Program Director

Position Summary: As the Program Director, you will develop and administer park and garden stewardship programs in partnership with other team members, ensuring that our programs thrive. You will also support our policies priorities, participate in a wide range of coalition spaces and work with a wide range of partners including community members, public agencies and elected officials to advance our park equity priorities.

Key Responsibilities Include:

Strategic Partnerships: You create, track, and implement partner development, advocacy, and coalition-related work. Building strong relationships with community-based organizations, government bodies, schools, and local stakeholders is essential.

Policy Advocacy: You provide strategic direction for school greening, park and garden stewardship, urban agricultural programs, land-use initiatives, and youth development programs aligned with the Land Trust mission. Your work contributes to shaping policies that promote equity and environmental justice.

• Park and Garden Stewardship Programs:
• Pipeline Project Development:
• Support for Program and Project Staff:
• A minimum of five years supervisory experience.
• General knowledge of and passion for land use and/or environmental justice issues.
• Bilingual fluency (English and Spanish) preferred but not required.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills
• This position requires a valid California Driver’s license and a personal vehicle.
• Ability and willingness to work in a fast-paced work deadline-driven environment.
• Willingness to work independently after hours and weekends.
• Demonstrated consciousness of racial justice, environmental racism, and equity.
• Collaborative: We’re pretty busy here, and your job is to help others, if needed, without minimizing their tasks. Working together also means bringing others into your campaigns and helping the rest of the organization understand your work.
• Partner that People Trust: Building trust, delivering on deadlines, and being diplomatic are crucial to the success of our campaigns and overall organizational goals. Trust, dependability, reliability, and likeability are important components of this work.
• Positive Attitude and Flexibility: Approach work with a spirit of “yes”; but be honest about limitations and capacity and say no when needed; even when saying no, strike a positive tone; push work forward through obstacles and adapt quickly as things change.
• Integration of Racial Justice and Equity: LANLT recognizes our role in shaping regional park and environmental justice policy to address disparities facing historically under-resourced communities and advocates for intentional policies to address inequity and historical systematic racism. LANLT extends this commitment to equity to our own programs by intentionally prioritizing low-income communities and communities of color. We further seek to engage and organize partners and residents from these under-resourced communities in shaping our programs to meet their needs. This framework is integrated into all the work we do throughout the organization.

Safe and Welcoming Spaces: You ensure that our parks and gardens remain safe, inclusive, and welcoming for the community. Monitoring safety, operations, and performance of park sites and amenities is crucial.

Park Operations Oversight: Overseeing caretakers, vendors, contractors, and consultants ensures that LANLT protocols and best practices are followed.

New Initiatives: You actively support the creation of new park and garden projects. This involves developing funding proposals to ensure the continuous delivery of services.

Community Leadership: Your role fosters community leadership-building

Team Support: You provide essential support to the Neighborhood Land Trust program and project staff. Your guidance and collaboration enhance their effectiveness. You will provide direct supervision to part-time Park Stewards and a minimum of two full-time staff.

Minimum Requirements and Qualifications: You should have a proven track record in developing and implementing programs that align with organizational goals. Your ability to translate vision into actionable programs is essential.

Additional Important Qualifications Include: