JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Urban Tilth has an immediate opening for a Community Engagement Manager to guide the
continued growth of our Watershed Restoration Program.

Our community engagement programming builds relationships between local residents and the
natural spaces within the Richmond (CA) community, cultivating pride and a sense of place:
essential elements for achieving environmental justice and community health in Richmond. The
ultimate goal of the Watershed Restoration program is to empower, employ, and reconnect
residents of Richmond, North Richmond and San Pablo in support of both community and
ecosystem health.

Primary areas of focus for this position include:

1) Enhance resident access to Urban Tilth’s Water Conservation offerings, including but not
limited to free laundry-to-landscape greywater recycling systems.
2) Plan, prep, outreach for and host community engagement/volunteer events that connect
community members with, celebrate, and care for natural spaces and waterways
throughout West Contra Costa County.
3) Conduct community feedback processes related to natural spaces and green infrastructure
in our target neighborhoods.
4) Perform outreach to connect community members with Urban Tilth offerings, including
but not limited to upcoming events, employment opportunities, training programs, and
available resources.

The ideal candidate for this position will have a vision for how Urban Tilth’s Watershed
Restoration program might grow to better serve and connect with West Contra Costa County
residents. This candidate will understand that community engagement with natural spaces is
essential for achieving environmental justice, ecosystem resilience, and true community
empowerment, and will create programming that builds and stewards these relationships to the
land. The Watershed Restoration program has had a transformative impact on creeks and other
natural spaces in West County– improving ecosystem resiliency, mitigating risks related to fire
and flooding, providing habitat for flora and fauna– and has trained over 40 young adults through
our Basins of Relations Training Program. The new CE Manager will enhance and expand this
impact, cultivating and supporting a network of organizations, residents, program supporters,
River enthusiasts, land stewards, and environmental justice allies who are all aware of and
invested in the success of Urban Tilth’s community-driven model of land stewardship. We hope
to grow a vibrant network of mutual support that ensures our Watersheds program is responsive
to and in alignment with community needs.

Position responsibilities include:

• Facilitate resident access to Urban Tilth’s Water Conservation offerings:
  • Find homeowners interested in (free) laundry-to-landscape, water catchment, and
    drip irrigation system installation, through various forms of outreach, including:
    knocking on doors, attending community meetings, visiting community centers,
    connecting to other organizational networks, etc
  • Advise residents on the benefits of water conservation and recommend
    installation of water conservation systems where appropriate, including
    greywater, water catchment, and drip irrigation systems.
  • Follow up with interested residents, schedule installation times, and coordinate
    with Urban Tilth’s Water Conservation Project Manager to ensure installation and
    maintenance tasks are complete.
• Host community engagement/volunteer events that connect community members with,
  celebrate, and care for natural spaces and waterways (creeks, shorelines, greenways,
  gardens etc) throughout West Contra Costa County.
  • Design, recruit volunteers for, implement, coordinate and report on 10-12 events
    per year, including, but not limited to our major quarterly events: MLK Day, Earth
    Day, and Coastal Cleanup Day.
  • All events include a blend of: community education around watershed
    stewardship, fun family-friendly outdoor activities, celebration of the natural
    spaces around us, and restorative tasks that make a measurable positive impact on
    ecosystem health (e.g. picking up trash, planting native plants).
  • Create an event budget in advance of the event, gather supplies, recruit volunteers
    and participants, lead and implement the event, document the event with
    photographs and surveys, and submit the documentation in the proper locations.
• Conduct community feedback processes related to natural spaces and green infrastructure
  in our target neighborhoods, to enhance community health, resilience, and programmatic
  responsiveness to community needs.
  • Target neighborhoods include, but are not limited to Iron Triangle, Sante Fe,
    Coronado and North Richmond neighborhoods.
  • In collaboration with UC Berkeley and SF Estuary Institute, lead a community
    feedback gathering process to guide the design of future green stormwater
    infrastructure projects for the neighborhoods surrounding the Richmond
    Greenway.
    • The goal is to enhance the resilience of our urban ecosystem, while also
      celebrating community assets, building upon community expertise, and
      resisting gentrification.
  • Host 5-6 community events over the grant period where community assets are
    celebrated, natural spaces are cared for, and information is shared in both
    directions – residents to scientists and scientists to residents.
• Perform outreach to connect community members with UT offerings, including but not
  limited to: upcoming events, employment opportunities, training programs, available
  resources.
• Maintain partnerships with land-owning agencies (City and County, etc) and community
  organizations to make sure events run smoothly, are properly permitted, and are
  well-attended.
• Create a budget prior to each event and submit it to the program director to gain approval
  for funding before the event.
• Rigorously document events using sign-in sheets, taking pictures, providing post-surveys
  to participants, and completing monthly and annual program reports etc.
• Track programmatic data, keep a record of community contacts, record number of
  attendees at events, log all work completed.
• Share the story of the Watershed Restoration program through weekly social media
  postings (on UT’s page), monthly email updates to program supporters, and monthly
  reports.
• When appropriate, participate in Field Crew workdays on local creek sites, and contribute
  to all tasks relevant to the site at hand, including, but not limited to: native species
  propagation, invasive species removal, erosion control installation.
• Be organized, punctual, responsible, an excellent communicator and a stellar role model.
• Create and maintain relationships with stakeholders, organizations and individuals.
• Fully participate in annual budget and action plan development.
• Deliver presentations at annual board staff retreats and strategic planning meetings.
• Attend all Urban Tilth staff meetings, Watershed Restoration team meetings, and our
  annual Urban Tilth retreat.
• Continuously deepen your own understanding of the concepts integral to this program,
  including creek restoration, hydrology, environmental justice, native plant identification,
  indigenous land stewardship, etc.

Required qualifications:

• Excellent public speaking and communication skills.
• Experience and comfort working within communities of color.
• Desire to serve and support the Richmond community.
• Experience with event planning and coordination.
• Experience managing team members to achieve event logistics.
• Experience in environmental stewardship, knowledgeable on issues like climate change, drought, environmental justice, and ecosystem restoration.
• Basic understanding of water conservation techniques (laundry-to-landscape greywater, water catchment, drip irrigation).
• Experience working with California native and drought-tolerant plants.
• Valid driver’s license.

Preferred qualifications:

• Bilingual Spanish
• Ability to identify California native flora and fauna..

Compensation

• 40 hrs/week, 100% FTE
  • Exact hours of work are somewhat flexible to meet candidate needs, but typically
    our workdays are 9am-5pm M-F, with occasional weekend events.
• Starting wage: $28/hour
• Benefits include: 40 hours paid vacation, 11 paid holidays and paid Winter Break from
  Dec 22nd – Jan 2nd, 40 hours of annual paid sick leave, medical, dental and life insurance
  benefits, and wellness fund benefits.

Contact

Those interested should send a resume and cover letter to employmentwts@urbantilth.org .
Please include ‘WTS Community Engagement Manager’ in the subject line. If you have
questions concerning the position please contact nathan@urbantilth.org.
We are hoping to have this new hire begin work on May 1st, 2024, but this start date is flexible.

***

About the Watershed Program

Urban Tilth’s Watershed Restoration Program (a.k.a. ‘Basins of Relations’) trains young adults
from the Richmond community to steward urban ecosystems and to understand their relationship
to land through a social and environmental justice framework. The Basins of Relations Training
Program is a paid apprenticeship which supports young people from West Contra Costa County
as they begin careers in environmental stewardship. Our 6-person Watershed Restoration Field
Crew employs exceptional graduates of the training program and provides contracted restoration
services for neglected urban waterways, in partnership with local landowning agencies. Our new
Water Conservation Program installs free greywater, water catchment, and drip irrigation
systems for free for Richmond residents, in addition to providing skill-building opportunities for
community members. Our Native Plant Nursery grows locally-sourced California-native riparian
plants for installation on local creek restoration projects. Our Community Engagement
programming interfaces with and supports all of these efforts, connecting community members
with all Watershed Restoration program offerings

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