CivicSpark Fellows focus on:

While all projects are unique, your service will include:

CivicSpark Fellows provide capacity building support to local governments, state agencies, nonprofits, educational institutions or community organizations on advancing their community planning goals, priorities and initiatives.

Example Projects:

• Community plans, general/comprehensive plans, plan elements, or action/implementation plans related to transportation, housing, energy, water or safety.
• Inventories, existing conditions analysis, assessments, data analysis, and geographic information systems (GIS) work
• Developing pilot programs 
• Creating ordinances and policy solutions
• Increasing community awareness of local planning issues
• Gathering community feedback on local priorities
• Volunteer management

Interested in a particular area? Here is more information about common project types:

Public Safety, Emergency Management & Disaster Preparedness
Projects on natural disaster preparedness and recovery, including emergency management planning, public safety planning and risk assessments.

Housing Affordability
Projects focus on housing priorities such as analysis of housing capacity and inventory, planning for increased housing supply, housing assistance programs, disaster recovery, affordability plans and rebuilding development.

Water

Projects focus on water management priorities such as stormwater resource planning, groundwater management, integrated watershed management, and water use.

Transportation & Infrastructure

Projects focus on community transportation & infrastruture priorities such as streets and highway network analysis, bicycle/pedestrian access and planning, traffic analysis, infrastructure studies, autonomous vehicles, and shared mobility.

Electricity and Power
Projects focus on public utilities, power grids, project identification, building identification and benchmarking, workforce outreach and community education.  

Parks & Outdoor Recreation
Parks and open space planning, public lands management and outdoor recreation planning.

In addition to the valuable experience gained serving with regional leaders and community members, Fellows receive professional development support through:

• Direct project experience in critically important fields and mentorship 
• Monthly trainings covering topics such as project management, professional communications, outreach and engagement, career path mapping, and more. 
• Networking with local, regional, state, and national leaders
• Career-building trainings that cover resume and cover letter creation, interview skills, and job-seeking guidance

All CivicSpark Fellows will be enrolled as members of AmeriCorps. Benefits include the following:

Full Term Fellows (11 Months / 1,700 service hours) – Three Quarter Term Fellows (8 Months / 1,200 service hours)

AmeriCorps Requirements

• Be at least 17 years of age.
• Be a U.S. citizen, national, or lawful permanent resident of the United States of America. At this time, we are unfortunately unable to accept applicants with work or student visas (such as F1 or F2 student visas, J1 or J2 exchange visitor visas, G series visas, etc.), or those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.
• Must participate in a national service criminal history background check and satisfy NSCHC eligibility criteria pursuant to 45 CFR 2540.202 prior to starting service
• Have a high school diploma or its equivalent.

CivicSpark Requirements

• Minimum of a 2-year AA degree from an accredited college or university
• Commitment to the full term of service
• Ability to work in a professional office or virtual office setting
• Strong communication and teamwork skills
• CivicSpark Fellows should generally be providing service directly to the people and in the communities where they serve rather than serving remotely (outside of the community). Fellows are required to live within their state of service by their first day of service, and must live within a region no more than 75 miles from their service site’s office. Fellows are expected to serve in person and be physically present when requested at the service site and/or community events.

Strongly Preferred

• A degree in a related field
• One year of relevant experience
• Past service experience (e.g. volunteering, community service)
• Experience with—or training in—outreach, facilitation, and/or education

Desired

• Experience with local government operations and structures
• Comfort with quantitative work, including data collection and analysis

The Fellow application timeline for the 2026-27 service year will be:

Fellow application launch: April 9, 2026

Fellow application closes: May 22, 2026

Interviews, matching to sites and offers: June to August 2026

Onboarding tasks: August to September 2026

Start date: October 5, 2026