Environment America Fellowship

From Maria Schweitzer, Environment America Recruitment Director

Work for a Greener Future

Most of us want a cleaner, greener, healthier future. Making it happen is the tough part.

From the White House to state capitols to city halls, Americans have elected hundreds of new leaders who share our vision of a world where our lives are powered by the wind and the sun, the air is clear and safe to breathe, our rivers and lakes are clean and toxic-free, and the forests, parks and other special places we love are protected and preserved.

But having a few good leaders isn’t enough. Not when we face so many powerful industries willing to pay practically any price to block real change.

That’s where Environment America comes in.

Environment America's mission is to research and advocate the policies and build and mobilize the public support necessary to win positive change for our environment. We have more than 100 professional staff working with the state-based groups in our national federation and in our Washington, D.C., office. We’ve organized 1 million members, activists and political allies to join us, winning changes that mean more solar and wind power, less global warming pollution, and more protections for our parks, waterways, forests and wilderness areas.

But we still have much more to do. We need to do more to document the problems, advocate the right policies, educate the public, mobilize more people to take action, build broader and stronger coalitions, and train and develop more organizers, advocates and other leaders to keep building the kind of support that can sweep past even the most powerful opposition. That’s where you come in.

The Fellowship Program: Job description
Environment America’s Fellowship Program is designed to give you an opportunity to make an immediate impact even as you gain the training and experience you need to become a leader in the environmental movement.

Through the Fellowship Program, you will develop basic expertise on critical issues—for example, clean energy—and work to carry out our strategy for winning positive policy change—for example, pushing a new initiative that will bring solar power to thousands of homes and families. One week, you might take part in a coalition meeting, speak at a news conference, lobby lawmakers or their staff, and write an op-ed for publication in the state’s top paper. Another week, you might call a list of civic leaders to seek their endorsements of pending legislation, organize a town hall meeting with a lawmaker, and hold a rally in a key legislator’s home district.

In addition to developing policy expertise and lobbying on issues, fellows play an important role in mobilizing and engaging the public on critical issues. You’ll canvass during the year and run citizen outreach canvass offices during each summer of the two-year program. By the end of the program, you will have learned how to raise funds, build a membership, recruit and manage staff and volunteers, work with lawmakers and community leaders, earn media coverage, and run a successful grassroots campaign.

Qualifications
Environment America is seeking college graduates who are ready to commit their time, talent and energy to grassroots political action on behalf of our environment. We look for academic excellence, problem-solving ability, creativity and top-notch written and verbal skills. We value leadership experience, especially with campus and other activist groups.

Preference is given to candidates who can relocate to any of Environment America's offices.

Training and experience
Environment America Fellows will participate in several trainings throughout the year, with a mix of lectures, discussions, role-plays and in-the-field practice. Most importantly, you will learn through hands-on experience, and guidance and feedback from our current staff—including some of the nation’s top environmental advocates and organizers. In addition to learning about the issues and how to influence the political debate, you will learn organization-building skills, such as grant-writing, volunteer recruitment and how to manage staff and direct campaigns.

Salary and benefits

As a recent graduate, you earn $23,750 in your first year and $24,250 in your second year. You’re eligible to opt into the group health plan, and accrue two weeks paid vacation over the course of your first year and an additional three weeks over your second year. You’re eligible to apply for college loan assistance. In your second year, you’re eligible to participate in the 401(k) plan. Salary and benefits vary in California and New York.

Apply Now Online!

Click here to apply online.

A Day In The Life

There’s really no typical day when it comes to this job. Depending on the goal of a fellow's current campaign, he or she will spend time implementing a varied list of tactics. To give you a sense of the fellowship position, first year fellow Sandy shared an excerpt from his calendar. Here’s how a day near the culmination of a campaign on clean energy might go.

8:00am Review plan
The first thing I do is review my plan for the New Energy Future press event that is happening I’ll be releasing our new report on the economic benefits of clean energy in Pennsylvania. I’ve been planning for weeks: signing up community leaders to speak, inviting the press and writing my statement.

8:30am Notify the press
Call contacts in the media to remind them to cover the event.

9:00am Confirm speakers
Call to confirm the coalition members that will be speaking at the event: a city councilwoman, a local union leader and the head of the city’s Chamber of Commerce.

10:00am Prepare and travel to site
Practice my statement with a colleague in the office and make last-minute adjustments. Travel to the press conference site at the new solar power installation in West Philly.

12:00pm Set up event and greet volunteers and press
Set up the podium, hang our banner and arrange press kits for the media to grab. They contain a factsheet I helped to make, a brochure about PennEnvironment, and other pieces of background information. Meet with my campaign volunteers to confirm what we’ll each do to make the event go smoothly. Greet reporters, greet speakers, share the agenda of the afternoon with them.

1:30pm Clean energy event
I moderate the panel of speakers and deliver my statement.

2:00pm Talk to the press, wrap up event
Field questions from reporters, do TV and radio interviews at the site. Grab lunch on the way back to the office. Back at the PennEnvironment office, e-mail follow-up materials to media outlets. Type up a summary of the event for my notes. E-mail thank-you notes to coalition members. Put the press release on our Web site. Catch up on e-mail and listen for and tape radio interviews.

4:00pm Letters to the editor
Write a sample letter to the editor about clean energy in our state, distribute to activists and coalition partners so that they’ll submit letters to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

6:00pm Debrief with Director
Check in with PennEnvironment team about the event, make a plan to get newspaper copies the next day for our press clippings book. Jot down a couple of ideas for a fundraising letter based on the event.