The Land Institute Seeks Land Relations Coordinator

We seek a Land Relations Coordinator who will contribute to the development of our strategy and practice for land relations, by which we mean developing relationships and projects that help realize a more just, diverse, and perennial future for the land and region in which our organizational headquarters is located. This is a new role that you will be working with us to define.

The Land Relations Coordinator will bring professional and/or personal life experience in successfully building relationships rooted in reciprocity across diverse and historically opposing cultural contexts, and across groups that don’t have a shared understanding.

 

For this role, we are looking for someone with new and valued vantage points that will stand out in our team. For example, you may bring experience in food sovereignty, youth advocacy, land restoration and conservation, rural community organizing and coalition building, and/or effective collaboration with Black, Indigenous, and Latinx community-led organizations. We can imagine many different people succeeding in this role and are open to the variety of experiences that prepare people for it. We are looking to hire someone who can grow in responsibility as the organization grows.

 

The Land Relations Coordinator will join a dynamic and growing team. We imagine that if this role is successful, in the next five years, we will have built new understanding and partnerships, mobilized people to take meaningful action together toward a perennial future for the region, and gained insights about how to connect across lines of difference. We don’t expect harmonious agreement from all the groups you engage

we will know we are headed in a good direction if we foster conversations that feature curiosity and trust, and if we develop some new relationships.

 

The Land Institute (TLI) is an international non-profit research organization. With more than 50 organizational research partners, TLI is developing perennial grain crops in diverse cropping systems to equitably nourish human communities and ensure our longevity within the ecosphere.

 

TLI was founded in 1976 along the Smoky Hill River outside Salina, Kansas, by white environmentalists who returned to their home region to find inspiration in the perenniality and diversity of native ecosystems like the prairie for the pursuit of long-term sustainability. Over the past 40+ years, we’ve focused on growing scientific research to successfully establish that perennial grain crops are possible and desirable. Now we are collaboratively accelerating scientific research to realize perennial grain agricultures, while re-expanding our consideration of the social context that will make it possible to reconcile the human economy with nature’s economy, beginning with food.

 

Collaborative partnerships are core to our work and mission. We are on the journey to grow the connections, understanding, and actions necessary to realize a perennial future. As an organization, beginning in our home hub, we seek to live into our responsibilities to positively relate to the land: the interdependent creatures, plants, soils, water, air, and human communities of this place and the unique stories, cultures, and knowledges that emerge from and are possible within this place.

 

By investing in relationships and partnerships, The Land Institute aims to help envision and enact a re-perennialized central Great Plains of North America in which human communities can live and thrive for the long term. The work of the Land Relations Coordinator, team, and partners at our home hub may demonstrate the relevance of relational practices and provide a model for other localized research hubs advancing diverse, perennial grain agriculture around the world.

 

 

 

Contribute to the development of a land relations strategy and practice

• Collaborate with TLI colleagues to create guidelines and methods for land relations at our home hub that are aligned with our organizational mission, strategy, and values

• Research land relations frameworks and approaches, design and facilitate meetings and conversations, synthesize insights from past and current regional relationships and projects, propose ideas and priorities, and investigate methods for learning and evaluation

• Help explain our approach to land relations in this region to internal and external audiences

 

Participate in growing an inclusive learning culture across teams and the organization

• Participate in team and organizational efforts to engage internal differences and conflicts in the process of building and sustaining an inclusive culture where team members can learn, grow, and change to effectively deliver TLI’s mission

• Make strategic connections by learning deeply and holistically about TLI’s research and education efforts, collaborating and consulting with colleagues in other teams, and sharing regular updates about your work in return

• Engage in regular practices of individual and group reflection and evaluation of our own learning, including giving and receiving feedback, establishing feedback loops and protocols to ensure learning, and putting lessons learned into practice

 

Build and deepen relationships with individuals and groups in the Central Great Plains

• Investigate and map possibilities for where TLI’s work might be relevant by seeking to understand the range of viewpoints in existing regional networks and groups which have responsibilities and possibilities for building a perennial future: Indigenous nations, climate justice and adaptation teams, non-profit conservation and restoration organizations, farming and ranching groups, food security groups, government agencies, and schools and educational groups (this is a broad list

the strategy will help focus priorities for understanding)

• Grapple with challenging current patterns around invitations for connection, navigating conflicts, and repairing relationships, since some of these groups have been at the table for making change, and others have been disadvantaged due to systems of oppression and barriers in access to resources

• Make and sustain caring, mutually beneficial relationships, an effort in which you will initiate and facilitate conversations, listen and ask questions to understand others’ perspectives, describe TLI’s work and context, suggest and respond to ideas for collaboration, and follow up

• Keep track of regional initiatives, relationships, and your activities, using digital tools

 

Contribute to and organize collaborative projects that advance positive regional change toward more just landscape perennialization, sustainable food systems, and learning to live within limits

• Lead two initial land relations projects:

o 1) researching the land in which TLI’s headquarters is located, which will involve initiating conversations and engaging with Indigenous nations who relate to this land as part of their homelands

o 2) joining and co-leading the team that stewards TLI’s Marty Bender Nature Area, a 206-acre nature area open to the public that features a walking trail and provides a site for research, education, and community engagement as part of our headquarters

• Envision, co-design, and enact new land relations projects over time, informed by relationships and partnerships along with shared values and strategic priorities

• Collaborate on other current and emerging TLI projects developing perennial grain agriculture in this region that feature transdisciplinary, social, cultural, and agroecological research

• Manage projects, including creating, implementing, and adapting workplans to meet goals while working within budgeted resources, and sharing project updates and results

 

The list above is how we envision your role to begin and potentially evolve, but we are excited to work with your strengths and vision to adapt these responsibilities.

 

In the first year on the job, your focus will be on getting grounded in TLI’s work and contributing to the development of a land relations strategy and practice. You will start building relationships, advancing initial projects, and participate in other team and organizational learning activities. Your time will probably be distributed across the four main areas of responsibility. We estimate about half of your time will involve desk work (researching, reading, writing, planning, emailing, reflecting, etc.), with one quarter of your time involving digital and in-person meetings with TLI colleagues, and another quarter of your time involving digital and in-person meetings with people outside of TLI. Travel within the region will be required for meetings and attending events, depending on organizational Covid-19 guidelines.

 

• Mission Driven: You are passionate about the mission of The Land Institute and are interested in aligning your skills and personal genius to benefit this work.

• A Courageous Convener: You bring people together, and you are drawn to engage the hard things that matter in conversations and relationships. You face challenges and conflict with mindfulness, diplomacy, and resolve. You are both confident and humble.

• A Boundary Spanner: You bring an intercultural skill set and you model self-awareness in your own preferences. You are curious and committed to continual learning, and you adapt to span boundaries with people across a range of different perspectives.

• A Planner and Doer: You have a knack for translating ideas and possibilities into practical plans and action. You organize workplans and manage your time and roles across different teams and projects.

• A Creative Collaborator: You believe in the power of a diverse collective to generate ideas and solutions. You excel at strategic thinking, being open to new perspectives, and managing innovation. You bring a playful, positive approach to work.

• Inspiring and Inspired: You are inspired by the people around you, finding and supporting the genius in your colleagues and collaborators to meet organizational goals, and you are inspiring to others through example and your own genius applied. You find joy in making meaningful connections with people and land.

 

 

 Generally available to work forty hours per week, including in person and digital meetings, primarily during 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Central Time on weekdays when most of our staff and collaborators are working. Some evening and weekend working hours will be needed for community engagement activities. We are flexible for caregivers who might need to provide rides or support, attend appointments, or be available for caregiving.

 

 

 This role is grounded in the Central Great Plains and open to applicants based in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. You will need to be able to travel by car within the region for meetings and events, and it’s important to be within a drivable distance to The Land Institute’s headquarters to be able to engage that particular land community. This role will be supported with a travel budget that includes mileage reimbursement, and you will be provided with a laptop computer.

 

The Land Institute offers an excellent benefits package and a competitive salary commensurate with experience.

 

Salary / 55,000-65,000

• Remote-friendly work environment

• Paid parental leave

• 403(b) Retirement with employer contributions

• Medical, dental, vision, & life insurance

• Short Term and Long Term Disability

• Voluntary Life Insurance

• Accidental Insurance

• Critical Illness Insurance

• Flexible Spending Account

• Dependent Care

• Employee Assistance Program

• Professional Development

• Paid holidays

• Generous PTO

• Complete laptop workstation and set up for remote work

 

 

 Link to application process:

 

Upload the following paragraphs as an attachment by clicking apply below (as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf).

 

1. Two to three paragraphs telling us why you are interested in this particular position and how you believe you meet the qualifications. Please specifically address these topics in relationship to the role you are applying for

do not send a general cover letter.

 

2. Your work/skills/training history as an attachment OR link to your LinkedIn profile.

 

Qualified applicants will receive a reply within five business days to schedule a conversation.

 

Position open until filled. Start date flexible—ideally someone will begin full time by October 3.

 

The Land Institute is an equal opportunity employer and embraces the opportunity to provide employment to qualified individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. We are pleased to provide reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.