Youth Engagement Coordinator

**About Nourish Nova Scotia**

Nourish Nova Scotia is a registered charity that provides leadership and support to create healthy food environments for young people across Nova Scotia. This means working in close connection with schools and communities to increase access to nutritious and culturally appropriate foods for young people; build knowledge, skills, confidence and connection in relation to food; and enhance school and community-based infrastructure for diverse food & garden programs.

Our goal is to support the nutritional well-being of young people and to nurture positive food experiences through experiential learning, connecting with others around food, and spending time in the natural landscapes from which our food comes.

Currently, we are seeking a Coordinator of Youth Engagement to support our work in creating inclusive and welcoming environments for young people to engage and lead in a range of food-related program and policy initiatives. As our work across school and community settings continues to grows, we are committed to ensuring that young people can not only engage as active participants, but also as co-designers and co-collaborators across our program areas; In doing so, we aim to support generations of food leaders - equipped with the skills, knowledge and confidence to drive impactful solutions related to the cultivation of healthy, just and sustainable food systems.

**About the Role**

The Youth Engagement Coordinator will work with the Nourish team and diverse school and community partners to facilitate and support youth engagement and leadership across a range of food-based initiatives. They will work to strengthen the skills, processes, and capabilities of Nourish staff in relation to inclusive and participatory youth engagement practices. They will work to build diverse partnerships with organizations and youth groups to strengthen existing and emerging initiatives at Nourish, and ultimately support young people across Nova Scotia in activating change in relation to food systems and food sovereignty.

**About You**

You are an experienced youth leader who is energized by working alongside diverse young people to surface ideas and creativity that help spark positive, community level change. You have experience with youth engagement and a solid understanding of community development approaches. You are someone who excels at fostering welcoming and inclusive spaces for young people to thrive, be creative, and participate in their schools and communities in meaningful ways. You are passionate about food systems and food sovereignty and enjoy getting creative in food and garden spaces.

You are a great problem solver and community animator— finding spaces, identifying opportunities, and seeking new partnerships in support of developing a growing network of spaces and projects that support youth-driven action. You are resourceful, self-directed, highly organized and enjoy working in focused and driven teams. You are passionate about working to build more inclusive and socially connected communities that prioritize principles of equity and inclusion. You are someone who will make it happen, even if it isn’t perfect or it is difficult.

**Key Responsibilities**
- Partnership Development - Develop and deepen relationships with youth-led and youth-serving organizations to help inform program development and contribute to network building across Nourish programs.
- Community & Youth Engagement - Work in partnership to create inclusive and welcoming spaces for young people to meaningfully participate in peer-peer learning and develop leadership skills in relation to food.
- Framework Development - Work in collaboration with partners and with input from youth to design and develop a youth engagement framework for Nourish’s work across school and community settings. The framework will function as a set of guiding principles, practices and tools for Nourish staff and partners to implement within a range of food programs and initiatives.
- Resource Development - In connection to the Youth Engagement Framework, support the development of a resource toolbox (ie. workshop & facilitation guides, tools for dialogue, etc.) for inclusive and participatory youth engagement in food and garden based programming.
- Program Delivery - Support Nourish program staff in hands on facilitation of food-based events and activities that can both inform the on-going development of the framework and build relationships to a growing number of organizations and youth who may engage in current & future programs.
- Team Support & Capacity Building - Provide support and capacity building for Nourish team members to develop and share skills related to inclusive and participatory practices in supporting youth engagement.
- Evaluation & Story-Sharing - Participate in on-going tracking and data collection in relation to impact measurement and process design; Participate in story-telling and report-writing to share