Community Outreach Associate, EPA Region 7

• Must be located in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, or Nebraska

Background: The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) is composed of a small staff and more than 600 EPA alumni volunteers from across the country focused on building the capacity of environmental agencies and the communities they serve to truly address the most urgent health and environmental crises. EPN works to:

• Ensure that EPA advances policies, budgets, and institutional changes to address climate and environmental injustices, as well as other pressing public health needs 
• Provide pro bono capacity-building technical assistance and training to environmental justice communities, NGOs, and under-resourced state/local/tribal government agencies 
• Train and mentor EPA staff and managers and recruit individuals from underrepresented populations to work at EPA 
• Educate Congress and serve as a critical resource for facts, objective analysis, and scientific rigor for reporters and NGOs 

Almost 3 years ago, EPN launched its pro bono capacity-building technical assistance program to fight climate change and environmental injustices across the country. Since then, EPN has connected over 180 experts from within its volunteer network—scientists, lawyers, economists, and others—to over 800 requests from disadvantaged communities; non-profit organizations; and under-resourced state, local, and tribal government agencies to provide pro bono assistance on community identified needs, including reviewing permits, teaching protocols for gathering water and ambient air samples, advising on critical next steps to achieve proper contamination remediation at Superfund sites, and more. 

Although some positions require applicants to live in specific geographic regions, day to day work will be remote, as EPN does not have an office. In addition, there may be some in-person meetings and travel. We are looking for the Associates to start working ASAP, ideally in late April or by mid-May 2024.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH ASSOCIATE RESPONSIBILITIES: 

The Community Outreach Associates will be tasked with creating additional and deeper connections with communities in specified areas of the country, and seeking out individuals and partnerships with local organizations to provide community identified areas of assistance. This work will include the following:

• Collaborating and coordinating with the Region 7 Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC)
• Tracking work in EPN’s database and various Google spreadsheets 
• Tracking next steps for EPN staff, volunteers, and key partner organizations 
• Connecting additional frontline communities, non-profits, and under-resourced government agencies (including tribes) with our volunteers for community-driven projects, including problem-solving meetings, research and reporting, and comprehensive actionable emails 
• Connecting communities with additional technical, grant, legal, and scientific resources such as decision-makers within government, advocacy, and academia; federal and foundation grants; and pro bono legal support 
• Scheduling meetings for communities and potential experts and organizations 
• Forming truly collaborative partnerships between community leaders and government agencies to ensure that communities’ voices are represented in infrastructure investments 
• Growing individual and local partnerships to provide more holistic community support 
• Producing webinars, trainings, templates (including grant templates), and other capacity-building tools so that additional communities can benefit from our work 
• Traveling throughout the local EPA region, and sometimes beyond 
• Broadly sharing findings formally and informally 

QUALIFICATIONS: 

• At least 1-3 years of relevant work experience 
• Highly productive in remote working environments 
• Self-starter with problem-solving skills
• Interest or experience in environmental justice, US environmental and health policy, and/or the work of EPA
• Experience with or knowledge of social justice and equity issues 
• Strong writing and communication skills 

• Experience with Canva or with other presentation-making tools
• Detail oriented and unafraid to ask questions 
• Ability to work independently, work on many different projects, and switch effectively from one task to another 
• Experience working in collaborations or with multiple partners 
• Strong work ethic 
• Familiarity with Google Docs and Spreadsheets 
• Bilingual abilities in English/Spanish are a plus
• Ability to travel up to 30% of time
• Must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident

SCHEDULE and COMPENSATION: 

• 40 hours per week between roughly 9 am and 5:30 pm eastern on weekdays, flextime allowed and encouraged
• Annual salary of $54,292-$67,579, depending on location. EPN currently uses the federal government’s General Schedule Locality Areas to adjust pay depending on where you live. To find the starting salary for these positions, find the GS-8, step 1-annual salary in your physical location. For example: 
  • In St. Louis, MO, the annual salary for a GS 8, step 1 is $55,598
  • In Des Moines, IA, the annual salary for a GS 8, step 1 is $54,692
  • In Omaha, NE, the annual salary for a GS 8, step 1 is $54,813
• 11 paid Federal Holidays and other paid days when office is closed (including the work day before or after July 4, the day after Thanksgiving, and the work days between December 25th and January 1)
• 3 weeks (120 hours) of paid time off
• Health, dental, vision insurance
• Ability to contribute to a 401k plan with 4% EPN match
• 100% reimbursement for individual personal cell phone plan and home internet/wifi
• After six months of employment, up to $2,000/year and reimbursement for purchase of phones, computers, headsets, printers, software or other personal equipment used consistently to carry out staff responsibilities. Interest-free loan available prior to six months upon request.
• Applicable travel expenses will be reimbursed, including travel time outside of your local area 

Environmental injustices disproportionately impact the most marginalized people in society, including people of color, people from working class backgrounds, women, and LGBTQ people. Because these communities must be centered in the work we do, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.