Ways to help with flood recovery.

Updated January 6, 2020

Announcement from our Board President: 

Happy New Year and Happy New Leadership for Grow Food Northampton!
 
This fall I shared that change was in the air here at Grow Food Northampton. After much work on the part of our dedicated board of directors and amazing staff, we are thrilled to announce that we have hired Alisa Klein as our new Executive Director.  Alisa comes to us with a wealth of experience as a community organizer, public policy analyst and advocate, non-profit leader, and Northampton City Councilor. Her passion for food, climate, and social justice work is in complete alignment with the work of Grow Food Northampton and we are excited to envision our next steps with Alisa at the helm.  
 
We are so grateful to each of you for being a part of our precious organization and its crucial work in our community. Thank you!
 
Hope Guardenier
Board President 
Grow Food Northampton
 
P.S. Later this winter we will be hosting an open house to invite each of you to meet Alisa, our board, and staff and find out about our extensive food system work in our community. I hope to see you there!

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Updated November 27, 2019

Applications for our next Executive Director are now closed. 

Our Search Committee is doing a final review of applications and scheduling interviews with qualified candidates during the month of December. We anticipate a decision and announcement by the end of December.

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Full Job Description and details can be found here. 

Application deadline: Monday, November 25, 2019, 5pm.

GFN ED Job Description 2019 (2)

In September, 2019, Grow Food Northampton announced Clem Clay‘s departure as Executive Director, effective September 27, and the appointment of Pat James as interim Executive Director. Below is the announcement from Hope Guardenier, Board President. In brief, board and staff are deeply engaged in planning for the transition both during and beyond Pat’s interim leadership, re-assigning Clem’s varied responsibilities and determining the best configuration of staffing for the next phase of organizational development. As those plans develop, this page and/or our regular news posts will provide public updates on any position openings, role changes, and related matters.

**** Announcement from Hope Guardenier, Board President, September 12, 2019 ****

Dear Friend,

Change is in the air. Can you feel it? The days are still warm but the nights are getting cooler. Kids are back in school. Winter squash and pumpkins are ripening. Apples are at Tuesday Market along with the bounty of this season’s harvest. Other big changes are afoot here at Grow Food Northampton. After nearly 5 years of leading the organization, Clem Clay, our amazing Executive Director, is moving on to become the new Program Director for Extension Agriculture at the UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment.

It has been a true honor to serve as a member and now president of the board of directors while Clem has been at the helm of this remarkable organization. His leadership and organizational development have allowed Grow Food Northampton to grow into the organization it is today and we as the board could not be more grateful. As he said in his most recent newsletter:

“We couldn’t be more proud of the myriad ways in which we are able to help facilitate this transition of soil, sun and water into healthy and sustaining food for everyone in our community. In any given August or September week, thousands of people are benefiting one way or another from food that we had some role in bringing to their plates.”

I know I am so proud of the work that Grow Food Northampton is doing and I know I have Clem to thank! Clem will be with the organization through the end of September at which point Pat James, our Community Garden Manager, will take the lead for a brief stint as interim director. Pat has been with us since 2014 and has held executive director and other nonprofit leadership roles earlier in her career. She will be ably supported during the transition by our tremendous staff: Michael Skillicorn, Director of Programs; Ellena Baum, Local Food Educator and Giving Garden Manager; Niki Lankowski, Tuesday Market and Communications Manager; Megan Saraceno, Administrative Manager; Erica Martensen, Tuesday Market Assistant; and Melissa Ward, TerraCorps Youth Education Coordinator.

The board and staff are working collaboratively through this transition and we are excited for what is yet to come. We have been through this change before, when our founding director, Lilly Lombard, departed in 2014. We know that by embracing change, we will emerge even stronger. Please see this page for updates as the transition process develops.

Thank you for your support of Grow Food Northampton and we look forward to our future together!

Happy Harvest Season,
Hope Guardenier
President, Board of Directors
Grow Food Northampton

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