Diversity Outreach Coordinator

About this role

The Diversity Outreach Coordinator is a new role for Sustain, aiming to help us build better
opportunities, connections and allyship. We want our work to involve and support people and
communities experiencing inequity due to structural injustice, and with people with experience,
identities and from backgrounds that are currently under-represented in our sector. In
particular, Sustain recognises the extent and depth of racial and economic injustice in the
food system, hence the particular focus on these issues within this role.

The Diversity Outreach Coordinator role will evolve, and the person appointed will work with
the senior leadership team and others at Sustain to shape the role over time. However, as this
is a big theme, we want the person to be able to have a clear focus on some key objectives over
the next two years, namely:

1. Building positive relationships with young adults, and with organisations and institutions
   who work with young adults. In the first instance, this will be mainly in the higher education
   sector and potentially other relevant sectors, aiming to inform and inspire young adults on
   food and farming that is better for people, equity and the planet, and link them with
   opportunities to get involved.
2. Building positive relationships and working connections with organisers and organisations
   that have backgrounds, identities, experiences and perspectives that are currently
   under-represented in our sector; and to link them with opportunities to get involved with our
   projects and campaigns and to influence, contribute to and benefit from the work of Sustain and
   our alliance.
3. Building understanding, momentum and skills within Sustain and among Sustain alliance
   members and allies on diversity outreach and related matters, organising and running sessions
   of the Food Learning Forum to cover relevant issues.

In all of the above key areas, we will prioritise outreach to, and opportunities for, people
from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds; and people from economically disadvantaged
backgrounds (with some intersection, but this is not assumed; and this could develop into work
focusing on other aspects of diversity in future). The Diversity Outreach Coordinator will
organise a working party to help pursue these goals, for mutual benefit and support. They might
also establish and work with an advisory group of people with lived experience of matters
relevant to the work, to ensure that our work is grounded in authenticity and good practice.

Tasks and responsibilities 

The Diversity Outreach Coordinator will have a
varied and stimulating workload and will work in collaboration with Sustain’s senior leadership
team and rest of the staff, alliance members and allies, as well as the identified target
audiences. Over the first two years of this new role, the main tasks and responsibilities will
be:

1. Diversity outreach with young adults

• Develop, organise and promote a speaker programme creating platforms for people in our
  movement to inform and inspire young adults on food and farming that is better for people,
  equity and the planet. This programme will engage with organisations that work with young
  adults, making special efforts to include and support speakers and audiences from diverse
  backgrounds and identities.
• Develop Sustain’s existing and new relationships with higher education institutions (and
  potentially other organisations who, for example, focus on youth training and employment) and
  connect young adults – especially those from diverse backgrounds and identities – with learning
  opportunities, practical experience and work experience in the healthy and sustainable food and
  farming sector.
• Work with Sustain’s Administration and Finance Officer to develop, promote and review
  Sustain’s jobs website Roots to Work systematically, including making this more relevant and
  engaging for young people and people with diverse backgrounds, characteristics and identities.
• Engage with young adults via events, social media and an email newsletter that highlights
  opportunities to get involved with paid work, training, volunteering, campaigns, events and
  other relevant initiatives.
• Lead on developing work experience and/or paid internship opportunities, including
  fundraising to enable this.

2. Outreach to organisers and organisations

• Undertake some research, or synthesis of existing research, to help understand why some
  people and communities are currently under-represented in our sector.
• Cultivate warm and mutually beneficial relationships with organisations led by and/or
  representing people and communities currently under-represented in our sector.
• Encourage and facilitate involvement and representation of these organisations in Sustain’s
  projects and campaigns, particularly through our working parties, policy work and events.
• Explore areas of additional support or new projects on key issues and needs specific to
  these groups where they are not currently met. 

3. Building understanding, momentum and skills among the Sustain alliance and members

• Organise and run sessions as part of the Food Learning Forum, bringing together Sustain
  alliance members and allies to build understanding, momentum and skills relevant to diversity
  outreach and recruitment for diversity.
• Reach out to alliance members to map informally what other relevant activity is happening
  that aligns or supports this work, and look for gaps or opportunities for new work and joint
  programmes.
• Lead on relevant communications work, e.g. newsletter, presentations, blogs, briefings,
  social media.

4. Other tasks and responsibilities

The Diversity Outreach Coordinator will also:

• Maintain excellent financial records, contact databases and mailing lists, in line with
  data protection good practice, accountability, and support for people receiving payments via
  this work.
• Lead on monitoring, evaluating and learning from this work, reporting on progress to help
  shape the way it develops.
• Report to current funders, and provide the information, contacts, evaluation and other
  support to enable further development.
• Undertake other tasks and responsibilities that may arise from time to time.

Personal specification 

For this new Diversity Outreach
Coordinator role, Sustain is seeking a well-organised and personable individual, who is great
at working in a team and developing positive relationships with people and organisations, and
who has the following skills and experience.

Essential:

• Demonstrable interest and/or experience in one (or more) of the following: social justice;
  healthy and sustainable food and farming; human health; climate and nature.
• Demonstrable commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and racial justice.
• Experience of outreach and engagement of people and organisations, to take on a range of
  perspectives, and facilitating decisions and actions-making processes in pursuit of a shared
  initiative.
• Experience of arranging online and in-person meetings, workshops, speakers or other
  working, learning and sharing events, with good insights into what works well.
• Experience of taking a leading role in developing a partnership and project ideas to
  attract funding and other support.
• Highly organised in terms of writing workplans, managing diaries, data, emails, multiple
  relationships with people and organisations, managing flexibility and meeting reasonable
  deadlines.
• Ability to work independently, with high levels of self-motivation.
• Ability to be adaptable and problem-solve in a positive and solutions-focused way.
• Clear, accurate and engaging oral and written communication skills in fluent spoken and
  written English.

Desirable:

• Lived experience of issues relating to racial injustice and/or economic disadvantage.
• Recent experience in higher education, either as a student or member of staff.
• Experience of a range of research methods or using research to shape practice.
• Experience of arranging and/or chairing training or workshops.
• Experience of running a working group, keeping people informed, taking notes and following
  up on actions.
• Experience of writing and distributing a newsletter and social media outputs, or the
  aptitude and willingness to learn how to do so, using tools such as Excel, Mailchimp, Canva,
  Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
• Understanding of monitoring, evaluation and learning processes.
• Experience of managing databases of contacts, and in compliance with data protection rules.
• Experience of leading on or contributing to successful fundraising, especially for
  initiatives with social or environmental purposes.
• Experience of administering a budget, invoices and good financial records.
• Willingness and aptitude to line-manage another person (or other people) working on similar
  areas of work, either as a member of staff, paid intern or volunteer.

Diversity

The person appointed will contribute to the mutually supportive culture of Sustain (including
staff and project participants) in which equality and diversity are not just respected but
promoted. Visit our
website here for some useful advice if you are applying for a job at Sustain.

Sustain is recruiting for this role as part of our Ethnicity Confident and Disability Confident
schemes. Applicants who meet all the essential criteria, and who let us know voluntarily (via
our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form) that you would like to be considered in this way, will
be guaranteed a first-stage interview.

Sustain welcomes applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, class,
socio-economic background, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or
belief. We are happy to discuss and consider flexible working at the point of hire. We
particularly encourage applications from those from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with
diverse sexual and gender identities and people with disabilities. This is because these groups
are currently underrepresented at Sustain. Where two or more candidates are judged to be of
equal merit, priority may be given to a candidate who belongs to a group less represented at
Sustain.

How to apply

Download full job description here. To apply for this position, please email [email protected] the following:

• a CV (maximum two pages)
• a Covering Letter telling us about your experience and how this relates to the personal
  specification (maximum two pages)
• a completed Equal Opportunities Monitoring form

As we are recruiting for several positions over this period, please put Diversity
Outreach Coordinator in the subject line of your covering email along with your name.

Deadline: 10am, Thursday 8 June 2023

First-stage interviews for this position will take place virtually on either 15 or 16 June
2023, with second-stage interviews to take place either 30 June or in the week commencing 3
July (to be confirmed). Please indicate in your application if you are not available for any of
these dates, although we cannot guarantee we will be able to accommodate requests for
alternative timings.