Dunn/Ramirez Food Policy Fellow

ABOUT CITY HARVEST:

City Harvest is New York’s first and largest food rescue organization and a fast-paced, high-performing nonprofit dedicated to helping feed millions of New Yorkers who struggle to put meals on their tables. During our more than 40 years serving New Yorkers in need, we have rescued more than one billion pounds of fresh, nutritious food and delivered it free of charge to hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens, community partners, and our own Mobile Markets across the five boroughs. This year, we will rescue and distribute more than 100 million pounds of nutritious food to our neighbors in need. City Harvest works alongside our community partners to boost community capacity, expand nutrition education, and strengthen local food systems. Since our founding in 1982, City Harvest has always been there to feed our city one day, one meal, and one New Yorker at a time while fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, and excellence to maximize our impact across New York City.

JOB OVERVIEW / WHAT A TYPICAL DAY MIGHT LOOK LIKE:

The City Harvest Dunn/Ramirez Food Policy Fellow supports City Harvest's Policy & Government Relations Department, playing a critical role in advancing our city, state, and federal policy priorities and advocacy campaigns on food waste, food rescue, and food security — including mobilizing advocacy volunteers, compiling materials for meetings with lawmakers, and helping develop compelling data and narratives for our campaigns.

The fellowship honors two longtime City Harvest staff members we lost in 2020 and 2022, after each dedicated their careers to fighting hunger. Marlon Dunn was a union CDL truck driver who rescued hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh produce from the Hunts Point Produce Market and delivered it to pantries across the five boroughs. Miguel Ramirez served as Financial Operations Coordinator, processing donations from City Harvest supporters; while there, he completed his MPA at Baruch College, with a thesis on how shifting from the Official Poverty Measure to the Self-Sufficiency Standard could strengthen government efforts to end hunger.

*PLEASE SUBMIT A COVER LETTER WITH APPLICATION*

SCHEDULE

• Dates: 12 months, starting Monday, January 11, 2027
• Hours: The Dunn/Ramirez Food Policy Fellow works 20 hours per week. Some weeks will run longer during lobby days and conferences in Albany and Washington, D.C.
• Schedule & Location: Standard workdays are set in coordination with the Associate Director of Advocacy, within City Harvest's hybrid work model. The Fellow will have a workstation at our Cohen Community Food Rescue Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and is expected to lead in-person advocacy volunteer shifts at Mobile Markets across NYC, travel to Albany and Washington, D.C. for lobby days and conferences, and attend organization-wide, department-wide, and team meetings in person.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

SECONDARY RESPONSIBILITIES

POSITION SCOPE

• Offers on-the-ground support for advocacy volunteers and agency partners during advocacy campaign activations and lobby days
• Compiles pre-meeting, leave-behind, and follow-up materials for lobby days and general meetings with lawmakers
• Documents the impact of City Harvest's policy goals and advocacy campaigns
• Provides thought partnership in generating copy and other communication tactics to reach stakeholders through newsletters and social media
• Travels to and from Albany, D.C., and City Hall 2 to 3 times to provide backup logistical support and notetaking support
• Participates in coalition meetings and webinars as needed and compiles notes
• Supports timely City Harvest community survey and program evaluation projects that assess community needs and public policy insights
• Facilitates cross-departmental meetings with the Volunteer Programs team
• *PLEASE SUBMIT A COVER LETTER WITH APPLICATION*

DECISION MAKING / PROBLEM SOLVING

• Determining and delivering an effective and culturally competent tone for advocacy presentations and general interactions with advocacy campaign stakeholders
• Identifying and documenting effective processes for compiling and issuing lobby day material
• Developing effective notetaking models
• Determining effective and efficient means to compile and assess data and/or survey results with guidance from Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning staff lead

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

N/A

RELATIONSHIPS

Internal Contacts (City Harvest teams):

• Policy & Government Relations
• Marketing & Communications
• Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
• Network Capacity
• Program Operations
• Volunteer Programs

External Contacts:

• City Harvest Volunteers
• Mobile Market Participants
• Coalition Partners (NYC Food Policy Alliance, NYC Consortium Policy & Advocacy Work Group, NYC's Charitable Food Network, Feeding NYS, New York Food Waste Action Network, Zero Food Waste Coalition)
• Government Officials

COMMUNICATIONS

• Present PowerPoints to City Harvest Advocacy Volunteers
• Read phonebank script to government officials' staff members
• Engage in dialogue with community-based coalitions
• Comfortable speaking with people of diverse backgrounds and experiences about campaign goals — in City Harvest, at food distributions, with grassroots/grasstop organizations, government offices, or the broader New York City community
• Offer backup support in communicating logistics and advocacy talking points to agency partners and other advocates during lobby days and other direct advocacy moments
• Offer input and ideas for communicating advocacy campaign goals and outcomes to stakeholders through newsletter and social media
• Draft City Harvest advocacy communications

SUPERVISION EXERCISED

N/A

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

Education:

• Enrolled in grad school OR 2–4 years' experience (see below)

Experience: Applicants should have 2 to 4 years of relevant experience across the areas below.

• Involvement with grassroots and/or electoral campaigns
• Giving in-person and virtual presentations on community-facing topics
• Making phone calls or conducting outreach to government offices
• Working on newsletters
• Volunteering or participating in food pantry programs
• Managing teams or volunteers (a plus)

People with lived experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

Related Skills or Knowledge:

• Understanding of the power of policy and advocacy
• Demonstrated cultural competency and ability to work with and communicate with New Yorkers of diverse backgrounds and lived experiences
• Presentation skills
• Comfort with compiling data
• Microsoft Office suite
• A sense for what resonates with social media users and the public

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS / WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Work is performed in an office environment and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment and keyboards. Standing desks are available, and interns are encouraged to walk after prolonged periods of sitting.
• Ability to occasionally lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move supplies and materials
• Ability to travel on public transportation or drive a vehicle within New York City
• Required to work irregular hours January through April, and some weekends
• 2 to 3 trips to Albany and D.C. by charter bus or Amtrak
• Ability to walk or wheel to and from meetings in Albany and D.C. for up to 6 to 8 hours
• Ability to lead volunteer shifts at Mobile Markets throughout NYC

*PLEASE SUBMIT A COVER LETTER WITH APPLICATION*

At City Harvest, we enjoy working in a team-based environment and value the benefits of a diversified workplace. City Harvest is an Equal Opportunity Employer.