Host: Gateway Cities Council of Government
Openings: 1
Project Focus: Climate Adaptation (e.g., sea level rise planning, environmental justice, climate migration planning), Climate Mitigation, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy
Skills Needed: Project Management, Relationship Management, Environmental Justice, Stakeholder Engagement,

Remote or On-Site Placement

Hybrid – The fellow will be expected to come into the office 2-3 times a week at 16401 Paramount Boulevard, Paramount, CA 90723. If there is an agreed upon in-person presentation or event that takes place outside of the office, this will be counted towards the on-site requirement. The remaining days can be remote.

Service Needs & Plans

Gateway Cities Council of Government (GCCOG) will host a CivicSpark Fellow for Energy Efficiency. GCCOG is a joint powers authority of 27 cities and 11 unincorporated areas in southeast LA County with over two million residents (5% of California). GCCOG leads an array of important initiatives to address environmental, affordable housing and homelessness, transportation, economic development, and health and wellness issues. Particularly, GCCOG is a partner of the Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCalREN) for the “Public Agencies” and “Residential” sectors of the network. SoCalREN was created to harness the collective power of residents, businesses and the public sector to achieve an unprecedented level of energy savings across Southern California.

There is a primary ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY NEED for marketing and engagement related to the SoCalREN project. The CivicSpark Fellow would work with the GCCOG Environmental Project Manager and 3 other GCCOG team members to liaise with the SoCalREN team and co-create and distribute engagement materials about SoCalREN and other energy efficiency rebates and incentives to cities, multi-family housing residents, community organizations, and schools.

There is a secondary ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY NEED to help identify and track related energy efficiency projects and programs for the Gateway Cities region. With the abundance of energy programs at the local, regional, state, and federal levels, we look forward to having a CivicSpark Fellow be an extra pair of eyes and ears to what is going on related to energy efficiency programs.

One reason energy efficiency and savings is important to the Southeast LA cities and residents is because extreme heat is a big climate concern in the subregion, which faces high impervious surface cover, low tree canopy, and a lack of community resources to address the heat. Many households rely on electricity to cool their home, food, and medical supplies on a day-to-day basis, and more so when there is extreme heat. Not having, or affording, adequate energy and cooling is burdensome to low-income households. Additionally, city and community public facilities rely on electricity to run their critical social services during extreme heat.

Project Description

1. Overarching goals of the project: The Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCalREN) was created to harness the collective power of residents, businesses and the public sector to achieve an unprecedented level of energy savings across Southern California.

The GCCOG has supported SoCalREN in the past years with program marketing, regional engagement, energy planning, education and training, agency recognition, and program motivation and competition. The GCCOG has also provided training opportunities in energy efficiency, engaged cities in energy-saving and sustainability projects such as Energy Resiliency Action Plans, and created and implemented the Gateway Cities Energy Action Awards. This upcoming 24/25 year, we’d like to focus on reaching residents in multi-family units, and then utilizing the SoCalREN’s Kits for Kids energy efficiency program in schools.

2. Role of the Fellow: The primary role of the fellow would include marketing and engagement related to the SoCalREN project. This may entail co-creating content for case studies, newsletters, social media, the COG’s website, and press releases. This Fellow would be in charge of developing stakeholder engagement lists and tracking engagement activities. The fellow would reach out to and initiate relationships for potential SoCalREN presentations with various organizations such as schools, churches, neighborhood associations and other entities that target eligible entities for energy efficiency upgrades. There may also be opportunities to participate at in-person events in southeast Los Angeles to talk about SoCalREN.

A secondary role of the fellow would help identify and track related energy efficiency projects for the Gateway Cities region. This may include attending webinars and events and reporting back via notes and oral summaries to the GCCOG Environmental Team.

We look forward to hosting someone who is motivated to improve their communication and stakeholder engagement skills as well as learn more about energy efficiency and clean energy as a climate change solution!

3. Desired project outcomes in terms of resources developed: At the end of the fellowship we hope the resources developed for Gateway Cities COG will be:
-SoCalREN case studies, newsletters, social media posts, press releases, and other content for the COG’s website.
-Stakeholder engagement lists of contacts in Southeast Los Angeles, as well as list of engagement activities conducted during Fellow’s time period.
-Written summaries of energy efficiency related projects, programs, and funding opportunities for the Gateway Cities region.

We also hope the fellow will come out with the following skill set and knowledge:
-Strong oral and written skills with an ability to interface well with internal and external colleagues, city staff members, elected officials, and funders
-Experience developing strategic communications, including creating written content for outreach and social media materials
-Ability to problem-solve by demonstrating diplomacy and tact
-Being detail-oriented and able to work independently to complete projects on a deadline
-Passion for equity and inclusive community engagement
-Interest in and knowledge of the communities of Southeast Los Angeles and energy efficiency

4. How these resources will help increase the agency’s capacity to address the resilience challenges: The resources and additional staff capacity on marketing and outreach for SoCalREN will be important to public agencies in the Southeast Los Angeles region who have limited capacity. The GCCOG acts as a convenor and shares resources so that public agencies and residents can more easily access SoCalREN’s rebates for energy efficiency. This is critical because households and cities in the subregion suffer from extreme heat as a big climate concern. Extreme heat can be burdensome to low-income households with costs of cooling, and public facilities rely on electricity to run their critical social services during extreme heat.

Desired Skills

Ideally, we would like someone that is skilled in some marketing and stakeholder engagement. This role may require co-developing materials like flyers and slide decks as well as some public speaking via Zoom, phone, and in-person. This position requires project management skills to stay organized and on top of stakeholder lists and various communication methods (e.g. email, phone, meetings). Familiarity with Microsoft Outlook Suite and Google Suite is preferred.

Organization & Workplace Highlights

The culture and environment of the GCCOG is welcoming and values the uniqueness of each of its team members. We collaborate effectively and have a commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We have team meetings twice a week to check in and connect. We are available to support one another across our different projects.

The office space is located at 16401 Paramount Blvd, Paramount, CA 90723, where the Fellow will have a dedicated desk. The supervisor, the Environmental Project Manager, comes in 2-3 a week and will be available more frequently in the first few months for questions and onboarding.

The existing Environmental Team at GCCOG has 4 members. Collectively, our team has masters degrees in urban and environmental planning, as well as business administration. Throughout our careers, our team members have served on local commissions and been involved in nonprofit advocacy. The Director of the GCCOG is also a former elected official and member of the California Air Resources Board. We think we have multi-faceted experience to share with any Fellow that would join our team to mentor them in their own professional development.

Community Highlights

The Gateway Cities COG (GCCOG) is a joint powers authority of 27 cities and 11 unincorporated areas in southeast LA County with over two million residents (5% of California). GCCOG leads an array of important initiatives to address regional environmental, affordable housing and homelessness, transportation, economic development, and health and wellness issues.
The Fellow will have the opportunity to serve an area that is considered disadvantaged, but that also has a huge opportunity to shift its economy to having cleaner energy, transportation, air quality, and overall better quality of life.
Particularly, the Southeast Los Angeles communities clustered around the I-710 freeway have been exposed to high levels of toxins due to goods movement. The I-710 freeway carries 40,000 diesel truck trips a day, delivering a large share of the $500 billion of goods that pass through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for distribution throughout the US. There is limited park space, low tree canopy and significant vehicular and truck traffic on freeways and the road network within the communities of focus exacerbates the extreme heat conditions and public health impacts today, and is only projected to get worse with the progression of climate change.
Energy efficiency is just one solution to this enormous area of need, but it provides an immediate benefit for cooling and cost savings for many residents and cities.