We’re Looking to Hire

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 

Project Management Consultant 

KEY DATES: 

RFP Release Date Thursday, March 21, 2024

Proposal Due Date April 9, 2024 

Interviews April 10 - 14, 2024 

Decision By April 15 - 20 

Project Start Date As early as April 15, or by May 1, 2024 Project End Date October 31, 2024 

Max Budget / Compensation $ 35,000 (this maximum is inclusive of all expenses including travel)

Background 

Like many nonprofits, Movement Ground Farm faced a series of unprecedented challenges throughout the past five years, as staff and the organization as a whole interfaced with the pandemic, a global recession, and the rapid restructuring of seemingly everything else. The organization also faced very specific challenges and questions facing many farm advocacy or farm social justice organizations, stretched out between the strenuous work of running a farm operation with the addition of mission-based programming work And then some challenges were completely unique and specific to the very set-up, leadership, communities, vision and personalities of Movement Ground Farm. 

After facing multiple staff resignations over the winter of 2022-23, Movement Ground Farm made a conscious decision to temporarily suspend much of its intensive farming operation and to take step back, rest, and re-evaluate.

Now we are looking to weave together what we’ve learned - our successes and failures as well as lessons learned - and present our analysis to a wider audience, including to the organization’s stakeholders, supporters, volunteers, and former CSA members. 

Project Goal 

We are seeking a consultant to facilitate a process whereby board members, the executive director, and a few other stakeholders can co-create a shared analysis of the organizational challenges faced and lessons learned at Movement Ground Farm, and to share this analysis with a wider online audience and at least one in-person event at the farm. The goal of the project is to tell our story in a way that addresses the challenges and fissures in land-based movement work, draws inspiration from sister communities, organizations and movements, and identifies strategies and intentions that can sustain this type of work for the next decade and generation. 

Responsibilities: 

● Organize and facilitate project meetings for the Executive Director and Board Members to stay on track with the activities - we will set aside time at several board meetings throughout the year, and we will make space for at least one day-long board-staff retreat in the Fall 

● Co-design and facilitate the board-staff retreat 

● Help document the organization’s political analysis, vision, and shared understanding of the current social, political, environmental context of our work and the specific challenges that the organization has faced, including key “movement lessons” and take-aways that we can share with others in the field 

● Conduct bi-weekly project management check-ins with the Executive Director

● Support the Executive Director in research on organizational models and pathways forward, which may include some interviewing and networking 

● Support the Board and ED in sharing with a wider audience through both an online medium and an in-person event, taking a leading role in one of these. 

● There may be additional responsibilities based on the candidate’s strengths 

Flow and breakdown of work:

As most projects, this project may start-off slowly but will pick-up steam in the Fall, or around key deliverables. We are viewing this project as manageable part-time work that may demand 5 - 10 hours of work per week over the course of about 7 months. The work also entails at least a couple of in-person meetings/events, but can otherwise be conducted remotely.

The breakdown of the project includes:

● Project management (50%) 

● Facilitation and agenda setting (25%) 

● Research/networking and some writing or editing (25%)

Experience/ Qualifications: 

● Direct leadership experience in organizational conflict, change, transition

● Facilitative coaching or consulting experience in helping organizations navigate transition 

● Experience in project management 

● Willingness to network, interview, and/or research when necessary 

● Strong writing and editing skills 

● Local and regional candidates or those with the ability to show-up in-person multiple times throughout the project are strongly preferred

● Any direct experience in (or demonstrated passion to learn about) any of the following will be helpful to this project: 

• non-profit farm organizations or non-profit land projects and the variety of relationships that they have to their land (from lease to full ownership) 

• land held cooperatively or farming projects managed or owned cooperatively

• Landback and land-based reparation projects 

● Passion and connection to the movement and issue landscapes of Movement Ground Farm: such as sustainable farming, food sovereignty, land justice/ land back, youth and community organizing, immigrant and refugee rights, Queer, Trans and Feminist liberation, BIPOC and Asian American leadership 

How to Apply: 

Please send a resume and a 2-3 page proposal describing your relevant skills and experience, how you would approach the responsibilities, estimated fees required to complete the scope of work, and two references from prior clients to Board@movementgroundfarm.org Please feel free to reach out if you would like more information or context or if you have questions. Proposals will be reviewed beginning April 12 and then again on April 14, 2024 and then on a rolling basis until we identify our consultant. Our selection process will include 1-2 interviews, each lasting no more than 60 minutes. We anticipate selecting a consultant no later than April 20, 2024.