Community Connection Lead

Community Connection Lead

The Community Connection Lead is an integral member of Food Bank of the Rockies Programs Department and serves as a hunger relief and reduction ambassador in a designated geographic region. This position is a liaison with Hunger Relief Partners to assure they leverage Food Bank of the Rockies programs to nourish neighbors respectfully and safely. Additionally, the Community Connection Lead assures appropriate Food Bank of the Rockies representation within the community to build awareness of hunger and foster a collaborative environment in which communities come together to alleviate and reduce hunger.

To accomplish these objectives, this position serves as a liaison with community Hunger Relief Partners, stakeholders and others serving people experiencing hunger to establish collaborative connections, strengthen distribution capacity, and adopt neighbor-centered strategies to best serve community needs.

Relationships:

• Develop long-term beneficial relationships built on trust to identify needs and create appropriate action plans to help Hunger Relief Partners and community stakeholders serve their communities
• Primary contact for Food Bank of the Rockies in supporting staff seeking to interact and collaborate with Hunger Relief Partners within their assigned region
• Address concerns, issues, and obstacles faced by Hunger Relief Partners
• Attend and engage in community meetings to ensure the Food Bank of the Rockies' mission is communicated, while fostering and strengthening relationships and fostering collaboration between community groups
• Check in regularly with Hunger Relief Partners to foster a relationship and follow up on pending concerns or issues
• Ensure interactions are conducted with a neighbor-centered and culturally responsive lens

Compliance:

• Support the implementation of Hunger Relief Partner agreements (TEFAP, CSFP, Food For Kids Café)
• Screen new partnership applications and conduct pre-approval site visits
• Support partners' annual food safety and civil rights training
• Lead periodic reviews for Hunger Relief Partners, monitoring and ensuring compliance (every 2 years at a minimum)
• Work with partners that are not meeting contract standards to identify the underlying issues and support their development of an action plan to remedy areas identified
• Contact partners about neighbor complaints to help resolve grievances
• Provide USDA-TEFAP training and ensure compliance
• Support compliance reviews for general Hunger Relief, TEFAP, Everyday Eats and Totes of Hope™ programs.
• Handle confidential information with discretion and care, ensuring the privacy and respect of employees, volunteers, partners, donors, or others

Community Capacity Building:

• Identify, evaluate, collect, and share best practices to build capacity for the community
• Help build the network identifying potential partner agencies and resources based upon identified gaps
• Raise awareness regarding the prevalence of hunger in communities, existing assets and gaps in hunger relief services and opportunities to address root causes related to hunger
• Attend and organize community events on behalf of the Food Bank of the Rockies
• Message Food Bank of the Rockies' menu of services to support community needs

Hunger Relief Partner Capacity Building and Training:

• Assist partners to improve their operations and implement best practices to comply with all regulations as well as to improve network collaboration and neighbor experience
• Link partners with internal and external subject matter experts and resources to better serve neighbors
• Ensure understanding of Food Bank of the Rockies' menu of services to support Hunger Relief Partner needs.
• Strategically plan and recommend partner consolidation actions with the objective of ensuring equitable food distribution of pounds/meals and alleviating or minimizing overhead transportation and/or associated expenses
• Address challenges, issues, and concerns related to community partnerships, partner agencies, and clients.
• Supports neighbor-centered efforts through surveying, hosting focus groups and data collection, inputting pertinent information into shared contact tracking documents in…