Announcement from the Board of Directors
As vision moves into implementation, Hilltop Urban Farm is making progress on several organizational improvements. We believe that these changes will greatly assist us as we grow and further implement the vision for the farm.
Concerning staffing, starting August 1, 2019, our new Executive Director, John Bixler, will start. John brings years of experience in farming advocacy, nonprofit operations, landscape design and fundraising, having previously been in leadership positions at the Mon Valley Initiative and Dakota Rural Action. John will be reaching out to our funders and partners in the months ahead. Happily, our departing Executive Director, Sarah Ashley Baxendell, will remain with us a management consultant. She will assist with our leadership transition, training and grant writing. We wish Sarah all the best as she pursues both personal and professional opportunities out of state.
Staff changes continue with the promotion on Ned Brockmeyer from Youth Farm Manager to the Director of Farm Programs. In this new role, some onsite management will be directed to our incubator farmers as well to the programming and partnerships related to the Youth Farm.
Concerning the board, in August, we will add 4 new board members bringing our total number to 11. After extensive outreach, with these new board members, we have expanded our skill sets to include government relations, farm business development, urban agriculture education programming, and have increased the participation of Hilltop residents on the Board. To move forward as a cohesive, informed organization, all board members and staff will participate in an organizational boot camp in September. This onsite training will include a review of our visioning, prior studies, site development, programming and fundraising.
Last, Hilltop Urban Farm has secured its 501(c)3 nonprofit status. The board has worked diligently to put all necessary nonprofit policies and procedures in place over the past several months. All future funding requests will now go through the Hilltop Urban Farm. We wish to thank the Hilltop Alliance for their guidance and partnership over the years in bringing the idea of Hilltop Urban Farm into reality.
With this organizational infrastructure in place, we look forward to the next phases of organization, site and program development.