About the Organization & Windy City Harvest
The Chicago Botanic Garden (“the Garden”) is one of the world’s great botanic gardens and living museums, known for its stunning collection of landscapes and horticultural displays, as well as for its plant conservation science and education programs.
The Garden’s mission, ‘We cultivate the power of plants to sustain and enrich life’, inspires more than one million people a year who visit the main campus and tens of thousands more reached through plant conservation science, education, and community-based programs in urban agriculture and horticulture therapy. The Garden is dedicated to work that helps plants, people, and planet thrive.
Windy City Harvest (“WCH”) is the Garden’s 20-year-old urban agriculture initiative that supports development of a more inclusive Chicago food system, while creating and maintaining greenspaces that facilitate vital connections between people and plants. It is a living model of a hyper local food economy, growing food, farmers, and healthy eaters through a network of 13 urban farms anchored by a flagship facility named Farm on Ogden in North Lawndale. Its work demonstrates that ‘food + jobs = health communities.”
Through deep partnerships, the program operates and supports communities on the south and west sides directly and daily. Its focus on food, health, and jobs requires partnerships with dozens of organizations across every sector.
The Opportunity
The Chicago Botanic Garden and Windy City Harvest is seeking a Vice President of Community Partnerships (“Vice President” or “VP”) to lead this unique and essential arm of the Garden and strategically grow the Garden’s impact in the Chicagoland region in ways that align with their purpose and mission.
This leader will come at a time when these programs, including Windy City Harvest, are committed to moving into the future boldly. The team has just completed a strategic review of its programs and the Garden is preparing to launch its 2024-2028 strategic plan.
Partnering with the Executive Leadership team and reporting to Jean M. Franczyk, President and CEO of the Botanic Garden, the VP will be responsible for guiding the program forward and leading the team in the design and implementation of its community partnership goals. The VP’s leadership will enhance WCH’s position, deepen its impact, and strengthen the Garden’s community partnership portfolio. This next leader will lead and mentor a passionate team of experienced leaders committed to sustainability and growth. They will guide the Garden as it seeks to expand and support partnerships across Chicagoland that build capacity and extend the Garden experience.