Advance Your Community Resilience Goals with a CivicSpark Fellow!

• Public agencies (local, county or regional governments), state agencies, Tribes, and non-profit organizations can contract directly to host CivicSpark Fellows
• Fellows cannot be placed at for-profit organizations
• Fellows must implement projects or initiatives with a clear scope of work designed to build organizational capacity on a community resilience issue
• Partners must agree to follow all AmeriCorps requirements

Projects must support local community resilience needs such as climate change adaptation or mitigation, affordable housing, energy efficiency, water management or policy, sustainable mobility, or other related issues. Beyond the basic criteria, our program is looking for tangible and impactful resilience projects with a:

• Clear, suitable scope of work
• Commitment to implementation
• Strong connection to public agencies’ needs

We are also looking for projects from communities with identifiable capacity gaps, including:

• Absence of an adopted and up-to-date strategy (plan, element, or other) that comprehensively addresses the target resilience issue with appropriate funding, programs, and policies, to implement the strategy
• A defined resilience capacity gap as evidenced by at least one significant program, policy, or planning goal for a specific resilience issue that has not been met, or cannot be met, without resource or system development assistance
• Significant community wide burdens as defined by any of the following criteria:
  • A score of .75 or higher on the CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index
  • Meeting more than one burden threshold and the associated economic threshold on the Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool
  • For California communities:
    • A score of 25 or less on the California Healthy Places Index; or
    • A score of 75 or higher on CalEnviroScreen
  • For Washington communities:
    • A score of 9 or 10 on the Washington Environmental Health Disparities Map
  • An unemployment rate above the state average
    Median household income at or below 80 percent of the statewide median income
  • Designation as a FEMA Community Disaster Resilience Zone (CDRZ)

CivicSpark places highly motivated emerging leaders with local organizations for an 11-month term to support research, planning, and implementation projects for community resilience. Through our program’s model, CivicSpark staff work with project partners to coordinate a positive fellowship experience. Site Supervisors provide direct project supervision of Fellows, with support from CivicSpark Regional Coordinators and other program staff.

Beyond basic requirements, we are looking for project partners with a commitment to Fellows’ growth and development through direct project oversight, a dedicated Fellow supervisor, and a supportive professional environment.

CivicSpark Fellowships are funded in part by AmeriCorps and in part by our partners hosting fellows. Rates for the program are all-inclusive and cover a Fellow living allowance, workers compensation and liability insurance, Fellow benefits, and programmatic operating costs including professional development and CivicSpark staff support for Fellows.

2024-2025 Three-quarter Time and Half-Time Pricing

CivicSpark is committed to recruiting a diverse cohort each year. Our organization has developed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Roadmap and Litmus Test to apply to all programmatic efforts, including recruitment.

Additionally, in 2020 CivicSpark created a Racial Equity Action Plan. This plan was developed with input from CivicSpark Fellows, partners, alumni, and staff through focus groups and surveys. The plan outlines goals and strategies to increase diversity in recruitment, enhance racial equity training, and improve support for people of color in the program – as well as those served by the program. Examples include increasing recruitment from BIPOC communities, providing training on racial equity and Indigenous cultures, and preventing workplace inequities at Fellow host sites. We also recently launched several affinity groups for members who identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA. CivicSpark staff and fellows meet regularly to reflect and make progress on implementing the Racial Equity Action Plan. A planning effort is currently underway to update the plan, with a release expected in mid 2024.

Step 1: Submit Online Project Application

We estimate it should take less than 30 minutes to complete the application once you have developed your project concept.

Step 2: Pre-Service Eligibility Form

Project service recipients must complete an Eligibility Form after they submit their application. This survey establishes baseline information about the agency’s capacity needs and goals relating to the project. This information is used to set goals and evaluate success upon project completion.

Step 3: Application Review and Follow-Up
CivicSpark staff will review project applications and schedule a call with your project lead. Through these conversations, staff are able to ensure your project will deliver results while also meeting our goals as an AmeriCorps program. Staff will then consider your project for approval based on our programmatic priorities.

Step 4: Project Approval and Contracting

Once approved, agencies must complete a Service Agreement (contract) outlining mutual roles and responsibilities between project partners and CivicSpark, as well as payment terms.

Step 5: Candidate Review and Interviewing

CivicSpark staff will share qualified candidates for consideration, at which time partners should interview candidates who may be a good fit. CivicSpark staff will make the final offer to the Fellow for placement.

October 18, 2024: Partner Applications Open

November 15, 2024: Partner Application Deadline – Application Closes

Check out recordings from this year’s informational webinars and events.