Food Well Alliance (FWA) is a collaborative network of local leaders working together to build thriving community gardens and urban farms across metro Atlanta. Our mission is to provide resources and support to local growers to connect and build healthier communities. Our vision is for an equitable, local food ecosystem in which everyone can participate and benefit.

 In 2015, Jim Kennedy, chair of Cox Enterprises, and Bill Bolling, founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, had an idea to build healthier communities across metro Atlanta by connecting and supporting members of our local food movement. FWA exists to bring this vision to life. Today, we support more than 200 community gardens, orchards and urban farms in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton counties.

Since 2015, FWA has engaged thousands of people annually around the issues of local food and has provided more than $4 million in direct resources.

Food Well Alliance accomplishes its work through two primary program areas:

1. Resource Center- We provide centralized resources to build a supportive ecosystem for thriving community gardens, orchards and urban farms. We accomplish this work through 5 areas of support: Knowledge (e.g. trainings and workshops), Volunteer and Labor Support, Compost, Tools & Equipment, and Capacity Building Grants (for urban farms, community gardens, and community food organizations).

2. Policy & Advocacy- We bring local government leaders together with community and local food leaders to develop plans that bring urban agriculture into city planning processes similar to a housing or transportation plan. We accomplish this work primarily through our City Agriculture Planning, in partnership with the Atlanta Regional Commission. We are currently implementing the region’s first ever City Agriculture Plan with the City of East Point, launching a new plan developed with the City of Alpharetta, and beginning the community engagement process with our third city, soon to be announced. 

POSITION OVERVIEW

Food Well Alliance (FWA) is seeking a Compost Educator to help expose Atlanta Public School students to the benefits of locally grown food, composting and food waste reduction as part of the Compost Connectors Project. This position is in partnership with  Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture (TLW) at their Collegetown Farm and on-farm Community Compost Lab in SW Atlanta. The Compost Educator will report directly to FWA’s Urban Agriculture Project Manager and work closely with TLW staff, APS teachers and students K-12.

The ideal candidate is able to work both autonomously and as part of a collaborative team, is detail-oriented, thrives in a fast-past environment, can effectively balance competing priorities, and doesn’t let anything fall through the cracks. She/he/they are excited to contribute to a positive and productive team culture and help teach youth how to use composting and other agricultural practices to improve their communities. As part of this role you will be tasked with working with two Atlanta Public Schools, STEAM certified M. Agnes Jones Elementary and STEM certified Booker T. Washington High School. In this position you will be coordinating and helping deliver the curriculum in support of the Compost Connectors Project. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

Working with FWA’s Urban Agriculture Project Manager,TLW’s Community Compost Lab Manager, Booker T. Washington teacher(s) and additional FWA and TLWstaff members, the Compost Educator will use compost as the connector to engage students and their families in growing, cooking and eating more healthy food, while reducing food waste. Students from M. Agnes Jones Elementary School and Booker T. Washington High School will come to understand their role in building healthier communities by interacting with each phase of the compost cycle - from delivering kitchen scraps to compost bins and incorporating finished compost into garden beds to harvesting the food they have grown and eating meals they’ve prepared with it - then taking the scraps from those meals and returning them to be composted. Specifically, you will:

• Facilitate and coordinate education sessions and lead student activities at TLW to demonstrate compost processes and benefits using M. Agnes Jones Elementary School’s STEAM curriculum and Booker T. Washington’s STEM curriculum.

• Lead student activities for 10-15 Booker T. Washington students during the school year  and during summer. Students will apply STEM principles as they work at various facets of the compost cycle, food production and marketing produce at the farm’s onsite and online markets. 

• Develop leadership skills and green industry career experience for Booker T. Washington high school students through curriculum based activities.

• Lead after school programming activities for 10-15 M. Agnes Jones elementary students about two times a week. Students will apply STEAM principles as they learn the compost cycle. 

• With guidance from contract evaluators, collect and document data to track qualitative and quantitative measures.

• Successfully manage and track workflows and activities of Compost Connector students while on site at TLW.

• Maintain growing space utilized by students which includes watering crops, weeding, planting, etc. 

• Communicate program progress and status to TLW, FWA and school leadership. 

REQUIRMENTS

• Experience and passion for working with youth 

• Experience in teaching trainings, workshops, classes

• Demonstrated interest and experience in agriculture, community development, food systems 

• Must be available Monday through Thursday (On site at the farm from 4 pm-6:30pm) and some weekends 

• Ability to lift up to 40 lbs, bend, stoop, and climb

• Proficient in Microsoft Office and G Suite

• Strong verbal and written communication skills

• Must pass background check and sign confidentiality agreement

COMPENSATION

This is a grant-funded position that ends on June 30, 2024. Pay is $23/hour, and the time commitment is approximately 35 hours per week. Hours will be divided into the following areas: after school on farm education to high school and elementary students, student garden maintenance, lesson planning, data reporting, occasional off site educational events, and meeting with teachers, parents, FWA staff, and other stakeholders involved in the Compost Connectors project. Hours will be recorded in a timesheet and submitted to the Urban Agriculture Project Manager biweekly.

DIVERSE CANDIDATES ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY 

Food Well Alliance is a community that is proud to represent different racial, socio-economic, gender, and other identities. Our diversity as a community is our strength, driving our ability to be empathetic, visionary, and effective leaders in the local food movement and our city.