NRDC is seeking a Climate Advisor to work with the City of Minneapolis as part of the American Cities Climate Challenge (ACCC). The American Cities Climate Challenge is an unprecedented opportunity for 20 ambitious cities to significantly deepen and accelerate their efforts to tackle climate change and promote a sustainable future for their residents. The Climate Advisor will work with city officials to support the execution of initiatives designed to advance carbon reductions through policies and programs focused on transportation. The Climate Advisor will be part of a network of similar positions located in cities across the country to support these transportation initiatives and will therefore be engaged at the local, regional, and national levels to advance the city’s goals. The position will interface with key influencers and decision-makers within city government, the transportation sector, industry partners, and other organizations in the community.
Project Management:
- Develop and execute a detailed work plan with key external and internal stakeholders to implement the city’s plans for climate mitigation through transportation policies with expertise in performance management.
Communication, Behavioral Change Strategy, Stakeholder Outreach and Management:
- Develop outreach and engagement strategies to promote sustainable transportation choices and behavior change, building upon work currently being completed as part of a Transportation Action Plan, and other adopted policies related to sustainable transportation. Support transportation priorities including walking and biking, public transportation, and promotion and implementation of new mobility hubs. Experience incorporating the perspectives of multiple communities, including communities of color, in the consideration of impacts and outcomes of a decision-making process.
- Lead or participate in various work streams including but not limited to outreach to stakeholders, both internal to city government and the broader community of private sector, non-profit, philanthropic, and community partners; drafting internal and public-facing documents to support City legislative climate change mitigation efforts; navigating internal city processes in coordination with our partners.
Facilitation and Policy Engagement:
- Work with city stakeholders and the local community on effectively articulating the importance of addressing climate change through transportation policies and programs. Develop public facing promotional and social media campaigns to generate awareness and participation in new projects, programs and policies in conjunction with city staff and community partners. Successfully integrate measures and metrics for the Sustainability Division that reflect and demonstrate the effectiveness of program and policies to reduce carbon emissions relative to the City Climate Action Plan (CAP) goals. Provide legislative review and policy research and analysis, with a focus on transportation policies and programs, specifically walking and biking, public transportation, and shared modes regulations and design. Develop an engagement strategy to better represent Minneapolis residents and stakeholders on climate issues, focusing on frontline communities that are often underrepresented in civic forums.
Data Management and Analytics:
- Focus on identifying resources for data gathering and analytics to measure our outcomes effectively; create resources using data to support stakeholder engagement and education
Network Development:
- Facilitate networking opportunities and maintain strong relationships with the city government, key stakeholders, and partners in the community, especially City of St. Paul resiliency staff. Maintain appropriate communication and information flow with community partners.
Resource Identification:
- Work with key stakeholders to identify funding resources and key partnerships for implementation. Identify ways to leverage relationships with other ACCC cities especially the City of St. Paul to increase financial resources and impact.
Challenge Participation:
- Actively participate in the ACCC network of cities. This includes joining regularly scheduled calls, participating in online trainings, and attending in-person convenings.
Implementable Actions:
- Work with key staff, community members and decision makers to focus on climate action mitigation work plan items can be sufficiently resourced with realistic but ambitious timeframes for implementation and incorporating actions into the Transportation Action Plan or other relevant existing plans.
- At least 3 years of advocacy experience on climate and transportation policy.
- Experience working at the city level preferred
- Exceptional strategic thinking, analytical, and interpersonal skills
- Experience managing projects in a team setting, including developing project plans and managing timelines
- Experience working at the intersection of equity and environment preferred
- Experience collaborating with diverse stakeholders to achieve goals.
- Excellent writing skills, strong verbal communication, and confident public speaker with an ability to present to diverse audiences, specifically racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse communities.