Employment Opportunities

Community Organizer for Environmental Justice

Overview:  

The Payne-Phalen Community Council (PPCC) in St. Paul seeks a community organizer to help develop our organization’s environmental justice (EJ) framework and to advance our organization’s environmental justice aims.  A critical feature of this work is our partnership with HOURCAR, a Twin Cities based non-profit that offers carsharing services, especially in low resource, transit-dependent communities.   Both organizations have teamed up to partner on an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Grant. The grant provides PPCC an opportunity to create a new full-time position to develop knowledge, information, and insights about climate change, clean energy, transportation options, and mindful city planning at the grass roots level.

Role and Responsibilities: 

The Community Organizer position will report to PPCC’s Executive Director.  The everyday roles and responsibilities of this position include the following:

  • Conduct regular outreach activities with the residents and businesses in Payne-Phalen. Organize and share key information about contributing factors that cause environmental disparities and harm low-resource communities.  Engage people in productive conversation and encourage a sense of empowerment that fosters and propels community action towards positive change.
  • Develop, cultivate, and support relationships with existing or emerging coalitions working on environmental concerns and opportunities. Represent the interests of PPCC and HOURCAR in regular, ongoing meetings and relationships with environmental groups, local government partners, and citizen leaders.
  • Review existing reports and studies related to the impacts of transportation, manufacturing, and energy on the physical environment and our community’s overall wellbeing. Also review reports and studies to gather information about key opportunities for creating solutions to address and alleviate negative impacts going forward.
  • Help to build and develop a repository of community-based knowledge and insights that are stored, managed, and shared with other project partners.
  • Work alongside PPCC staff, Board Members, and our community partner organizations to gather, analyze, and articulate community-based knowledge into a long-range community plan and vision for Payne-Phalen in the year 2040.
  • Coordinate with our partners at HOURCAR to promote and solidify community participation in the EV Spot Network and Evie Car Sharing program as a model for positive change.
  • Collaborate with local public-practice artists (also hired by PPCC) to plan and carry-out a series of community conversations, activities, and public events focused on forming a citizen-based, cross cultural, environmentally just vision for the future of Payne-Phalen.

Qualifications and Skills

Personal Attributes: We are seeking someone who is enthusiastic about working with others and feels confident talking with many different kinds of people.  If the following qualities describe you, you’ll probably enjoy this job and be a good fit:

  • Enjoy meeting with, listening to, and talking with new people; curious about the world around you, concerned about the future, and committed to positive change. Eager and willing to teach others and learn from others equally.
  • Open-minded. Comfortable in multi-cultural and multi-generational settings. Excited about collaborating directly with people from diverse communities to engage in information sharing, ideation, and thinking about the future.
  • Strong sense of initiative, leadership and self-actualization. Ability to think ahead, be creative and encourage creativity in others around you.
  • Basic understanding of community organizing environmental sustainability and social justice.

Skills: A few key skills are needed and a few more are preferred:

  • Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication
  • Self-motivated, organized, and punctual
  • Proficient with varying software applications; MS Office and cloud-based apps
  • Ability to communicate effectively in a second language is a plus [preferably Hmong, Karen, Spanish or Somali]
  • Experience working in GIS and (or) community-based mapping tools is a plus.
  • Interest and experience in community planning is also a plus.

Professional Qualifications: We seek candidates who have some experience working in this kind of a position and/or another role that’s similar to or somehow related to the work of this position:

  • Demonstrated experience serving in a public-facing role in community organizing, coordination, or a project management of programs or events
  • Demonstrated experience working to further community understanding of areas of disparity, social justice, economic justice, and/or environmental justice.
  • Demonstrated experience gathering, analyzing, and sharing various forms of data and insights.
  • A High School diploma or GED is needed. Preference will be given to candidates who have an Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree, or are presently working toward completion of a degree

You don’t need to be an expert. We’re seeking someone smart who will (a) learn with, from, and alongside the community, (b) help package those insights in a sensible way, and (c) share out that learning and information with others.

Salary and Benefits:

  • This is a regular full-time employee opportunity, 32 hours per week within a flexible schedule. Salary: $18.50 – $22.00/hour
  • Our organization supplies compensation for health and well-being benefits to all employees, including this position.

How to Apply:

  • Resumes will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. Review of resumes will begin on July 11th.   This position is open until filled.
  • Send cover letter and resume by e-mail to: director@paynephalen.org

PDF of job posting: EJCC – July 2022