Position: Core Team Community Liaison for the Town of Sutton
Number of openings: 3
Timeframe: April 2024 – December 2025 (21 months)
Hours of work:
- April 2024 – January 2025: 1 – 5 hours per week (up to 80 hours)
- February 2025 – December 2025: number of hours will be dependent on the project selected by the Core Team. As a member of the Core Team, you will play a role in selecting the project. There will also be a couple hours for reflection at the end of the process.
Compensation:
- April 2024 – January 2025: $3,200 ($40/hour)
- February 2025 – December 2025: compensation will depend on the project selected by the Core Team. As a member of the Core Team, you will play a role in selecting the project.
- Compensation requires the submission of “milestone memos”, or invoices per instances of major participation in this process. Instances may include community outreach for a workshop or event, attendance at a workshop or event, etc.
About the project:
Are you passionate about connecting with members of your community and advocating for community needs? Do you value a regional approach to protecting the environment and the people who are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change? On behalf of the town of Sutton, the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) is looking to hire three people to serve as part-time Community Liaisons between the town of Sutton and underrepresented community groups. These three people will serve on a core team with community liaisons from the three other towns in the Mumford River sub-basin: Douglas, Northbridge, and Uxbridge. Specifically, we are looking for community members who have strong ties to Sutton’s refugees or asylum seekers, elderly and youth populations, low-income renters, residents with limited internet access, BIPOC residents, or non-English speakers. We are also looking for community members who have strong ties to members of the community who have lived experience with on financial and/or housing insecurity or barriers to access based on age, income, race, or English proficiency. The Community Liaisons will play a critical role on the Mumford River sub-basin’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) 2.0 Core Team.
The MVP 2.0 program is a grant program run by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It funds communities throughout Massachusetts to identify climate vulnerabilities and invests in resilience. The MVP 2.0 program expands on the work communities have done to date and supports communities with new methods, tools, and resources for building climate resilience. In particular, MVP 2.0 is a way for the community to revisit resilience priorities with a focus on equity and translate those priorities into action through project development and implementation.
The MVP Core Team will lead the MVP 2.0 work in their communities. The Core Team will focus on ways to make the town of Sutton more resilient to climate change impacts, such as flooding and extreme heat, including ways to support community needs for a stronger and healthier community day-to-day. Topics the Core Team may address could include access to healthy food, housing, transportation, parks and open space, reducing flood risk, or ways to stay cool during heat waves. The Core Team will lead conversations to understand community needs and to help develop a project that will address those needs and support community resilience. On behalf of the town of Sutton, the CMRPC is looking for individuals who can work individually and as a team to make an impact for their community.
Responsibilities:
- Work closely with the other members of the Core Team (including town staff and Community Liaisons from Douglas, Northbridge, and Uxbridge);
- Participate in a Core Team training focused on building climate resilience and equity and climate justice (approximately 8 hours over the course of several weeks);
- Attend and participate in regular team meetings (may be virtual or in-person);
- Organize, promote, and facilitate engagement activities with members of the community to gather insight about community needs and factors that contribute to social vulnerability (e.g., creating and distributing surveys, hosting community dinners or pop-up events to gather input, sharing information via social media and listservs, hosting interviews or focus groups, etc.);
- Work with other Core Team members to update the town’s priorities for building community resilience via 1-2 meetings and outreach to the community to vet the priorities;
- Work with other Core Team members to identify, develop, and implement a project that supports community resilience in Sutton;
- Develop and maintain trusting relationships in the community.
Please Note: This position is responsible for their own transportation and transportation costs. This position may require evening work and/or weekend work, depending on community engagement needs. Also, compensation requires the submission of milestone memos or invoices.
Education / Experience:
Experience in community advocating. Demonstrated active relationships with the Sutton community.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Ability to fill out forms (e.g., W9, invoices) to work in the State of Massachusetts;
- Ability to summarize and express concerns and opinions of the community, especially underrepresented community members;
- Ability to work effectively and independently with diverse community members;
- Ability to facilitate engagement activities, community listening sessions, discussions, and meetings;
- Native or bilingual proficiency (written and verbal) in English and either Spanish, Chinese, or German.
Please submit a letter of interest and/or email us at splutnicki@cmrpc.org to set up a 30-minute conversation about your candidacy.
