The Contra Costa County Sustainability Team focuses on implementing the County’s CAAP and Climate Emergency Resolution. Our vision is that Contra Costa County is a leader on climate and sustainability issues, centering equity while ensuring healthy, resilient communities for County residents and workers. In 2025, we will be focused on implementing grants to support development of a resilient shoreline, help homes in our Impacted Communities operate on clean energy, develop an urban forest management plan, and manage a large community change grant in North Richmond. We are launching implementation of our new CAAP. We also have ongoing initiatives.
Below is a list of projects and responsibilities for the Sustainability Fellow:
Contra Costa Resilient Shoreline Plan ($1.5 million grant from Ocean Protection Council)
- Liaison to Shoreline Leadership Academy Participants: County Point of Contact to whom Academy participants would reach out.
- Shoreline Leadership Academy Logistics Coordinator: Help identify locations for meetings, work with BCDC and other partners as needed to determine the locations meetings should take place in, date/time, speakers, recruitment collateral (flyers, social media boilerplate language, recruitment emails), helping with recruitment (attending community events and existing meetings to spread awareness about the Academy and larger RSP effort)
- Communications Coordinator: Suggestions for webpage content and updates, documentation/pictures of events, social media content creation for efforts
Urban Forest Management Plan (Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, Extreme Heat grant)
- Potential support in managing advisory council and project team meetings, tracking community engagement and workforce development activities, and other tasks.
Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
- Update the greenhouse gas emissions inventory
- Assist with ongoing updates to CAAP web page
- Other support as needed.
Ongoing Tasks
- Minutes for Sustainability Committee, Sustainability Commission, Contra Costa Resilient Shoreline Committee
- Develop, research, and write the quarterly “Sustainability in Contra Costa County” newsletter.
- Update list of community organizations.
- Liaison to community members participating in County projects (see above).
- Take notes at meetings of Board of Supervisors Sustainability Committee and Resilient Shoreline Committee, and Sustainability Commission (citizen advisory body), as well as other meetings.
- Develop greenhouse gas emissions inventory.
- Provide suggestions for data presentation on website.
- Meeting coordination.
- Research and write quarterly newsletter.
- Experience and knowledge of: Climate Communications, Community Outreach, Data Analysis, Energy Systems, Environmental Justice, Event Coordination, Marketing/Social Media, Multi-stakeholder collaboration, Policy Analysis, Project Management
- Flexible, creative, team player, strong written and oral communication skills
- Spanish proficiency is a plus.
Contra Costa County has been hosting Sustainability Service Corps fellows for many years. In fact, two of the five people on our Sustainability Team started as Fellows! We are committed to providing our Fellow with training, mentorship, and opportunities to grow their professional skills. Fellows historically have participated in meetings with senior managers and elected officials, and are provided an opportunity to understand the policy-making and program implementation process. Our staff members regularly give informational interviews.
Contra Costa County is working on some of the key issues of our day: converting homes and offices to clean energy, building out an active transportation network, addressing historic racism and environmental justice, and more. Our department of 165 sponsors a range of services, from building permitting and inspection to code enforcement to economic development and more. The Sustainability Team is part of this. We also work frequently with staff in other County departments, particularly Public Works, Health, and Emergency Services.
Successful fellows will be self-starters, able to take instruction, ask questions as needed, and keep projects moving.
Our team works a hybrid schedule: 3 days in the office, 2 days remote. Everyone is in the office on Monday and Tuesday.
We will work with our Fellow to help them understand the County context, how we approach our work, and how to be successful in one’s career. The Fellow will be part of all team meetings, as well as other meetings that occur as part of the Fellow’s assignments. Our group hosts hiking meetings every couple of months, to which we invite colleagues from other groups and departments. We host regular meetings with sustainability champions in other County departments, and with staff from cities and special districts in Contra Costa County.