Position Summary
The Cleveland Tree Coalition (CTC) is a collaborative group of public, private, and community stakeholders. We partner with the City of Cleveland to rebuild our urban forest using the Cleveland Tree Plan as our guide. The Cleveland Tree Canopy Goal aims to increase the city’s urban tree canopy cover from 18% to 30% by the year 2040. The coalition strives to create a healthy, vibrant, sustainable, and equitable urban forest by working collaboratively and leveraging resources.
The CTC is seeking two summer interns to support data collection, evaluation, and overall quality improvement for coalition supported activities. Promising candidates may have experience working in diverse communities, strong communication and organizational skills, an interest in environmental justice, public health, urban planning, community activation, and a willingness to be outside.
The interns will report to the Director of the Cleveland Tree Coalition. Like the Director, the interns will be employees of Western Reserve Land Conservancy and will be housed within its offices and infrastructure. Western Reserve Land Conservancy provides legal, finance, and administrative support to the CTC.
At the end of this experience interns will have:
• Increased understanding of the Collective Impact model and collaboration in Cleveland.
• Increased knowledge of tree planting, establishment, and maintenance practices.
• Increased skills and real-world application of quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis.
Key Responsibilities
• Conduct an inventory of trees planted by Cleveland Tree Coalition partners.
- Clean and conduct basic analyses of quantitative data.
• Refine standard operating procedures (SOPs) for Quality Improvement QI processes.
• Schedule and conduct semi-structured interviews with past CTC grantees.
• Create compelling stories and mini case studies featuring past CTC grantees.
• Support community engagement efforts, as outlined the Strategic Communications and Engagement Plan. This may include creating and posting social media content, supporting community ambassadors, and supporting neighborhood-based tree campaigns.
• Attend CTC meetings, as appropriate.
• On occasion, interns will shadow CTC partners conducting tree plantings and maintenance in the City of Cleveland.
Qualifications
• Currently enrolled in a higher education institution with at least one year complete.
• Experience with spatial mapping software, like Arc GIS.
• Background or interest in public administration, urban planning, public health, environmental sciences, non-profit management, or some other related field.
• Ability to drive or navigate public transit to various locations in the city.
Pay and Location
This is an hourly position with a pay rate of $17 per hour, and it is eligible for overtime. Since this is a summer internship position, no benefits or vacation are provided. However, the individual will be paid for any Land Conservancy holidays that fall on a scheduled workday.
The position will be located at the Land Conservancy’s Thriving Communities office in downtown Cleveland.
Western Reserve Land Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to hiring staff members who represent the rich diversity of our community. At the Land Conservancy, all employees and applicants for employment are judged on their merits. The Land Conservancy is committed to providing an environment free of illegal discrimination of any kind, and does not base any employment decisions on race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, religion, age, disability, military or veteran status, or any other protected category under federal and state laws.
