Career Opportunities

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Board of Directors (Volunteer)

Hilltop Urban Farm is seeking Interested Applicants to be At-Large Board Member

About Hilltop Urban Farm:

The Hilltop Urban Farm is a nonprofit, community-centered farm in south Pittsburgh’s Hilltop community. With 23 acres dedicated to farming, it is a multi-pronged initiative that will produce locally-grown crops, provide agriculture-based education, generate entrepreneurial opportunities, and strengthens communities. Given its size, scope and reach, it will ultimately become the largest urban farm in the United States and serve as a resource for urban farming initiatives.

The Hilltop Urban Farm has been in development since 2013, following a comprehensive community visioning process. Soil rehabilitation for farming acres was completed in 2017 and 2018. The Youth Farm was built in 2018. The Youth Farm Program and farmer rental acres will begin in April 2019.

Programs at Hilltop Urban Farm:

  • The one-acre Youth Farm at Hilltop Urban Farm will engage school-aged children from the Hilltop. Partnering with the Pittsburgh Arlington School, Lighthouse Central, and The Academy Charter School, the Youth Farm acts as a living agricultural and ecological laboratory for children. It promotes the teaching of Nutrition & Cooking, Growing Food, Local Food Systems, Agriculture as a Career Pathway, and Ecology of Western Pennsylvania through the lens of urban farming.

  • The Farmer Incubation Program at Hilltop Urban Farm will train adults who are eager to gain hands-on experience growing their own farm enterprise. In exchange for an annual program fee participants will have access to ¼ acre of restored farmland, storage, solar panels, mobile coolers, a shared tool library, greenhouses, and hoop houses. Entrepreneurial in spirit, the Farmer Incubation Program is the first of its kind in an urban area in the United States, and equips graduates with the tools to own and operate their own, independent farms after three years.

Seeking Applications - At-Large Board of Directors:

The Board of Directors of Hilltop Urban Farm is seeking interested candidates for up to 12 of the At-Large Board of Director seats for a two-year term, beginning in January 2019. The entire Board of Directors consists of up to 19 seats. Board of Directors meetings will be held 10 times per year.

The Nominations and Governance Committee is specifically seeking candidates with the following experience/expertise:

  • A professional, experienced farmer

  • A youth education professional

  • A farmer training professional

  • A university-level agriculture education professional

  • A representative from a competitor or collaborator organization

  • Human Resources

  • Fundraising

  • Legal

  • Marketing

  • Organizational Development

  • Understanding of United States Department of Agriculture and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture regulations and programs

  • Government relations

  • School systems liaison

  • Nonprofit Management

All interested applicants are encouraged to apply. Other Board of Directors experience is a plus. Preference will be given to local candidates, especially those with a connection to the site, Mt Oliver City and St Clair.

How To Apply:

Please send resume/bio and a completed copy of the Application for Board of Directors via email to Sarah Ashley Baxendell, Director of Hilltop Urban Farm, at Sarah@pghhilltopalliance.org, with the subject header “Hilltop Urban Farm Board of Directors”. All submissions must be received by January 31, 2019, with the intention of scheduling follow-up interviews with the Nomination and Governance Committee.