Urban Adamah: Young Adults Programs Director
ABOUT THE ROLE
FELLOWSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES
The Urban Adamah Fellowship is a three-month residential immersion program for young adults that integrates Jewish living and learning with leadership training, sustainable agriculture, social justice training, and community building. The Young Adult Programs Director has the overall responsibility for ensuring the vibrancy and thriving of the Fellowship and fellows, including but not limited to…
Curriculum, Teaching & Scheduling:
Become intimate with the existing Fellowship model and curriculum and be prepared to execute on it by Summer 2021. Following the Fall 2021 Fellowship propose and actualize curricular development and innovation
Teach 25% – 50% of the Fellowship curriculum (including leading Avodat Levs). The Young Adult Programs Director led / taught content will be determined based on their personal expertise areas
Build a schedule for the remainder of the classes to be taught by a rotating group of guest faculty, including Urban Adamah staff and community partner educators
Forge new partnerships with local educators and steward existing and emerging partnerships
Contribute to the evolution and documentation of Urban Adamah’s pedagogy in collaboration with fellow staff and consulting partners
Fellow Support:
Serve as primary staff liaison for the Fellows throughout the Fellowship season; build team of Resident mentors and serve as their liaison
Facilitate orientation and closing program sessions for each Fellowship
Ensure Fellows are motivated and resourced to actively participate in all aspects and elements of the Fellowship, including all learning, farm field work, internship placements, community living and collaborating, etc. When / as necessary, work with Fellows who are struggling to adhere to community guidelines
Remain engaged with and support Fellows ongoing personal growth, Jewish community connection, and engagement with Urban Adamah post-Fellowship
Fellowship Communications:
Work with The Young Adult Programs Associate to manage all Fellowship communications and data in our CRM tool in advance of arrival and throughout the fellowship
Monitor and manage application and enrollment status, and payments as they are received
Fellowship Recruitment:
Develop and manage implementation of a comprehensive recruitment process to ensure full Fellowship classes each season, including general marketing, personal outreach, and possibly some travel
Conduct second-round interviews with promising applicants and select participants
Work with Creative & Marketing Manager to ensure the Fellowship section of the website is up-to-date and accurate
Relationship Building:
Build and maintain relationships with local food access and urban gardening organizations where Fellows intern weekly
Oversees Fellow placement at partner organizations and work to ensure placements / internships are successful for both Fellows and hosting organizations
Be an active participant in internship presentation nights each Fellowship season and coordinate the internship selection process
Evaluation:
Ensure distribution, collection, and review of Fellows’ program evaluations before, during, and after the Fellowship, and provide appropriate follow-up
Evaluate Fellows’ internship placements and follow up as needed
Provide feedback from evaluation data with staff, teachers and guest lecturers as necessary
Mentorship:
Work with Resident Mentors to support Fellows in their ongoing development during and after the fellowship
Write Alumni references as requested and as warranted
Work with Young Adult Programs Associate and Creative & Marketing Manager to maintain a spreadsheet of Alumni activities and positions, updated twice annually
Assume a key role in the development and implementation of annual Fellow Alumni Retreat
RESIDENCY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Residency program is a work exchange program in which six residents live in the Camp Street Residence in six month increments. Residents both support Urban Adamah programming and farm work, and in exchange, are offered meaningful support and opportunities to provide a ‘Fellowship 2.0’ living experience. Responsibilities include but are not limited to…
Work with Young Adult Programs Associate, supervisor, and Residents to iterate on the current structure to meet organizational and programmatic objectives. (The Residency program is in ongoing evolution, as it is one of the Young Adult Programs departments newer programs)
Support the Young Adult Programs Associate in recruitment, and participate in second round interviews with Residency candidates
Onboard Residents, serving as Residents’ primary support staff, as the liaison between Residents and Urban Adamah staff and Fellows, and managing ongoing needs of the Resident apartments (including monthly evening meetings, and support of Resident-led outreach programs)
YOUNG ADULT RETREAT RESPONSIBILITIES
Young Adult Immersion Retreat Weekends:
These retreats happen up to 2x per year. Our Young Adult Immersion Retreat Weekend is for adults ages 21 – 35, and offers a weekend of unplugging and grounding through farming,
singing, and community building. Responsibilities include…
Collaboration with Public Programs department on program content, schedule, recruitment, enrollment, and logistics
Teach 50% of sessions / classes
Follow up post-retreat to assess participant experience and as a method of recruitment for Fellowship seasons
Alternative Spring Break Programs:
Through our Spring Break Programs, we partner with university Hillel’s nationwide to offer the best of the Young Adult Fellowship, concentrated into a week.
Forge and maintain year-round relationships with Hillel staff for purposes of collaboration and recruitment
Work with the Young Adult Programs Associate to build the schedule, manage, and delegate logistics
Teach 25 – 50% of sessions / classes
Fellowship Alumni Reunion:
The Fellowship Alumni Reunion is a weekend of connecting with Alumni old and new, celebrating Shabbat, singing, relaxing, eating farm-fresh food, and more! This is an opportunity for Alumni to re-live the magic of the Fellowship, and to leave feeling grounded and inspired.
Collaboration with Public Programs department on program content, schedule, recruitment, enrollment, and logistics
Teach 50% of sessions / classes
OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES
The Young Adult Programs Director plays an important role ideating, proposing, and designing new and innovative programming reflecting Urban Adamah’s mission, vision, and values. We are committed to continued programmatic growth and innovation, and the Young Adult Programs Director has a central role to play in this work. The Young Adult Programs Director may be asked to support the organization in other ways as needed, including representing Urban Adamah in the greater community in a variety of ways.
ABOUT YOU
Competencies and strengths that will make you a good fit for this role include those listed below. We are open to applicants with varying levels and types of experience, provided that the applicant displays the skills required to successfully execute the job described above. You might be a good fit if you…
BACKGROUND & INTERESTS:
Strong knowledge and experience base in earth-based or other interpretive expressions of Jewish life and values, food systems / social justice, and mindfulness
An appreciation for the natural world and for how deeper connection to it can elevate and bring greater meaning to our individual and shared lives
A personal commitment to tikkun olam, fixing the brokenness in our world, and excitement to develop opportunities for others to share in that work
COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION:
Possess strong interpersonal skills and can collaborate well with a range of colleagues and other stakeholders
Are a people person at your core that loves connecting and building community around you; developing partnerships is your idea of a good time, and you would look forward to meeting folks who might want to host an event at the farm, or have a program idea to pitch
Are comfortable and effective working independently and as a member of a team, in both leadership and supporting roles
MOTIVATION, ORGANIZATION & SUPERVISION:
Are a self-starter
Are highly organized, able to track and execute on multiple projects and tasks simultaneously, and are detail oriented
Are comfortable maintaining multiple channels of communication (text, email, phone, Slack) and independently managing your workflow to keep projects on track
Have experience as a supervisor, and are proficient in nurturing your supervisee’s professional growth, delegating work without losing accountability for it, and can help a supervisee prioritize and troubleshoot their workload
STRATEGY & PROBLEM SOLVING:
Are a ‘big picture’ thinker, enjoy developing, interrogating, and implementing new ideas and initiatives
Enjoy problem solving, seeing it as an opportunity to connect with and support others and the organization
GROWTH
Demonstrate a good balance of self-confidence and humility, can name and make the most of your strengths, and welcome feedback that will lead you to grow and develop as a professional
Appreciate a work environment where you are supported, encouraged, and sometimes pushed to learn new things or consider doing things differently
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
The physical demands listed below are representative of those that must be met by an employee in this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities:
Typing, writing, reading, hearing, and speaking
Standing and walking for several hours, as well as sitting, squatting, crawling, climbing, and lifting up to 30 lbs
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
COMPENSATION:
This is a full-time benefited position that includes healthcare, holidays, and paid time off. The salary range for this position is $65,000 – $72,000 per year.
SCHEDULE
General hours of employment are 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Monday – Friday. The Young Adult Programs Director at times will need to work on evenings and weekends and, on occasion, more than 40 hours per week to fulfill the duties of the position.
SUPERVISION:
This position is supervised by the Associate Executive Director.
APPLICATION DETAILS
We deeply value the diversity of insight, perspective, and experience brought by people from diverse backgrounds. This includes Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian people, LGBTQ, and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities, Black Jews, Jews of Color, Sephardi and Mizrachi Jews. We also welcome applications from people of diverse religious, spiritual, and cultural backgrounds. We affirmatively seek to advance the principles of equal employment opportunity.
APPLICATION SUBMISSION INCLUDES…
Cover letter, resume, three professional references with how you know them, and responses to the following short questions. Bullet pointed lists are welcome as responses to the short questions, if preferred by the applicant. (maximum 200 words for each).
Please share how you personally relate to Urban Adamah’s mission.
Please share a short sample of how you would teach a cohort of 16 fellows about Shabbat in a session prior to their first weekend in the Fellowship.
We will be evaluating applications on a rolling basis, and will keep this job posting up until the role is filled. If you have any questions about applying, please contact adamw@urbanadamah.org.