The People’s Potato is looking for new collective members.
2 positions at 25 and 30 hours/week
Remuneration: $18.50 per hour
The primary activity of the People’s Potato is to serve daily vegan lunch to about 500 people on the Concordia University SGW campus. The People’s Potato is a worker-run organization where decisions are made collectively. Collective members both guide and execute the vision of the organization.
Individuals hired will cook, clean, and pick up food donations; many tasks require heavy lifting. Collective members will take on a variety of these 3 to 5-hour shifts each week (4-5 shifts for full-timers or 2-3 for part-timers) and will participate in committee work such as organizing workshops, coordinating volunteers, stocking and organizing the kitchen, etc. Committee work will be determined based on the Collective’s current needs while taking into consideration the interests and skills of the new hires.
Contracts typically begin mid-August, end mid-May and are renewed on a yearly basis. We are seeking applicants who are able to make at least a one year commitment. Work schedules are flexible; however collective members are expected to be available most weekdays between 8:30am and 3:30pm. Additionally, we have a weekly collective meeting, of which the day will be decided together, that is usually scheduled from 3:30pm - 5:30pm on a weekday. Some committee work can be done from home.
Requirements:
Assets:
We would like to emphasize that we highly consider experiences and labour that are often invisibilized, unrecognized, or done outside of contexts such as academia or formal work environments. These structures target marginalized groups of people by specifically and negatively impacting their access to opportunities. It erases the skills that marginalized people have that non-marginalized people do not. Please do not hesitate to let us know about any work that you have done that hasn’t been properly recognized by institutions in power.
Hiring Process
We acknowledge that the People’s Potato has been a historically white-led organization. In the last year, the number of people of colour as well as trans people has increased. However, this does not guarantee a change in the structural and cultural makeup of the organization shaped by its history. Through our hiring process and beyond, we aim to shift the structure of our organization to support the needs and initiatives of marginalized people.
However, we do not expect applicants to share their identities or to bear the trauma of their experiences in their applications or interviews.
Transparency and work environment
While applying for this position, we highly recommend considering that the kitchen currently has an open-door policy. Every day we welcome from 5 to 15+ volunteers in the kitchen. While volunteers contribute immensely to us achieving our everyday goals, we cannot predict who will come in or the type of behaviours they will exhibit. Instances of racism, transmisogyny, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, toxic displays of masculinity, and sexual assault apologies have happened in past years and have impacted our current collective. We are working towards zero-tolerance policies and actions to support the marginalized people harmed, including the members of the collective.
How to apply
Instead of sending a cover letter with your application, we are asking those applying to fill in the questionnaire linked below where you will be able to attach your C.V./resume. The questions are:
THE QUESTIONNAIRE (GOOGLE FORM)
The deadline for applications is Friday, August 3rd 2018 at 11:59 PM.
Only applicants accepted for interviews will be contacted.
Interviews will take place the week of August 14th and can be conducted via Skype or phone if required.
The position will begin the week of Monday, August 20th 2018.
*For more information about the People’s Potato, visit the rest of our website and check out our constitution.
2 positions at 25 and 30 hours/week
Remuneration: $18.50 per hour
The primary activity of the People’s Potato is to serve daily vegan lunch to about 500 people on the Concordia University SGW campus. The People’s Potato is a worker-run organization where decisions are made collectively. Collective members both guide and execute the vision of the organization.
Individuals hired will cook, clean, and pick up food donations; many tasks require heavy lifting. Collective members will take on a variety of these 3 to 5-hour shifts each week (4-5 shifts for full-timers or 2-3 for part-timers) and will participate in committee work such as organizing workshops, coordinating volunteers, stocking and organizing the kitchen, etc. Committee work will be determined based on the Collective’s current needs while taking into consideration the interests and skills of the new hires.
Contracts typically begin mid-August, end mid-May and are renewed on a yearly basis. We are seeking applicants who are able to make at least a one year commitment. Work schedules are flexible; however collective members are expected to be available most weekdays between 8:30am and 3:30pm. Additionally, we have a weekly collective meeting, of which the day will be decided together, that is usually scheduled from 3:30pm - 5:30pm on a weekday. Some committee work can be done from home.
Requirements:
- Valid driver's license and ability to drive a large cargo van
- Fluency in French OR English and ability to function conversationally in the other language
- Cooking experience (paid or unpaid)
- Ability to do heavy lifting including assisted heavy lifting
- Ability to work with and support queer people, trans people and people of colour
- Interest in and/or knowledge of local community organizing (formal or informal)
- Conflict de-escalation skills grounded in harm reduction and in support of marginalized people (formal or informal)
- Experience coordinating or engaging with large groups of volunteers/people
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with an open-door policy
- Ability to take on and initiate tasks in a non-hierarchical team setting
- Ability to manage and respond to a large influx of e-mails and use Google Drive
Assets:
- Knowledge of consensus-based decision making processes
- Knowledge of a or multiple language(s) other than French or English
- Knowledge of sustainable food consumption and waste disposal
- Minute taking, policy writing and other non-profit/organizing experiences and skills
- Non-profit book-keeping
We would like to emphasize that we highly consider experiences and labour that are often invisibilized, unrecognized, or done outside of contexts such as academia or formal work environments. These structures target marginalized groups of people by specifically and negatively impacting their access to opportunities. It erases the skills that marginalized people have that non-marginalized people do not. Please do not hesitate to let us know about any work that you have done that hasn’t been properly recognized by institutions in power.
Hiring Process
We acknowledge that the People’s Potato has been a historically white-led organization. In the last year, the number of people of colour as well as trans people has increased. However, this does not guarantee a change in the structural and cultural makeup of the organization shaped by its history. Through our hiring process and beyond, we aim to shift the structure of our organization to support the needs and initiatives of marginalized people.
However, we do not expect applicants to share their identities or to bear the trauma of their experiences in their applications or interviews.
Transparency and work environment
While applying for this position, we highly recommend considering that the kitchen currently has an open-door policy. Every day we welcome from 5 to 15+ volunteers in the kitchen. While volunteers contribute immensely to us achieving our everyday goals, we cannot predict who will come in or the type of behaviours they will exhibit. Instances of racism, transmisogyny, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, toxic displays of masculinity, and sexual assault apologies have happened in past years and have impacted our current collective. We are working towards zero-tolerance policies and actions to support the marginalized people harmed, including the members of the collective.
How to apply
Instead of sending a cover letter with your application, we are asking those applying to fill in the questionnaire linked below where you will be able to attach your C.V./resume. The questions are:
- The preparations of the daily meals at the Potato are done the day of. We do not cook according to predetermined recipes.
- That being said, describe cooking experiences where you’ve had to use your creativity to organize and execute a meal.
- Optionally, include any knowledge/experiences preparing vegan/vegetarian meals, preparing for a large number of people, preparing with others, or implementing food safety practices.
- What experiences/skills do you have coordinating or engaging with large groups of volunteers/people?
- What interests you in joining the People’s Potato Collective? How does this relate to your formal or informal experiences, interests, and knowledge of other (local) community organizing?
- What are your formal or informal experiences of taking initiative and making decisions in the context of a non-hierarchical team?
- Considering that the collective is made up of, and the kitchen is frequented by, marginalized people (trans people, people of colour, queer people, disabled people, …), describe your experience and interests in supporting marginalized people in non-hierarchical ways.
- Describe your preferred methods of conflict de-escalation when faced with conflict in a stressful/fast-paced environment. This can be based on personal experiences — you don’t have to detail the conflict situation; we are more interested in knowing how you respond to situations of conflict.
- Is there any additional information you would like the collective to know
THE QUESTIONNAIRE (GOOGLE FORM)
The deadline for applications is Friday, August 3rd 2018 at 11:59 PM.
Only applicants accepted for interviews will be contacted.
Interviews will take place the week of August 14th and can be conducted via Skype or phone if required.
The position will begin the week of Monday, August 20th 2018.
*For more information about the People’s Potato, visit the rest of our website and check out our constitution.
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