Policy Fellow

The LA County Office of Food Systems is seeking an experienced candidate to join our team as a Policy Fellow in a two-year fellowship position. The Policy Fellow will help implement the Office’s multi-pronged strategy, report to the Executive Director, and collaborate closely with our team and expansive network of local partners.

About the Role

A successful candidate will be highly motivated, creative, and collaborative, with strong leadership and management skills. Excellent writing and communication skills, relationship-building abilities, flexibility, attention to detail, and the capacity to manage rapid change are essential. The ideal candidate will embrace working in a "start-up" mode and wearing multiple hats simultaneously during these early phases of this new organization.

To be effective, the candidate must learn quickly, flourish independently even in ambiguity, and excel at managing priority tasks across multiple work-streams. They should bring an understanding of emerging issues in health, food systems, and agroecology, a track record of supporting successful collaboration with diverse stakeholders, strong communication skills, and independent project management experience. Passion and enthusiasm for discovering solutions with lasting impact, as well as the ability to partner with a wide range of individuals to drive change, are key.

Responsibilities

• Support implementation and advancement of the Office’s policy agenda, advocacy, and programmatic strategies.
• Cultivate and deepen meaningful relationships with the Office’s network of partners, communities, and key policymakers.
• Help shape and coordinate outreach and engagement strategies on specific high-impact state and federal policy campaigns, as guided by the senior leadership team.
• Represent the Office in key policy coalitions and partnerships.
• Actively monitor and report on relevant legislative activities at the federal, state, and municipal levels.
• Help the Office develop and maintain strong relationships with all branches of local governments, as well as state government.
• Conduct policy research and analysis and develop incisive policy briefs and communication tools for various audiences, in partnership with communications and outreach staff.
• Collaborate with Office staff to identify and leverage quantitative and qualitative data and local impact information in support of policy priorities.
• Proactively contribute to fund development efforts to sustain and grow the Office’s policy work.
• Support other core organizational functions as needed.
• Serve as an ambassador for the Office and its values.

Requirements

• No less than five to seven years of experience, including significant interaction with government (and/or some years of government experience).
• Legislative policy experience, ideally in agroecological, public health, or food system issues.
• Deep understanding of governmental functions and systems, public policy development, and issue-oriented movement dynamics, including various advocacy approaches.
• Project-level experience in implementing high-impact, innovative policy advocacy campaigns.
• Research and principal authorship of persuasive policy briefs.
• High level of organization and ability to manage many projects simultaneously.
• Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills.

A Master’s or advanced degree will be taken into positive consideration but is not required.

About the Organization

The LA County Office of Food Systems (OFS) was established as a directive of the LA County Board of Supervisors and created through an official partnership agreement between LA County and local philanthropic organizations. The Office works to cultivate a fair, flourishing, resilient, and healthy food system for all County residents. As an innovation and R&D center for the County, OFS collaborates with a diverse network of stakeholders to address food system challenges across LA County.

Our goals are to improve the affordability of and access to healthy foods; build market demand and consumption of healthy foods; and support sustainability, economic opportunity, and resilience in food systems and supply chains. Near-term strategies include increasing:

• Land available for climate-smart urban and peri-urban agriculture.
• Community gardens, particularly in or near affordable housing.
• Healthy, sustainable animal protein production and availability, such as with sustainable aquatic food.
• Good jobs in farming (on land and in water), processing, and distribution.
• Mission-driven distribution centers dedicated to sourcing from local high-road and earth-friendly farmers for distribution to populations in need.
• Support for healthy neighborhood markets.
• Healthier and better-sourced food for food-as-medicine, aging, and school meals programs.

The Office also intends to develop and maintain relationships with 88 cities, areas, and tribes in LA County; state offices; federal government offices where feasible; SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments); NACo (National Association of Counties); the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and C40; and food policy offices in other major cities (e.g., Chicago and NYC).

Schedule

This is a full-time, two-year exempt position.

Work Location

This is a remote-hybrid position: work from home on your own equipment, with occasional travel and in-person office meetings. The Office is based in Los Angeles County, and residence in LA County is preferred.

Pay

Starting salary of $90,000 to $105,000. Actual pay will vary based on experience.

Benefits

The Office is a fiscally-sponsored project of Community Partners and offers competitive benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance; disability and life insurance; vacation; and a 403(b) plan.