Restore Forward Cooperative Retreat Center seeks a seasoned cooperative project manager to assist in our start-up phase.

Restore Forward Cooperative Retreat Center is a start-up cooperative enterprise that provides healing, justice, and reconciliation programs to members and individuals. The Cooperative’s steering committee is working with a team of cooperative consultants to lay the legal, economic, physical, cultural, and spiritual foundation for the enterprise. The Cooperative is part of a larger healing and reconciliation project spearheaded by Black Women’s Blueprint, Restore Forward, which includes a village, farm, and healing programs on 300 acres of land in Ava, New York (Oneida and Haudenosaunee territory). While the Cooperative has drafted bylaws and Black Women’s Blueprint is renovating the building where operations will be based, the Cooperative has not yet incorporated, secured financing, or taken over title or administration of any facilities.

The Project Manager will play a key role implementing the decisions of the Cooperative’s steering committee, managing our timelines and deliverables, and organizing the committee’s work. We are all activists and organizers who come from anti-violence and transformative justice legacies with a deep commitment to racial justice, healing, and reconciliation. It is important to us that the Project Manager is aligned with our values and practices, but deep familiarity with our movements is not necessary for this role. It is expected the Project Manager will travel to Ava, New York, to the site as needed. The position will be based with Black Women’s Blueprint on behalf of the Restore Forward Cooperative Retreat Center Steering Committee.

Restore Forward is committed to advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace.  We continuously work with our staff to find new ways to increase diversity and to build and cultivate an inclusive and equitable work environment, where everyone can be their true-self and feel a strong sense of belonging.  As such, we seek to hire employees who have a commitment to and/or experience with diversity, equity, and inclusion.  In addition, we expect employees to participate/contribute with DEI initiatives or activities with recruitment, retention, and workplace culture. We strongly encourage those who are LGBTQIA+, women, disabled, and from economically disenfranchised or working class backgrounds to apply.

The Project Manager’s responsibilities will include:

• Scheduling Steering Committee meetings, including sending our calendar invites and assisting in agenda and materials preparation
• Overseeing the project timeline and ensuring the group meets deadlines
• Serving as a liaison between, and a convener for, committee members and Black Women’s Blueprint staff, vendors, consultants, volunteers, and potential members to coordinate activities and execute strategy
• Preparing budgets and providing financial reports to the steering committee
• Preparing job descriptions and contracts, conducting interviews, onboarding, supervising, and otherwise supporting the work of consultants or staff who the steering committee may deem necessary for the start-up phase
• Supporting the group to execute a feasibility study, which may include research into specific industries, outreach to stakeholders, analysis of financial and other data, and other tasks 
• Creating/adding to a database of potential members
• Working with the steering committee and co-op consultants to draft articulation of benefits and responsibilities of cooperative membership for each member class
• Developing and implementing a  plan for recruiting members to the cooperative
• Supporting the steering committee through the business planning process, with assistance and support from consultants as needed. 
• Holding responsibility for final business plan document that includes the feasibility study, financial projections, the overall narrative, and other components at the discretion of the steering committee
• Assisting with incorporation processes, including coordinating with a lawyer and a CPA
• Supporting the development of Board and operational policies 
• Supporting any funder reporting requirements

Required experience and skills:

• 4+ years project-managing start-up cooperatives, or equivalent experience within cooperatives
• Familiarity with business planning and market research
• Practiced in community organizing methods
• Familiarity and skill with tools such as Google Suite, Zoom, and CRMs
• Operational remote office set up (This position is primarily remote)
• Experience working remotely and with diverse constituencies
• Experience with anti-oppressive facilitation and conflict transformation processes
• Strong written and verbal communication and English language skills 
• Knowledgeable of consent-based or consensus decision-making
• Ability to work independently as needed, and with little supervision, or to collaborate with small teams
• Willing and able to travel to Ava, New York 

Compensation and benefits:

The Restore Forward Cooperative Retreat Center Steering Committee anticipates an average of 20 hours per week, with some fluctuation depending on the work plan. Compensation will be prorated based on a $60,000 full time equivalent salary and value-aligned benefits. 

To apply:

Please fill out this application by May 9th. The hiring process for final candidates will include two interviews, a reference check, and a brief skills test. The time spent on the test will be compensated at $36 hour. If you have any questions please direct them to​​ restoreforward@blueprintny.org.