Project Bread connects people and communities in Massachusetts to reliable sources of food while advocating for policies that make food more accessible—so that no one goes hungry. To assist us in meeting our mission, Project Bread – The Walk for Hunger is seeking a Community Engagement Associate to join our growing team.
At Project Bread, we have a deep commitment to creating positive social change and recognize that hunger and racism are inextricably linked. We work in a fast-paced environment that values learning, innovation, and diverse perspectives. Knowing its centrality to our work, Project Bread is committed to equity and inclusion. We aspire to build a diverse team, including groups that are traditionally underrepresented among our sector leadership. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.
Supervisor: Catalina López-Ospina, Vice President of Engagement
Salary Range: $50,000 - $55,000
The Role:
The Community Engagement Associate will play a key role in supporting the Department of Engagement in internal and external strategies to create lasting relationships based on respect and trust with people with lived experiences, community-based organizations, and other key stakeholders in the anti-hunger community. The successful candidate for this position will demonstrate excellent project management skills, attention to detail, and an extraordinary ability to build relationships with people from a wide range of cultural and educational backgrounds and perspectives.
About the Department of Engagement:
The newly created Department of Engagement meaningfully engages with people with lived experiences of food insecurity to advise Project Bread's organizing model, which includes direct service work and systemic change work to produce impactful solutions to solve hunger in Massachusetts permanently. We define people with lived experiences as those who use or have used at some point in their lives emergency food programs or federal nutrition assistance programs, including WIC, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and school meals, among others, for access to food they need to live a healthy life.
Primary Responsibilities:
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Support the Vice President of Engagement and Director of Community Partnerships in managing internal and external relationships and collaboration related to their engagement work.
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Develop and maintain a relationship management system that identifies needs, opportunities, and blind spots that need to be addressed.
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Support the creation of content that reaches diverse constituents and is developed promptly and strategically.
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Provide technical assistance to Project Bread staff regarding community engagement protocols.
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Provide administrative support to the Engagement Department.
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Support the planning, scheduling, execution, and follow-up of meetings and other related tasks.
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Support the creation of content that reaches diverse constituents and is developed promptly and strategically.
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Document the progress of internal and external engagement strategies in a manner that can be used to demonstrate the impact of the work.
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Support the launch, execution, and progress of engagement strategies.
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Create and submit the monthly financial reporting.
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Special assignments as directed by the Vice President of Engagement and Director of Community Partnerships.
Organizational Responsibilities:
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Participate in planning and evaluating the annual Walk for Hunger, including working as event staff the weekend of the Walk (first weekend in May) and attending pre-Walk events as assigned.
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Participate in organization-wide events and meetings.
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Act to promote, sustain, and grow Project Bread’s positive, productive, and inclusive working environment.
Qualifications:
There are innumerable ways to learn, grow and excel professionally. We know people gain skills through a variety of professional, personal, educational, and volunteer experiences. Project Bread recognizes this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. This said we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate most of the qualifications and experiences listed below.
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Personal commitment to solving hunger in Massachusetts.
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Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to develop productive working relationships with partners and colleagues from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
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Resilience and adaptability demonstrated in the workplace, navigating ambiguity, changing course when necessary, and seeking creative solutions.
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Ability and comfort working independently and as part of a team of dynamic creative professionals.
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Ability to give and receive feedback in a thoughtful and constructive manner.
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Ability to exercise good judgment and focus on the details required by the job.
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Proficient and general comfort in a variety of software applications such as Microsoft Office and other platforms.
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Proficiency in Mandarin, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, or Arabic preferred.
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Individuals with lived experience with food insecurity are encouraged to apply.
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This role requires regular in-state travel.
All employees currently work in a hybrid remote and in-office model and are expected to spend at least some time in the office weekly. The Community Engagement Associate will be required to be present in the East Boston office regularly and attend all department meetings in person.
For the safety and protection of Project Bread Staff & Constituents, we do have a COVID-19 Vaccine Policy that requires all staff to be fully vaccinated per the CDC definition. Accommodation requests will be considered through our normal request process.
Benefits include Blue Cross Blue Shield health and dental, flexible spending accounts, retirement plan, life, and long-term disability, contributions to commuting costs and wellness expenses, and unlimited paid time off.
Please apply here by completing our application form and uploading your resume and cover letter in MS Word or Pdf format.
Review of applications will begin May 3 and continue until the position is filled.
Project Bread is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, height, weight, or marital status in employment or the provision of services. Please contact us at jobs@projectbread.org if you would like to request special accommodations during the interview process.