Are you passionate about improving your community? Do you want to go to work every day knowing you’re making a difference?
CivicSpark offers a unique opportunity to gain professional experience and leadership skills while creating a lasting impact in local communities. Whether you’re passionate about disaster preparedness and response, water, natural resource management, housing, economic development, transportation and infrastructure, parks and recreation, public health and community engagement or related issues, you will gain direct technical experience and build a robust network in your field.
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)
Dates (subject to change)
Full Term (11 Months): October 5, 2026 to September 3, 2027
Three Quarter Term (8 Months): January 11, 2027 to September 3, 2027
Living Allowance*
2026-2027:
Full Term: $37,000
Three Quarter Term: $26,085
Segal Education Award*
Full Term: $7,395
Three Quarter Term: $5,176.50
California For All Award* (California Full-Term Fellows Only)
$2,605
SNAP (Food Stamps)**
✔︎
Student Loan Forbearance***
✔︎
Health Insurance
✔︎
Child Care Assistance
✔︎
Professional Development and Training
✔︎
Network Development
✔︎
CivicSpark and AmeriCorps Alumni Support
✔︎
*Amounts are pending final approval and are subject to change.
**For those who qualify. Qualification may vary based on personal situations.
***Only federal student loans qualify for forbearance. Approval of request is dependent on loan provider, not program or AmeriCorps.
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 time for the 2026-27 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
Looking ahead to my next chapter after CivicSpark, I feel prepared to enter any future professional space with more confidence and determination than ever before, along with some GIS and staff report writing skills!
The CivicSpark fellowship helped in launching my career in the environmental field. It was an invaluable experience and provided a vast network of connections and resources that I continue to use today.
It is difficult to put a dollar amount on a program that offers you a life-long professional and social network, access to subject matter experts in your field, and challenges you to think critically about issues you are passionate about. If you are not considering a postgraduate program, I would dare to say that you can get equal or greater value from participating in the CivicSpark program.