Senior Community Engagement Specialist

Description:

Duties and Responsibilities:

• In collaboration with Museum colleagues, landowners and managers, environmental partners, and community-based organizations:

• Co-create community engagement strategies in our target conservation areas Meet with diverse stakeholders and environmental partners to assess priorities, best practices, challenges, opportunities, and connections.

• Deploy, evaluate and communicate best practices for community engagement in environmental stewardship.

• Convene partners and produce events related to environmental stewardship, wellness, and nature, such as community stewardship days, climate action, and native plantings.

• Co-manage communications about stewardship work with the Chicago Region program’s ecologists that engage diverse audiences such as faith communities, local groups, partners, and people new to conservation.

• Participate in and advise the Action Center’s Social and Ecology teams, and the Chicago Wilderness Alliance

• Support other work of the Keller Science Action Center, as needed

• Professional development and service to the Museum in general

• Seek out new tools and techniques to build career success

• Identify and act upon opportunities to serve the mission of the larger Museum

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, ecology, anthropology, sociology, geography, or a related field, or equivalent, and at least five years experience in community-based programming and engaging diverse audiences with natural environments

• Interdisciplinary experience in ecology and social science

• Demonstrated success with community organizing and partnership building

• Knowledge of urban conservation issues and experience working in or knowledge of the Calumet region and City of Chicago communities

• Proficiency in environmental program implementation, climate change actions, and habitat restoration

• Previous experience managing complex projects, conducting outreach with diverse communities, and undertaking meeting facilitation and logistics

• Strong interpersonal and writing, editing, and verbal communication skills

• Experience with and ability to work with multicultural teams and with community partners of various backgrounds

• Commitment to continued learning in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion competencies

• Proficiency with digital work platforms such as MS Office and Google Workspace

• Willingness and ability to travel by car frequently within the Chicago region, including some evenings and weekends

• Additional skills preferred but not required: bilingual (Spanish), knowledge of and interest in learning about native plants, pollinators, and/or community science programs