Website sccvonline Ventures
A shared and prosperous economic future for all
PAY: $75K-$100K annual salary, based on experience
Please send resume and cover letter to: info@sccvonline.org. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
About Ventures
We’re working to create the world we want in partnership with rural Latino working-class families in California’s Central Coast to ensure a shared and equitable economic future for all.
Our transformational programs make certain that individuals understand and use their economic and political power. From building their savings to advocating for a living wage, our approach builds community and connects financial stability, wealth building, and self-determination.
Our work creates dignity by recognizing, acknowledging, and valuing our community members’ leadership in making change happen. Together, we are working towards a shared and prosperous economic future where zip code, race, gender, or immigration status do not dictate income or wealth.
We believe that:
● Money, and how it is earned, used, and implemented to build wealth and financial systems, is a key component to building wellbeing and a vibrant society.
● We must be intentional and explicit in our work towards racial and gender equity, as social systemic oppressions, including those based on race and gender, are replicated and augmented through the current economic system and related policies.
● Local economies and equitable distribution of income and wealth provide the greatest return and align best in creating wellbeing.
● Money and financing are not well understood and there is a level of mystification around the topic that prevents engagement.
We work in ways that:
● are family centered and culturally appropriate;
● remove system level barriers to economic equity;
● provide leadership development and financial education for children and youth;
● develop new financial and asset building vehicles; and
● lift and leverage the great work already being done.
Our geographic reach encompasses Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties. Ventures is Latina immigrant led organization.
About Futuro
A 2017 Worker-Owned Cooperative Market Opportunity for the Central Coast report was developed at Ventures’ request by Project Equity and Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI). This report identified key steps to support cooperative business structures as a key component to local equitable economic development. From 2018-2019, Ventures focused on supporting local policy and workforce development engagement around business succession opportunities to employee-owned structures in the region. Including conversations of local capital engagement.
The COVID-19 pandemic, and its disproportionate negative impact on working class immigrant households, raised cooperative development as an available and valuable opportunity, primarily in rural workforces in need of alternative wealth building vehicles. Starting in 2021, Ventures worked closely with community members, including launching a rapid response worker owned cooperative with the support of DAWI and Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC), to explore the development of Futuro – a model of immigrant focused worker-owned cooperative incubator and accelerator.
Working with its national, regional, and local partners, Ventures is finalizing the development of Futuro and starting to target the identification of its first member cooperative to provide income security and economic mobility for rural working-class Central Coast residents, with a focus on immigrant entrepreneurs, through worker-cooperative development. This includes business technical assistance, market research, and business feasibility support.
Futuro aims to be self-sustaining within a 5-year period and to be owned and managed by representatives of member worker-owned co-ops who provide oversight for its management. Focused on service-based business, the effort includes buildout of the local ecosystem, including local economic development, integration of cooperatives, community education, and business provider engagement in cooperative clients.
About the Role
The Futuro Director will work with the Executive Director to advance and promote Ventures’ work to build a compassionate and equitable local economy that contributes to our communities’ well-being. A key member of a values driven and team‐focused leadership team, the Director will oversee the execution, evaluation, and partnership management of Futuro, a worker-owned cooperative development vehicle based in the Salinas Valley. This community led business structure is focused on activating a living wage job and income generation model that enables a new equitable economic framework for individuals who have been traditionally excluded from economic markets, especially immigrant and Latino workers. This includes market research, business development, business technical assistance, policy engagement, and community education on worker-owned cooperative structures. This position interfaces frequently with the public, as well as other organizations including educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.
Director responsibilities include administration, budgeting, reporting, communication, education and outreach, social media, and evaluation efforts of the program – including worker-owned cooperative development. This includes recruiting and building the Futuro management and support team members.
The Director will oversee and develop Futuro staff to ensure culturally appropriate outreach and administration of agreements with external stakeholders. The position requires the ability to support programs and projects with a diverse array of stakeholder groups including community leaders, funders, internal staff, and families.
At least five years of program management experience and cooperative development required. Evening and weekend hours are expected.
Ventures staff must be able to work independently, under minimum supervision, and act on their own initiative. The ability to communicate and coordinate effectively and support activity will be critical. This job description is intended to describe the general nature of the work performed by employees in this job. It is not an exhaustive list of all the job’s responsibilities. At Ventures, all jobs include broad responsibilities for continually improving the processes we use.
Regular Duties
● Direct and manage program, including leading the alignment, implementation, evaluation, and marketing of cooperative development projects
● Represent Ventures in worker co-op related activities, including coalition and advocacy work.
● Supervise and coordinate activities of support staff, consultants, and/or volunteers engaged in the implementation and administration of program objectives
● Coordinate content development, management, design, and distribution of communication efforts, including social media, videos, and photographs
● Collect and analyze data, prepare scheduled and special reports, maintain program/project records and statistical information
● Field phone calls and emails from the community regarding programs and volunteer opportunities
● May lead, guide and train lower-level staff, student employees, volunteers, and/or interns, as appropriate
● Other reasonable duties as assigned by the Executive Director
Physical Demands and Work Environment
The employee is frequently required to drive, walk, and climb stairs. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. The work environment is primarily within an indoor office environment or comparable space (remote work from home, for example), with occasional exposure to outdoor weather when traveling to program sites.
Qualifications
● Believes in Ventures’ Vision, Mission, and approach to work. Embodies Ventures’ Values.
● Knowledge of equity frameworks, specifically racial and gender equity required.
● Extremely flexible, with a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate a high level of responsibility and multiple priorities.
● Cooperative and/or business development experience required.
● Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presentations.
● Ability to work with internal and external teams, provide excellent facilitation, customer service, conflict resolution, and build strong working relationships with diverse community leaders, institutional partners, peers, and colleagues.
● Strong organizational abilities including project management, planning, evaluation, and program development. This includes collection and analysis of data.
● Experience in community outreach and organizing.
● Ability to take initiative and proactively manage multiple and sometimes competing tasks and projects while satisfactorily meeting deadlines and desired outcomes.
● Detail‐oriented with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
● Solution-focused: able to analyze administrative, financial, and technical problems and recommend effective solutions.
● Experienced and proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint) as well as other data management systems and reporting tools. Grants management software experience is a plus.
● Thrives in a fast‐paced environment
● Bilingual (English/Spanish), bi‐literate, and/or bi‐cultural strongly preferred
● Experience in financial capability and asset building strongly preferred
● Valid California driver’s license