Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Community Outreach Associate
The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) is composed of more than 550 EPA alumni from across the country who volunteer their time to protect the integrity of EPA and its mission. EPN is dedicated to serving as a trusted resource and answering calls for objective analysis, scientific rigor, and facts about the environment and EPA.
EPN is currently focused on building the capacity of environmental agencies and the communities they serve to truly address the most urgent health and environmental crises.
● Ensure that EPA advances policies, budgets, and institutional changes to address climate and environmental injustices, as well as other pressing public health needs
● Provide pro bono capacity-building technical assistance and training to environmental justice communities, NGOs, and under-resourced state/local/tribal government agencies
● Train and mentor EPA staff and managers and recruit individuals from underrepresented populations to work at EPA
● Educate Congress and serve as a critical resource for facts, objective analysis, and scientific rigor for reporters and NGOs
About 16 months ago, EPN launched its pro bono capacity-building technical assistance program to fight climate change and environmental injustices across the country. Since then, EPN has connected over 100 experts from within its volunteer network—scientists, lawyers, economists, and others—to over 170 disadvantaged communities; non-profit organizations; and under-resourced state, local, and tribal government agencies, to provide pro bono assistance on community identified needs, including reviewing permits, teaching protocols for gathering water and ambient air samples, advising on critical next steps to achieve proper contamination remediation at Superfund sites, and more.
EPN is seeking a Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Community Outreach Associate located in or near Atlanta, Georgia, or Philadelphia, PA. These locations were chosen to mirror both the geographic distribution of EPA’s Region 3 and 4 Offices and the locations of the majority of ourvolunteers. We will also consider applicants who live in other locations in Region 3 and 4 (AL, DC, DE, FL, GA, KY, MD, MS, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA, and WV), but not outside of those geographic areas.
The Associate will be trained by and in regular communication with the Senior Community Outreach Associate Kya Williams, who is located in Virginia, and report to EPN Executive Director Michelle Roos, who is located in New York. Work will be remote, as EPN does not have an office. There may be some in-person meetings and travel in the future.
We are looking for a full-time Associate to start working ASAP in January 2023.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Associate will be tasked with creating additional and deeper connections with communities in specified areas of the country, and seeking out individuals and partnerships with local organizations to provide community identified areas of assistance. This work will include the following:
● Track work in database and Google spreadsheet
● Track next steps for EPN staff, volunteers, and key partner organizations
● Connect additional frontline communities, non-profits, and under-resourced government agencies (including tribes) with our volunteers for community-driven projects, including problem-solving meetings, research and reporting, and comprehensive actionable emails
● Connect communities with additional technical, grant, legal, and scientific resources such as decision-makers within government, advocacy, and academia; federal and foundation grants; and pro bono legal support
● Schedule meetings for communities and potential experts and organizations
● Form truly collaborative partnerships between community leaders and government agencies to ensure that communities’ voices are represented in infrastructure investments
● Grow individual and local partnerships to provide more holistic community support
● Produce webinars, trainings, templates (including grant templates), and other capacity-building tools so that additional communities can benefit from our work
● Broadly share findings formally and informally
QUALIFICATIONS:
● At least 1-3 years of relevant work experience
● Interest in environmental justice, US environmental and health policy, and/or the work of EPA
● Experience with or knowledge of social justice and equity issues
● Strong writing skills
● Detail oriented and unafraid to ask questions
● Ability to work independently, work on many different projects, and switch effectively from one task to another
● Experience working in collaborations or with multiple partners
● Strong work ethic
● Familiarity with Google Docs and Spreadsheets
● Bilingual abilities in English/Spanish are a plus
SCHEDULE and COMPENSATION:
● 40 hours per week between roughly 9am and 5pm local time weekdays
● $40,000-$50,000 annual salary ($20-25/hour)
● 11 paid federal holidays and 3 weeks leave
● Healthcare and dental/vision care
● Up to a 3% match on employee contributions to a SIMPLE IRA through Charles Schwab, Inc.
● After 6 months, $2,000/year reimbursement for purchase of phones, computers, headsets, printers, software or other personal equipment used consistently to carry out staff responsibilities
● Flextime allowed and encouraged
Environmental injustices disproportionately impact the most marginalized people in society, including people of color, people from working class backgrounds, women, and LGBTQ people. Because these communities must be centered in the work we do, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.
TO APPLY FOR THIS POSITION:
Please send a cover letter and resume to info@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org ASAP. While applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, priority will be given to those submitted by Friday, December 16, 2022. Please put “Community Outreach Associate” in the subject line.