Host: County of Yolo
Region: Northern California
Openings: 1
Project Focus: Climate Adaptation, Climate Mitigation, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy
Skills Needed: Community Engagement, Community Outreach, Stakeholder Engagement, Project Management, Research Skills, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Self-Motivated, Teamwork

Service Needs & Plans

The Yolo County Department of Community Service’s Sustainability Division is looking for a CivicSpark Fellow to support the Sustainability Division’s Communications Plan and Equity and Engagement Strategy by engaging with our online communications networks, supporting the facilitation of our Technical Advisory Committees, and supporting our ambitious 2030 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP). By developing new and improved communications channels, the CivicSpark Fellow will play a critical role in helping the County achieve its goal of net negative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. This project will consist of creative social media management for the Sustainability Division, development of the monthly Sustainability Newsletter, webpage management, and broader support through events planning and in-person engagement with support from staff, Commission, and consultants.

Project Description

• Overarching goals of the project:
  • Communications Streams Management
    • Continue implementation of the Communications Plan.
      • Develop innovative ways to engage with the community online through widening our communications network by developing a Yolo Sustainability TikTok account and other additional projects to widen the County’s CAAP online outreach.
      • Manage a regular posting schedule in coordination with staff.
      • Conduct research on sustainability projects and work closely with staff, the Implementation CS Fellow, Commission, and consultants to share updates on ongoing projects through the social media streams.
    • Support and management of in person outreach and engagement in vulnerable, prioritized communities.
    • Continue to research equitable engagement best practices.
    • Build upon the Communications Plan by developing resources to maintain capacity for the Office of Sustainability to continue regularly updating our social media streams and webpage for years to come. 
  • Broader CAAP Support:
    • The Fellow will also have the opportunity to support the Office of Sustainability’s communications work and broader CAAP goals —supporting the County’s Sustainability Manager, working closely with the Equity and Engagement Working Group, developing staff reports and presentations, creating meeting minutes and summaries, supporting organization of CAAP workshops—as well as the work of the County’s Climate Action Commission, helping to create a strong, consistent messaging for the County’s Climate Action and Sustainability workstreams.
• Role of the Fellow in the project:
  • Organizing in-person workshops, outreach events, and more for the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. 
  • Management and developing new content-types (ie. videos, interviews, etc.) for the Sustainability team’s social media channels.
  • Creative development of outreach efforts (in-person or online).
  • Project coordination in the form of meeting coordination, notes, follow-up emails, summaries, and staff report preparation for Commission meetings.
  • Implementation of equitable engagement strategies.
  • Support broader climate goals, Commission, staff, and consultants as needed.
• Desired project outcomes in terms of resources developed (e.g., reports, plans, networks, etc.)
  • Building out and continued implementation of the Communications Plan.
  • Equity and social media toolkit and development of new social media streams/upgrades to current platforms that will benefit the County’s communications streams for years to come.
  • Broader support of climate action goals, working group support, and Implementation Fellow support.
  • Support in reaching our carbon-negative by 2030 goals by engaging with the community and supporting in person outreach events.
  • Staff reports and presentations for Commission.
• How these resources will help increase the agency’s capacity to address the resilience challenges you described in the previous section.
  • Equitable Communications Outreach and Engagement:
    • Consistent messaging to online platforms and improvement to social media streams. 
    • Support staff, working groups, Commission, and consultants by messaging about our 2030 CAAP.
    • Creative management of social media in a way that is sustainable and can be continued by the County for years to come.

Desired Skills

• Excellent verbal and written communication
• Proficient research skills
• Attention to detail
• Ability to design and prepare social media content
• Ability to design photos using Canva
• Ability to coordinate and prepare public outreach materials
• Ability to coordinate projects across internal and external partners
• Ability to time manage and prioritize among multiple competing demands
• Ability to work effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds
• Ability to work independently and part of a team
• Eagerness to learn new skills
• Passion for climate action and emissions reductions
• Proficiency with Microsoft suite

Organization & Community Highlights

In September of 2020, the County Board of Supervisors adopted a Climate Emergency Resolution (Resolution No. 20-114) that “declares climate change a crisis requiring urgent and immediate mobilization of public and private resources to develop and implement a climate and sustainability plan that identifies and integrates current and future actions needed to achieve a just economic recovery and transition to a countywide carbon negative footprint by 2030.” This new target requires the County to prepare a new Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) which must incorporate the principles of equity and justice. 

The Board’s resolution also called for the establishment of a broad-based advisory board which incorporates the participation of indigenous and underserved communities to guide the preparation of the CAAP. This advisory board, the Yolo County Climate Action Commission, is now up and running and ready to guide the CAAP development process with a focus on social justice and equity. 

As we move into the next stage of CAAP development, we plan on developing a series of working groups on critical topics such as agriculture, mobility, food security/sovereignty, economic opportunity, and social justice to solicit feedback that will guide the development of the various sections of our CAAP. We need the support of a CivicSpark Fellow to help support the outreach and engagement process- both online through our social media and communications networks and in person through outreach events. The 22-23 CivicSpark Fellow assisted in Natural and Working Lands Working Group organization and CAAP Early Action Projects, and it is our hope that the new CivicSpark Fellow will continue to support the working groups  with County Staff, the Climate Action Commission, consultants, and other public and private partners.

 

Remote or On-Site Placement

Hybrid/On-Site