Program Director

Feed Black Futures; United States; Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

Feed Black Futures seeks a Program Director (Organizing & Community Engagement) to lead basebuilding, membership growth, and political strategy. You’ll coordinate with the Co-Executive Directors to align organizing with abolitionist values and community governance.

You will recruit and engage members, build leadership pathways, manage data systems, and supervise up to four staff while fostering strong coalitions and community partnerships in the Bay Area.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years in community organizing, basebuilding, or movement leadership.
• Knowledge of abolition, food justice, Black liberation, and Just Transition.
• Experience designing and implementing political strategy or campaigns.
• Strong facilitation with diverse Black, BIPOC, queer, and frontline communities.
• Experience supervising organizers or program staff.
• Ability to design systems for engagement, data tracking, and leadership development.
• Strong relationship-building across grassroots and institutional partners.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Highly organized with ability to manage multiple priorities and timelines.
• Familiarity with digital organizing tools and project management platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead organizing strategy, basebuilding, and membership development with a clear roadmap.
• Recruit, engage, and mobilize members; support Leadership Council activities.
• Develop systems for data collection, attendance, and leadership development pathways.
• Represent the organization in coalitions and with coalitions like HEAL Food Alliance.
• Supervise staff and coordinate with Co-Executive Directors on plans and metrics.
• Monitor progress, grant reporting, and communications for organizing programs.

Skills

Community organizing

Basebuilding

Movement strategy

Facilitation

Staff supervision

Membership engagement

Relationship building

Communication skills

Organization & time management

Digital organizing tools

Tools

Membership databases

Project management platforms

Job description

Feed Black Futures is a Black, queer-led organization committed to food justice, sovereignty, and healing within our communities. We strengthen Black food economies, cultivate ecosystems for resilience, and address the historical and ongoing harms of carceral violence, land dispossession, and extractive food systems.

Grounded in abolition, self-determination, and collective governance, we build community power toward a future in which Black communities have the resources, relationships, land, and infrastructure necessary to determine how food is grown, shared, governed, and sustained. Our work moves between meeting immediate community needs and building the conditions for long-term food and land sovereignty.

Job Description

The Program Director (Organizing & Community Engagement) will lead the development, implementation, and growth of FBF’s organizing, basebuilding, and membership strategies. This role will build the infrastructure required to develop a strong and politically aligned membership base and will steward the Leadership Council that guides our community-centered strategy.

In this role, the Program Director will directly implement membership recruitment and engagement efforts until junior organizing staff are hired. They will cultivate relationships across the food sovereignty ecosystem, represent FBF in key coalitions, and ensure that our political strategy is aligned with our organizational values of abolition, shared power, and ecological resilience.

This position is both strategic and hands-on, requiring leadership in designing long-term organizing strategy while also facilitating community engagement, events, and basebuilding day-to-day.

The Program Director works closely with the Co-Executive Directors and program staff to ensure strong political alignment, robust membership development, and a healthy culture of collective action.

Core Responsibilities

Organizing Strategy, Basebuilding & Membership Development

• Implement all membership recruitment efforts until junior organizers are hired, including direct outreach to farmers, community members, market vendors, policy partners, and religious entities
• Conduct regular basebuilding to achieve targeted recruitment goals and advance our strategic goals
• Build and operationalize systems for membership engagement, including meeting attendance, leadership development pathways, and mobilization to actions and events.
• Support the development, facilitation, and logistics of membership meetings, Leadership Council gatherings, community events, and political education sessions.
• Create systems for data collection and maintenance; ensure timely and accurate data entry into membership databases.
• Oversee and refine engagement structures that move members into deeper leadership over time.

Political Strategy & Coalition Leadership

• Lead the process for identifying campaigns, establishing political priorities, and shaping strategy alongside the Co-Executive Directors and member leaders.
• Represent FBF in coalitions including HEAL Food Alliance, National Black Food and Justice Alliance, and Climate Justice Alliance.
• Strengthen relationships with local, regional, and statewide partners including farmers, community-based organizations, and municipal and state actors.
• Support FBF participation in aligned movements across the solidarity economy, food sovereignty, and racial justice ecosystems.
• Support documentation of FBF’s movement contributions and community impact.

Program Leadership & Organizational Strategy

• Partner with the Co-Executive Directors to build annual and multi-year organizing plans.
• Develop metrics, tracking systems, and evaluation processes to measure basebuilding and leadership development goals.
• Ensure organizing work aligns with FBF’s broader strategic vision and abolitionist values.
• Support grant writing, reporting, and program communications related to organizing and community engagement.

Staff Management & Development

• Supervise up to 4 staff, including community engagement staff and an administrative coordinator.
• Develop staff capacity through ongoing training in political education, basebuilding, leadership development, canvassing, and facilitation.
• Support leaders to create strong, values-aligned committee structures that grow membership and deepen member engagement.

Desired Skills & Experience

• Minimum 5 years experience in community organizing, basebuilding, or movement-oriented program leadership.
• Commitment knowledge of abolition, food justice, Black liberation, and Just Transition.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing political strategy or issue-based campaigns.
• Strong facilitation skills, with experience working across diverse Black, BIPOC, queer, and frontline communities.
• Experience supervising organizers or program staff.
• Ability to design systems for membership engagement, data tracking, and leadership development.
• Strong relationship-building skills across grassroots and institutional partners.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Highly organized; able to manage multiple priorities and timelines.
• Familiarity with digital organizing tools, membership databases, and project management platforms.

Role Details

Location: Hybrid, flexible; Three days a week in person preferred, Oakland, CA.

Reports to: Co-Executive Director
Hours: 40 hours/week; within M-F, 9am-5pm
Compensation: $95,000-$115,000 depending on experience and confirmed funding
Status: Full-time, exempt
Timeline: Initial six-month mutual fit review period; two-year funding commitment with strong potential for extension.