Overview

Farm School NYC is searching for two Co-Executive Directors to share leadership at this growing nonprofit focused on sharing urban agriculture practices and inspiring action on issues of food and land sovereignty, and social, economic, and racial justice. These positions will share leadership of the organization, its vibrant community of facilitators, learners, and land stewards, and determine the strategic vision for the organization as it approaches its 15th year of offering programming and 8th year of work as an independent nonprofit.

A Note on Shared Leadership: Farm School NYC’s hiring of co-Executive Directors will mark a shift in organizational structure from a distributed model to a hierarchical one, where power flows healthfully throughout the organization. The organization values collective decision-making and collaborative leadership and decided on this team structure to support a sustainable distribution of responsibilities between two co-equal positions. Farm School NYC shifted into a flat collective governance model in 2023 when the longtime executive director moved on from the organization. As changing federal funding priorities threatened Farm School’s financial stability, the organization brought our community together at a town hall, where we collectively moved to keep Farm School open by bringing on an executive director. Over the past year, an interim executive director has been in place to support the organization with financial stabilization and designing an executive search process.

For a more in-depth view of our organization’s journey, please feel free to review our 2024 Annual Report.

Deadline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until November 1, 2026; priority will be given to applicants who share their materials by October 16, 2026.

How to Apply: Please submit your application materials through this form. You can view a PDF of the application in its entirety here.

Learn more about Farm School NYC at www.farmschoolnyc.org. Email leadershipsearch@farmschoolnyc.org if you have questions about the opportunity or experience any issues with the form.

About Farm School NYC: Farm School NYC's mission is to train NYC residents in urban agriculture, build self-reliant communities, and inspire positive local action around food sovereignty, social, economic, and racial justice. At Farm School NYC, we center Queer and Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QT-BIPOC) leadership and promote food dignity and regenerative urban agriculture through an intersectional lens of racial, gender, and environmental justice. Our curriculum is rooted in indigenous and ancestral food ways (rooted in environmental sustainability, regenerative agriculture, and indigenous practices that balance the priorities of people and the earth), racial justice, and the lived experiences of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ farmers. Since 2011, our programming has served over 3,500 community members and we continue to work tirelessly to transform the lives of urban growers and communities through leadership development, community building, policy advocacy, and hands-on urban agriculture educational programming. Our commitment to healing spaces, care-filled connections, and principles of sovereignty, land justice, and liberation shapes a legacy that honors our ancestors and builds a proud future. Learn more about our programs here: https://www.farmschoolnyc.org/programs

Farm School is a NYC-based tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in August 2019, which employs two interim leaders and four staff members, as well as a robust community of facilitators, alumni, and collaborators. It is governed by a board of eight alumni, students, and community members. Currently, Farm School NYC has an annual organizational budget of around $800,000, supported by a mix of large scale government contracts, foundation grants, and donations from individuals, with potential to develop a variety of earned income streams from various partners. All of FSNYC’s programming is made available to the community on a sliding scale and the organization is currently exploring resourcing models that allow us to compensate students for participation in our programs.

Reports to: Board of Directors

Compensation: $100,000 per year for each position; please note that because Farm School is hiring for two leadership roles simultaneously, we are not in a position to negotiate salary upon offer, and therefore we are publicizing the salary at the top of our range.

Additional Compensation: Health, dental, and vision benefits, home office and technology reimbursements, access to NY Secure Choice for retirement Roth IRA, flexible schedule including up to 7 weeks of PTO, sick time, and a combination of office holidays and self-determined holidays.

Location: New York, NY - Organization is rooted in New York City, with a primarily remote office; positions are expected to be in or near NYC with the possibility to travel to in-person meetings, events, classes, and other programming on a weekly basis.

Anticipated start: January 2027

Term: Permanent, full-time (35 hours per week)

Structure: Two co-equal Executive Directors who each report to the board and are accountable to one another for overall organizational leadership.

The person in this role will be an experienced fundraiser able to design high-level development strategy while implementing the nuts and bolts of fundraising in a lean organization with no development support staff. Role will be responsible for stewarding $800K-$900K annually, with the opportunity for significant growth. FSNYC has historically relied primarily on government grants, which is risky under current conditions. New leadership will be tasked with diversifying our revenue streams while managing ongoing federal funding.

• Manage grants calendar and funder relationships, including developing new funders and prospects, preparing applications, and managing reporting deadlines

• Administer current FSA and NESARE contracts, including compliance and reporting

• Manage and develop FSNYC’s annual fund, including stewarding major donors

• Integrate a full donor CRM and development communications system and optimize GiveButter, with a focus on financial reporting accuracy, cleaning up duplicate campaigns, and developing relationships with donors

• Develop the accounts-receivable process for individual donations, program service fees, and major gifts, including acknowledgment letters

• Produce Annual Report

• Partner with board to determine best ways for board to participate in fundraising

• Create a gift acceptance policy in alignment with Farm School NYC’s mission and values

• Identify and develop new income streams, including opportunities for earned and fundraised income sources

• Identify and develop new partnerships with sibling organizations, clients, schools, and other community stakeholders interested in FSNYC curriculum and programming

The person in this role will be an operations whiz who delights in systems and day-to-day operational management. They will be responsible for managing complex contracts and restricted grants, and will steward a budget of $800-$900K annually. They will manage finance, HR, operations, and team culture-building.

• Manage organizational finances: budgeting, financial planning, reporting to Board and staff (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow) with a focus on transparency and education for all stakeholders

• Manage finance systems, including all A/P and A/R, including reporting and reimbursement for government contracts and restricted grants monthly, with Programs staff and grant partners

• Track restricted contract deliverables, budgets, invoices, receipts

• Supervise/coordinate the outsourced bookkeeper; manage month-end and year-end close

• Partner with the CPA and Board Treasurer on the annual financial review/audit and 990 / CHAR500 filings

• Run biweekly payroll with the bookkeeper; manage timesheets, PTO approval, PTO calendar

• Manage insurance package, including GL and D&O

• Manage employee onboarding/offboarding, including entry into payroll/benefits systems

• Manage staff benefits, and payroll/health insurance renewals, audits, premium payments, broker relationship

• Guide HR policy development, including ongoing iteration of the Employee Handbook with staff input and Board approval

• Develop and execute organizational contracts and agreements with 1099 contractors and external vendors

• Support job design and job description development process for current staff, leading recruitment for new positions as necessary and financially feasible

• Build ongoing supports for conflict resolution, team culture, professional development

• Manage core organizational and technological infrastructure

Both EDs will share responsibility for the following:

• Steward the ongoing work of refining and improving how the organization operates

• Assess and redesign staff roles and organizational structure to align staffing with available budget, mission, and capacity

• Lead and support staff members through shift in organizational structure from a distributed model to a hierarchical one, where power flows healthfully throughout the organization

• Serve as spokesperson and represent Farm School with funders, partners, press, and other external stakeholders

• Develop and maintain a set of community and field partnerships (e.g. Black Farmers Ecosystem) that strategically align with Farm School’s role in the ecosystem

• Support field-wide advocacy as needed

• Guide communications strategy

• Maintain regular Board meetings and communication and support Board governance, including onboarding new Board members, staffing committees, and supporting an engaged and aligned Board of Directors

• Take responsibility for program evaluation and ensuring that program impacts align with mission

• Lead with a collective, purpose-driven approach, consistent with what Board and staff have both said they want

• Hold Farm School's anti-racist, anti-oppressive analysis as a standard for every operational and vendor decision, not just a value statement

• Partner with the Board of Directors on major organizational moments, including the annual Board Retreat and Annual Community Meeting

• Supervise current staff including weekly meetings, regular performance evaluations, and professional development plans for FSNYC staff members, with exact reporting structures to be developed collaboratively

• Demonstrated senior nonprofit leadership experience, ideally through a period of financial or organizational transition, including successfully managing staff, volunteers, or teams

• Strong financial acumen; comfort creating and managing an organizational budget (Executive Director, Operations & Finance)

• Demonstrated fundraising track record, particularly in challenging conditions (Executive Director, Resource Mobilization)

• Comfort with collaborative/collective decision-making with staff and Board while demonstrating leadership rooted in purpose and trust.

• Open to candidates outside the traditional nonprofit-executive path: people deeply connected to the food justice/urban ag community without prior ED experience, or leaders from other sectors entirely

• Awareness of and lived or professional experience with the political, racial, class, and gender analysis of food, labor, capital, and climate justice, and with Black- and Indigenous-led liberation work in the U.S. and NYC specifically

The following are significant pluses; at least one Co-ED will need real experience in these areas:

• Credibility and lived relationship with NYC's growing spaces, farmers, and community gardeners, including direct experience with Farm School’s curriculum

• Understanding of Farm School's pedagogy — popular education, food justice, land stewardship — sufficient to represent it in external-facing decisions

• Fluency in USDA contracts, the Farm Bill, and agricultural policy sufficient to speak to funders, partners, and the Board directly

• Connection to the broader food justice and urban agriculture movement, including peer/sibling organizations