Chief Executive Officer, Urban Farming Institute

Urban Farming Institute Seeks President and Chief Executive Officer

About the Organization

The Urban Farming Institute (UFI) is a pioneering organization dedicated to developing and promoting urban farming to engage individuals in growing food and building a healthy community. Our goal is to increase food access and green spaces in parts of Boston that are historically disadvantaged, both economically and environmentally. We transform neglected land, engage people in growing food, and build a locally-based food system in Boston’s Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan neighborhoods.

UFI is an innovator and leader in the urban farming movement in the US Northeast, playing an instrumental role in the passage of Article 89 that zoned commercial farming in Boston, and in building Boston’s first Article 89 farm. Since 2011, we have converted seven vacant lots into productive growing spaces and established the Boston Farms Community Land Trust to hold three of these properties in perpetuity, ensuring local control over the land and the continuity of urban farmlands. UFI hosts a bi-annual Urban Farming Symposium, fostering knowledge-sharing, climate resilience, and professional development across the urban agriculture sector.

UFI’s programs integrate food production, education, workforce development, and community wellness. Through our farm operations, UFI grows and distributes fresh produce in partnership with local farms, while Farm Stand Fridays combine food access with arts and cultural programming. We cultivate future leaders in the food system through our Urban Farmer Training Program and the Young Farmers Project and engage hundreds of youth annually through hands-on K–12 education initiatives focused on growing, cooking, and environmental awareness. UFI also supports elders through programs like Fit Around the Farm and Black Men’s Gathering, which offer nutrition, fitness, and social engagement opportunities. UFI also hold community education and events, such as our Raised Beds Program and Monthly Grow Series, workshops, festivals, and Jazz at the Farm.

UFI is guided by an engaged seven-member board of directors whose members reflect the full arc of the organization’s history and leadership. We employ 15 full-time and three part-time staff, along with additional seasonal team members. Staff describe the workplace as family-like, mission-driven, and deeply caring. They are widely recognized as experts in their fields and are hard-working, collaborative, and closely connected to one another and to the mission.

UFI operates with an annual budget of $2.8 million and holds more than $7 million in assets, including land and buildings that are owned outright. UFI’s work is sustained through a diverse and robust funding portfolio that includes foundation and government grants, individual contributions, and earned revenue. Please visit the UFI website.

The Opportunity

The next President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UFI will assume leadership at a pivotal moment in the organization’s evolution. Important priorities for the next leader include:

Ensuring the Continuity of UFI’s Success and Credibility

UFI has experienced tremendous success since its inception. Key priorities include advancing core programs, such as relaunching the Farmer Training Program, and guiding the organization’s future vision as the surrounding community evolves. This includes exploring how different age groups engage with the farm, expanding staff capacity for intergenerational outreach, strengthening partnerships with schools and environmental organizations, and identifying emerging priorities.

Stewarding Organizational Culture and Community Experience

While access to fresh, locally grown food remains a core element of UFI’s mission, the organization’s impact extends well beyond food distribution. The next CEO will intentionally steward a culture where values, practices, and community relationships that define the UFI experience are preserved and strengthened. The UFI leader will build strong relationships with other nonprofits and BIPOC community-based organizations that help define the neighborhood and strengthen the city.

Enhancing UFI’s Middle-Stage Organizational Growth

The next leader must strengthen UFI’s operational systems to align with the organization’s current size, stage of growth, and budget. The CEO will build greater internal capacity and continuity in core systems, particularly in HR, documentation, and financial operations.

Building Relationships in a Changing Funding and Policy Environment

UFI operates within a broader ecosystem shaped by evolving federal policies and practices impacting the residents of our community. The next CEO, alongside the board and staff, will clarify UFI’s strategic role within Boston’s network of food, health, and community development organizations. The new leader will steward UFI’s well established role in public policy development at the City and State level.

Executive Leadership Experience & Qualifications

UFI calls for a leader who can balance strategic vision with community stewardship.

Mission-Driven Leadership and Communication

Applicants must be able to represent the mission of the organization to diverse audiences and deeply internalize organizational values to authentically represent them and inspire commitment and momentum. Evidence of understanding and a strong interest in food systems, food justice, creating spaces for people to be healthy, and the power of urban farming is necessary. Powerful communication skills, including storytelling, are essential, with the ability to articulate urban farming content and its interconnections with the community.

Passion and Effectiveness in Resource Development

A successful candidate will bring both demonstrated fundraising success and a genuine enthusiasm for resource development. This includes strategic fundraising experience, the ability to cultivate and steward diverse donor and institutional funding relationships, and the confidence to actively seek support for the UFI’s mission. We seek a leader who approaches fundraising not as a transactional task, but as an ongoing practice of relationship building that strengthens our connections to supporters and engages the board of trustees in resource generation. Excellent oral, written, and listening skills are essential.

Deep Community Connection and Equity Centered Leadership

Strong candidates will be motivated by a genuine commitment to the well-being of the neighborhoods where UFI resides. This requires demonstrating meaningful connection to the communities UFI serves, or ones like it, ideally shown through lived experience, organizing for social justice, longstanding relationships, or deep familiarity with neighborhoods and their histories. UFI seeks a leader who approaches the role with humility, curiosity, and a commitment to building authentic relationships with community members. Cultural awareness and the ability to engage across diverse backgrounds are essential.

Experience Leading a Growing, Mid-Stage Organization

The next CEO will have experience guiding organizations through a period of continued maturation. Strong nonprofit acumen is preferred, including skills in financial management, budgeting, business planning, process design and execution, documentation, and utilizing and engaging the board of directors. Entrepreneurial and creative leadership with experience initiating, scaling, and improving programs and projects is beneficial.

Collaborative and Inclusive Team Leadership

UFI’s staff bring deep expertise and commitment to the organization’s work and play an important role in UFI’s success. Staff voices are valued and leadership is shared. Success has come from leadership that allows space for new ideas and encourages staff to bring forward initiatives grounded in their expertise and community relationships. The next leader will be skilled at supporting and managing experienced professionals in a collaborative and respectful way, recognizing existing strengths, mentoring and supporting their professional development, and maintaining a positive culture with and among staff and the board of directors.

Relationship-Centered Leadership

UFI values leadership grounded in trust, respect, and care. The ideal candidate approaches leadership as a relational practice, building and sustaining strong relationships with staff, board members, partners, and community members. This requires emotional intelligence, people skills, transparency, and the ability to nurture long-term trust and collaboration. Experience working effectively with a board of directors is preferred.

Compensation and Benefits

This is a full-time, salaried, exempt position with a salary range of $165,000 - $185,000 commensurate with experience and qualifications.

UFI offers the following generous benefits package. (See the full profile for more information)

UFI is an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to a diverse workplace. We recruit, train, and promote candidates based on their qualifications regardless of race, color, religious creed, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, veteran or military status, genetics, or other status protected by state or federal law.

Application Process

Candidates must include a resume and a cover letter, both in PDF format, which describe how your qualifications and experience match the needs and mission of the UFI. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. A background check will be required for finalists. Upload required documents to: https://eostransitions.applicantpool.com/jobs/.

This executive search is being conducted by Eos Transition Partners consultant, Nancy Jackson. All submissions will be acknowledged and are confidential, and any questions may be submitted to Nancy Jackson (njackson@eostransitions.com).