Engagement Specialist VISTA

The Washington Gleaning Network (WGN) brings together gleaning organizations from all over Washington state and provides resources that help those organizations thrive, ultimately more healthy, local food into the hands of those who need it most. In this role, the Washington Gleaning Network partners with Harvest Against Hunger and its thriving Harvest VISTA Program to support this initiative. The AmeriCorps member will commit to a year of service focused on expanding community engagement, building sustainable systems, and developing impactful programs. In the first year, groundwork was laid for the WGN by conducting research, engaging in strategic planning, and building relationships across the statewide gleaning community. By engaging with more than 50 organizations, state-wide, common needs, regional differences, and major gaps were identified—including a lack of centralized gleaning knowledge and long-term program stability. Building on the groundwork laid in the first year, the second year of the project focused on deepening the relationships and partnerships established. This year emphasized nurturing trust across diverse gleaning programs and continuing to explore shared challenges and opportunities. Communication and knowledge-sharing among gleaners were facilitate, while also beginning to create the early scaffolding of a network that could offer long-term stability, mutual support, and shared resources to grow the gleaning movement in Washington state. The second year laid crucial relational and cultural groundwork for a statewide network rooted in collective impact, peer learning, and sustainability. As we enter the third year, the focus will be on preserving and expanding the network’s impact. Building on this momentum involves developing and formalizing network infrastructure, resources, and systems that can support gleaners well into the future.