strategy on day one 

Salary commensurate with experience. Excellent health/dental coverage