Director of Bioregional Resilience

Job Description

The Mid-Hudson Valley Bioregion faces intensifying climate impacts, biodiversity loss, rising inequality, increased polarization, a deglobalized economy, and stressed public infrastructure. We see an opportunity to translate these challenges into a tangible, place-based bioregional resilience strategy. To address these issues, the initiative will map the region’s natural, food, energy, housing, social health, education and economic systems to understand how they can be better interconnected, and support programs and processes that weave them together. This work will integrate the Institute’s Pathways to Planetary Health framework with its Contemplative-based Resilience Training. We are seeking to hire a Director of Bioregional Resilience to grow the resilience capacity of the region, identifying, connecting with, and building relations with the key community organizations and participants in the bioregion, introducing resilient training systems and helping to grow it as a generative field.

Approach and Geographic Scope :

We begin with an asset-based community development approach, to map the rich resources in the region; to connect them by building networks of relationships and trust to take on practical projects that, woven together, will strengthen the fabric of the Bioregion, and enhance its resilience in response to the above threats. We see these initial networks addressing the food, energy, health, social services, public safety, education, commerce and housing systems.

To contribute on the ground resources, we propose to build a network of small, interconnected resilience hubs that deliver visible, everyday benefits like cooling during heat waves, power backup, healthy food access, and communications lifelines. These hubs should also nurture the culture of cooperation and belonging that sustains communities over time. Our goal is to integrate concrete projects with network weaving , i ntegrating contemplative group processes and reflection to enhance participants’ connections to their local communities, develop resilience to stress, and build trust and collaboration.

The Director of Bioregional Resilience will create visible, replicable projects that meet the everyday needs (food, energy, cooling, communications) at trusted sites such as libraries, schools, clinics, and community centers. Interconnect these “small nodes” into a distributed network so communities can learn, share, and scale what works. The projects will grow the bioregions’ resilience capacity and trusted networks by using commons-based practices and polycentric governance to keep ownership and decision-making close to the ground, then reinforce culture and mindset via brief contemplative practices after people have seen concrete value.

The primary geographic scope will be Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster. There will be

adjacent collaboration as needed (e.g., Westchester) when projects strengthen the core network. It will also be important to align with local government authorities for support, planning, and potential funding.

Core Responsibilities :

• Identify and grow networks of relationships in the food, energy, health, social services, public safety, government, commerce, education, and housing sectors.
• Develop and convene Advisory Circles in each subregion, and each sector described above that include municipal leaders, public safety, health systems, business, not for profit. faith, and civic groups. Lead with a trusted, non-ideological / non-political approach, focused on care for the community’s common good, and tangible benefits.
• Develop plan to implement resilience hubs.
• Provide resilience training programs in partnership with the Garrison Institute’s Contemplative Based Resilience Training Program.
• Represent the Garrison Institute in Mid-Hudson River Valley networks, consortia etc.
• Read, attend conferences, participate on zoom calls and otherwise keep abreast of the growing field of bio-regional resilience.
• Cultivate funding relationships to identify and raise funds for the program, working with the Garrison Institute’s Managing Director
• As funding grows, hire and supervise program team.
• Communicate about the program and the ideas that inform it in blogs, articles, social media, speeches, and convenings.
• Establish and track metrics of the program’s efficacy; publish quarterly dashboards.
• Serve as an active participant on the Garrison Institute’s senior leadership team, helping to support organization and integrate the Bioregional Resilience programs with others at the Institute.

Candidate Profile :

Reports to the Garrison Institute Managing Director, and a program steering committee. Based at the Garrison Institute in Garrison, New York, this role requires a hybrid work schedule with a combination of three on-site office days weekly or traveling within the region for off-site meetings representing Garrison Institute, including group convenings, and public interaction / speaking.