POSITION INFORMATION

• POSITION TITLE: SSRC Internship on Environmental Justice Communities 
• POSITION TYPE: Graduate level Internship
• REPORTS TO: SSDN SSRC Manager Michael Dexter
• LOCATION: Anywhere in the 10 southeastern United States within SSDN's geographic territory (AL, AR, GA, FL, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA) with connectivity (phone/internet)
• COMPENSATION RANGE: $3,500, 
• APPROXIMATE WORK HOURS: 40
• TIMEFRAME: June 15, 2022 - August 31, 2022

This position is accepting applications until the position is filled.

This is a fully remote, work-from-home position. Fully employer-paid medical, dental, and vision benefits for you and your family

The SSDN Southeast Sustainable Recovery Center Intern will be employed by the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN), SSDN's Fiscal Sponsor. USDN is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to equal treatment of all employees without regard to race, national origin, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, physical or mental disability, or other basis protected by law.

ABOUT SSDN: The Southeast Sustainability Directors Network (SSDN) is a collaborative community that develops solutions to the South's unique sustainability challenges. SSDN's membership includes sustainability and resilience staff from across the South, who build knowledge and learn from colleagues in other areas about best practices to meet their community's needs. Communities located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia working in all stages of sustainability implementation join the network to scale, accelerate, and implement sustainable best practices so that our region's communities are equipped to adapt to and mitigate climate change. For more information please visit www.southeastsdn.org.

ABOUT THE SOUTHEAST SUSTAINABLE RECOVERY CENTER: The Southeast Sustainable Recovery Center (SSRC) supports SSDN members by eliminating barriers to accessing federal funding. The SSRC tracks federal policies, funding opportunities, and federal resources to help Southeastern Communities maximize the opportunity for federal investments.  The SSRC coordinates with local and tribal governments, non-profits, community, and frontline organizations to:

1. Develop a Southeast-specific economic recovery support mechanism that supports Southeast communities to access funding to support their local sustainability and resilience outcomes.
2. Provide focused tracking of Federal stimulus opportunities and bring them to local sustainability leadership as opportunities for Southeastern innovation to serve communities who are most impacted by climate change.
3. Build capacity building among local government sustainability and resilience staff, government liaisons, development teams, and others to successfully access and implement sustainable economic recovery programs;
4. Convene partnerships that support equitable, efficient, and effective post-COVID recovery by weaving together Federal, State, and Local dollars and tools to increase the impact of equitable investments in human capital, innovation, and sustainable and resilient infrastructure.

The SSRC provides a flexible service to fill gaps and help our members in the Southeast compete more successfully for funding opportunities.  Among the services, SSDN's SSRC provides are increasing awareness of funding opportunities, grants seeking support, pre-proposal support, federal policy analysis, and facilitation of partnerships to effectively implement sustainable and equitable resilience projects.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This internship position will help SSDN identify member communities who are classified as “disadvantaged communities'' due to high energy burden, high climate risk, and other categories according to the Administration's Justice40 Initiative. The intern will Use CEQ's Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, DOE's Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD) Tool, EPA's Environmental Justice Screening Tool, and other federal datasets to identify SSDN member communities whose census tracts are considered as “Disadvantaged” under the administrations Justice40 initiative. The intern will also research the distribution of federal assistance for related grant programs, including DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program, USDA Rural Energy for America, and other programs to member and non-member communities via spending.gov creating a baseline assessment of federal funding support for local governments with disadvantaged communities experiencing environmental justice conditions.

OUTPUTS: Use geospatial analysis or a database program to create a dataset of overlap between federal J40 disadvantaged communities and SSDN member census tracts.  This dataset will facilitate SSDN in supporting member communities to access federal funding and increase application competitiveness through the Justice40 initiative. Supplement the database with information on prior federal awards in order to identify areas where disadvantaged communities are underrepresented in federal assistance.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position provides assistance to Southeastern local governments to be more competitive for national funding opportunities. Through a coordinated application process, the position will provide valuable data to help inform SSDN SSRC's efforts to enable more funding to flow into the Southeast for sustainability and resilience projects. This position will also support efforts to increase awareness of Justice40 within SSDN's members, their community members, elected officials, nonprofits, business organizations, businesses, and other appropriate entities.

Responsibilities:

• Disseminate information about grants available, and/or other resources to assist Southeastern communities.
• Responsible for planning, scheduling, facilitating frequent meetings, and adhering to structured schedules.
• Develop presentation tools tailored to diverse communities as needed.
• Offer services that support SSDN members (and their community partners as appropriate) on a by-request basis which can include any of the following: Opportunity assessment, readiness, and project ideation; Grant Review; Convening of partners and stakeholders; and Reporting and administrative guidance.
• Encourage collaboration between urban, rural, and/or Tribal local governments and community partners that have traditionally been in competition with each other and promote non-competitive partnerships.
• Track progress metrics and data to monitor progress, and adjust as needed.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite (including Sheets & Data Studio), and/or ArcGIS or the open-source alternative
• Interest in local government sustainability, environmental justice, and climate change action

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Awareness of environmental justice challenges facing local communities;
• A commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion; 
• A capacity to manage multiple projects with different deadlines;
• Proficient in Active Listening;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to tie projects to grant requirements and tell a compelling story;
• Strong attention to detail;
• Self-motivated and driven;
• Ability to work productively in an unstructured environment; and
• Ability to work independently and with team members