The Kelmarna Community Farm Trust is seeking a passionate and dedicated individual to join our Board of Trustees in a volunteer capacity. As a trustee, you will have the opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction and governance of a well-loved community urban farm that promotes sustainability, organic growing, health and wellbeing, education, and connection with nature. We are looking for someone who aligns with our mission and values and is excited to help us grow our impact.
Role purpose: As a volunteer trustee, you will work collaboratively with the board to provide oversight, governance, and strategic guidance for the organisation. Trustees play a vital role in ensuring Kelmarna remains financially sustainable, aligned to its purpose and values, achieves its long-term vision, and lives up to our community's expectations.
Key Responsibilities
Attending all Board meetings
Proactively contributing to the discussions and decision-making
Support the staff team to deliver on their roles and responsibilities
Promote the farm and the kaupapa amongst your own networks
Time Commitment
Monthly board meetings: held at 5-7pm on every second Tuesday of the month (except for January)
Additional trustee duties: approximately 5 hours per month as well as participation in 3-4 on-farm events throughout the year
Person Specification
Our ideal Trustee would have previous board experience and experience with at least one of the following: farming, fundraising, event planning and management, te ao and te reo Māori, IT, mental health programmes, education.
Required Attributes
Alignment with Kelmarna's mission and values
A willingness to get involved in the farm and our community
Excellent communication skills
Desirable Attributes
Strong understanding of and confidence in te reo Māori and te ao Māori
Specialist skills as listed above
How to Apply
If you are passionate about community development, sustainability, and regenerative farming, we’d love to hear from you!
We are taking expressions of interest anytime, and will assess applications as they come in. So get in touch soon - don’t miss this chance to help shape the future of Kelmarna.
To express your interest or find out more, please contact us at chair@kelmarna.co.nz.
Kelmarna Community Farm is an organic farm in central Auckland. Through rebuilding connections between our people and our food, we work to champion and demonstrate a regenerative local food system that supports environmental restoration, climate change mitigation, urban resilience and community wellbeing.
Kelmarna is a registered charity occupying 1.7 hectares of publicly-owned land in Ponsonby, which includes substantial vegetable gardens, food forest, layer hens, and a developing silvopasture for sheep grazing.
From this site we run a diverse range of activities, including:
varied volunteering programmes and roles
horticultural therapy for people with mental health needs or intellectual disability
farm education programme for schools
educational workshops for adults
Soil Factory, our community composting enterprise
on-site Farm Shop
produce sales to restaurants
community events
Our vision for Kelmarna’s future: A better-resourced, robustly funded, and widely recognised education and community hub at the forefront of the ecological food movement.