Host: City of Boulder
Region: Colorado
Openings: 1
Project Focus: Climate Adaptation (e.g.,sea level rise planning, environmental justice, climate migration planning), Climate Mitigation, Energy Efficiency
Skills Needed: Community Engagement, Relationship Management, Community Outreach, Data Collection,

Remote or On-Site Placement

Hybrid

Service Needs & Plans

Climate Initiatives Department, in response to the federally declared disasters of the Marshall Fire and the accompanying Straight-line Wind event, designed and implemented a Wind Damage Assessment program, which was proceeded by the Mobile Home Wind Damage Repair and Efficiency Grant program and has recently been rebranded as the Healthy and Resilient Mobile Homes program. The Fellow’s support of this grant program includes relationship building, community outreach and engagement and program administration within the five manufactured housing communities in Boulder serving approximately 1200 homes and four recently added communities in Boulder County. Climate Initiative’s repair program will focus on providing repairs to all building envelope related reported damage (roofs, siding, insulation, skirting, windows, doors),while building relationships and trust in these under resourced communities.

Additionally, Climate Initiatives acts as the Coordinator for Air Quality issues within City boundaries. The fellow’s support of the Air  Quality program will involve continued work on the launch of a “Love My Air” outreach, education and action campaign in schools and adjacent low income communities. The campaign will focus on installing outdoor air quality monitoring in schools and their connected neighborhoods and working with community-based organizations and leaders to provide action and education on living with the impacts of air quality issues.

Project Description

The Healthy and Resilient Mobile Homes program is aimed at providing residents of mobile home communities with much needed building envelope repairs and, ultimately, efficiency upgrades that will significantly decrease energy burden/costs and provide homeowners with a more resilient living space that will keep them warmer in winter and cooler in the summer. The Climate Initiatives Department has partnered with Boulder County, the State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs, the Boulder County Emergency Resource Navigators, individual community connectors,9to5, and Boulder’s Housing and Human Services and Community Engagement departments to provide more comprehensive support, connect to, and further build relationships with each Manufactured Home Community. The program performed approximately 100 Wind Damage Assessments across the 8 communities to better determine needs and costs for the overall grant program. Also, program staff and last year’s CivicSpark Fellow set up a Salesforce database, website, online application and series of outreach events to promote the program and engage with the communities.

The Civic Spark Fellow would be intimately involved in the day to day operations of the Grant Program, including administration of the various steps of the grant process, day to day communication with grant recipients, support around ongoing outreach events, development of outreach communications and design of program marketing materials.

The Fellow would also work with program staff to design the impending expansion
of the grant program, which would encompass providing more repairs and upgrades to mobile homes in Boulder County. This would entail continuing updates to our webpage, grant applications and outreach materials and supporting additional community events and opportunities to learn about the expanded funding opportunities.

The Civic Spark Fellow would gain experience in program design and implementation, community engagement/relationship building and decarbonization efforts in under-resourced, diverse, environmental justice communities.

Desired Skills

• Outreach Material Design using Canva, Adobe or other platform
• Professional Writing Skills – email, flyers, educational documents
• Database Management/Administration – ability to learn and regularly use Salesforce
• High interest in engaging in Low Income Communities and Communities of Color
• Support of Event Planning and Implementation
• Traits- outgoing, communicative, well organized, trustworthy, eager to learn and develop

Organization & Workplace Highlights

The City of Boulder, and specifically the Climate Initiatives Department, is the best place I’ve ever worked in my 20 year career. The city highly values its employees and provides all sorts of personal support around physical health, mental and emotional well being, professional development, team building, and community-based learning and engagement. The Climate Initiatives department has officially integrated the federal Justice 40 mandate, by allocating 40% of it’s human and financial resources to equity, diversity and inclusion focused programs in our community. The Civic Spark Fellow would be supporting one of the most robust DEI programs within the department, the Health and Resilient Mobile Homes program, where we are continuing to build relationships and trust with some of our most diverse and least resourced communities in the city.

The City of Boulder requires a series of diversity, equity and inclusion workshops for all of its employees AND the Civic Spark Fellow would have the opportunity to participate in the departments internal JEDI Team, to support the design and development of our own internal DEI policies and frameworks for our programs, budgeting and hiring processes.
Being a Civic Spark Fellow engaged in the Manufactured Housing Communities in the City of Boulder will provide this person with the opportunity to engage with front line climate change impacted communities and work with the department to develop its own internal strategies around how to best focus its time and resources on Equity-centered
communities.

Located at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and home to a large University and several Climate Action think tanks, the City of Boulder provides an awesome learning space and living opportunity. The Fellow would also have the benefit of engagement with and support from additional Civic Spark Fellows in other focus areas with the Climate Initiatives Department (we currently have 2 other approved fellows in our Natural Climate Solutions focus area).

Community Highlights

Located at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and home to a large University and several Climate Action think tanks, the City of Boulder provides an awesome learning space and living opportunity. The Fellow would also have the benefit of engagement with and support from additional Civic Spark Fellows in other focus areas with the Climate Initiatives Department (we currently have 2 other approved fellows in our Natural Climate Solutions focus area).