San Joaquin Valley Farmer Advocate

Position Description

Job Title: San Joaquin Valley Farmer Advocate

Job Category: Manager II – Manager III

Location: Fresno, CA / Hybrid / (With occasional trips to Sacramento)

FTE: 1 FTE

Salary: $70,000-$80,000/ annually

FLSA: Exempt

Reports To: Policy Director

Other details: Bilingual required, Spanish

Bilingual Pay Differential: Eligible

CAFF is a California-based membership organization that includes family farmers and other community members passionate about local food, farming, and the environment. CAFF recognizes historic and lasting inequities in the California food and farming system and believes farmers of color and other historically oppressed people should have the opportunity to participate in a food and agriculture system that meets their needs, values, identities, knowledge systems, and communities.

CAFF commits to advancing racial, gender, and environmental justice in our larger systems and in our workplace. Our programming focuses on four areas:
Farm to Market, Policy & Advocacy, Farmer Services, and Ecological Farming. To learn more about CAFF, visit the website: CAFF’s history, core values, and more, at https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..

The San Joaquin Valley Farmer Advocate will play a pivotal role in supporting small-scale and underserved farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. This position will focus on organizing and advocacy for small-scale and underserved farmers while building bridges with farm worker and environmental justice organizations and shaping a just transition in agriculture. A successful candidate will help strengthen regional networks, elevate farmer challenges to policymakers, have the ability to work independently, be self-driven and highly motivated, possess strong communication, facilitation, and public speaking skills, and be passionate about CAFF’s mission and core values.

The interests of California’s family-scale farmers, particularly small and historically underserved farmers, are often overshadowed by powerful corporate interests. For over 47 years, CAFF has amplified the voices of these farmers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. We have focused on supporting small-scale farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and statewide, and fostering partnerships with farm workers and environmental justice groups to build a more equitable future.

CAFF seeks a Farmer Advocate to work directly with farmers, organizations, and governmental representatives to advance policy solutions that create a healthy and more just agricultural system in the San Joaquin Valley and statewide. The Farmer Advocate will strengthen regional farmer networks and build relationships with environmental justice and farm worker organizations. The ideal candidate will demonstrate initiative, the ability to navigate complex issues including farm labor and immigration reform, and development of strong partnerships to enable collaboration and movement building.

This person should be independently driven, with experience in multicultural organizing, project management, and facilitation, and have experience and passion for California agriculture.

As a vital part of the Policy Team, this position will identify opportunities and challenges by organizing and listening to farmers, articulating policy positions at state, local, and federal levels, and supporting general policy communications. The Farmer Advocate is expected to have a broad range of expertise and interest in learning about issues affecting agricultural communities (farmers, farm workers, and environmental justice communities), including access to land, water, capital, infrastructure, marketing, and climate change.

While the list below includes many initial duties and responsibilities, this is an evolving position and some responsibilities may shift over time as relationships are built, research is conducted, and roles are defined. An ideal candidate will help shape the position and workplan with the Policy Team.

Essential responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

% Time — Description

20% — Farmer Organizing & Engagement

• Collaborate with Policy Director and other CAFF staff in the region to…