Garden Lead at Irreducible Grace Foundation

Who We Are

At Irreducible Grace Foundation (IGF), our mission is to empower Youth of Color, ages 13 - 26, especially BIPOC youth, who have faced systemic barriers and historical traumas. We provide nurturing and inclusive spaces for healing, skill development, and creating future leaders. Our programs include Youth co-led arts-based programs offering safe spaces for collective healing, Black Cultural Arts, Elders in Arts, and Self-Care Sundays which includes workshops on self-care and well-being. Our work addresses critical gaps including lack of representation, educational disparities, economic and racial injustice, limited access to mental health support, and housing insecurity through culturally responsive and trauma-informed programming rooted in African culture and ancestral traditions.

Why You’ll Love Working Here

IGF provides mentoring, life skills, employment, self-care practices, and safe spaces for teens and young adults. Through the use of visual and performing arts and movement techniques, we help young people learn new skills for dealing with stress, trauma, and fostering their voice.

Wages and Benefits      

$25.00 per hour; Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST), agency-sponsored retirement plan with immediate vesting.

SCHEDULE

This is a temporary, seasonal position that will work 8 hours per week and involves the following weekly schedule: 5 hours of planning, prep, recruitment, and marketing (from 4/3/25 – 5/23/25) and 3 hours of programming on Thursdays from 4:30-7:30 pm (from 5/26/25 - 8/22/25). Additional hours for research, planning, meetings, and garden upkeep will be determined collaboratively between Program Coordinators, the Garden Lead, and the Garden Team.

A Typical Day in the Life…

A typical day as IGF’s Garden Lead provides an opportunity to contribute to the success of the African American Heritage Garden at the Black Youth Healing Art Center (BYHAC) while gaining valuable experience in community engagement, sustainable agriculture, and leadership development. Responsibilities will include the following:

• Collaborating with BYHAC staff, MN Landscape Arboretum staff, and other volunteers to assist in planning, prepping, and maintaining the gardens.
• Leading the planning of weekly gardening activities and engagement sessions with the Garden Intern Team.
• Assisting in recruiting 6 garden interns (3 youth/young adults and 3 elders).
• Assisting in recruiting and engaging community members and volunteers in garden-related activities.
• Researching, preparing, and presenting or co-presenting on specific gardening or African cultural land stewardship and foods topics during participant sessions.
• Working alongside experienced gardeners to learn and implement proper planting, watering, harvesting, and maintenance techniques.
• Contributing to garden preparation days, program schedules, and special events as needed.

Who You Are

• You have a strong interest in gardening, sustainable agriculture, and community development.
• You possess good communication and interpersonal skills and have the ability to speak in front of groups.
• You are able to work collaboratively in a diverse, community-based environment.
• You demonstrate a willingness to learn and have the ability to adapt to changing schedules and tasks.
• Previous experience in gardening, youth programs, or community organizing is preferred but not required.

We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working environment where everyone can belong. Every member of our team enriches our work by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions. We welcome everyone to apply, especially those individuals who are underrepresented in our sector: individuals who identify as BIPOC, Indigenous or people of culture, LGBTQI+ and gender fluid or gender nonconforming, individuals with disabilities (both seen and unseen), veterans, people of any age or family status. We value the contributions of a diverse workforce, and we welcome and encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We encourage you to apply even if you feel like you don't fit 100% of the technical requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, disability, marital status, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, genetic information or a protected veteran’s status.

Our organization has a partnership with Metropolitan Alliance of Connected Communities (MACC) to provide administrative services including management of the hiring process. If you apply for this position, you may see references to MACC in some online materials.

IGF participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. See E-Verify’s official poster at https://e-verify.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/E-Verify_Participation_Poster_ES.pdf. See E-Verify’s Right to Work poster at https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/posters/IER_RightToWorkPoster%20Eng_Es.pdf.