*This position has been filled*

Goals & Needs

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The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP) is expanding to the Bay Area from our Southern California headquarters this Fall. Our mission is to increase the diversity of California’s forestry and wildland sector by creating clearer career pathways for those that have been traditionally excluded from this sector. FFRP engages in this work through the operation of our Wildland Firefighter Career Training Program (CTP). Our workforce development program is offered to former Fire Camp residents, others that identify as formerly incarcerated, those considered at risk of incarceration, or other interested community members, to help them in their transition to gainful, family-winning careers. 

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Our work sits at the intersection of criminal justice and the ongoing environmental crisis. California has an established reliance on incarcerated firefighters with almost ⅓ of all active wildland firefighters deployed from Fire Camps (pre-COVID). As our State grapples with the ethical and practical challenges of its Camps, two things are clear: there is an urgent need for more wildland firefighters and forestry technicians to address the environmental crisis, and tremendous opportunity to fill positions with interested individuals who may have been previously disregarded because of their criminal record. 

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Our program operates for 5-months (November-March), split between in-field projects and in-class work. Our participants receive paid on-the-job training for up to 40 hours/week. We perform wildfire prevention work (fuels reduction, defensible space projects, vegetation clearing, etc.) in the field, then spend time completing trainings and certifications aligned with the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) that are supplemented by career readiness workshops and case management support. 

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Our GrizzlyCorps Fellow will report to our Bay Area Program Director and work closely with the Program Manager to develop a Field Training & Project Management System that supports the Bay Area expansion and program goals. Our Fellow will have an opportunity to become familiar with fire & forestry resilience projects for the cohort to engage in as part of their training and help manage and coordinate communication and scheduling related to keeping projects on track. This is a planning and implementation role, providing an opportunity to identify, plan and manage wildfire mitigation projects with established partners and prospective ones like local Resource Conservation Districts and Fire Safe Councils, in ways that create meaningful training experiences for FFRP participants and meet the goals of the partner organization. Our Fellow will help to increase FFRP’s impact on fire and forestry resilience in local communities.

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Capacity Building Projects

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Our GrizzlyCorps Fellow will work with FFRP’s Bay Area Director and program staff in collaboration with our project partners (i.e. Berkeley Forests) to ensure that we have multiple projects within our pipeline that provide meaningful training opportunities, while meeting the fire and forestry resilience goals of our project partners. The dual bottom-line of these projects is important for a number of reasons: (1) successful completion of FFRP’s project commitments is crucial to building our organization’s reputation as we expand our programming; (2) having multiple projects in the pipeline allows us to pivot from one project to another to keep training and project goals on track when there are sudden shifts in weather or other factors that require a scheduling change; and (3) building capacity around project management allows us to develop a fee-for-service model to sustain our programs in the future. We anticipate our GrizzlyCorps Fellow to assist us in developing a range of tools to support this work: 

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• Field Training Tracking Tools, including tracking of related materials and tools used to support field training activities and learning by FFRP participants.

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• Project Management Tools, including scope of work planning and agreement, communication and other information-sharing tools to track resources required to complete projects.

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• Data Collection and Evaluation tools to help capture information and assess our impact on preparation of our participants for forestry and fire careers as well as our impact on forestry and fire resilience goals. This could include building the capacity of staff and participants to help collect, track and evaluate this data, including the development of related tools and trainings.

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• Creation of a fee for service booklet/pamphlet for outreach to prospective project partners, with range of rates and types of projects, and resumes for FFRP staff overseeing the work. The booklet would include example projects completed, including 2-3 before/after photos, info on the duration and # of people involved, and contact info for someone willing to serve as a reference for FFRP’s work on the project.

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As part of their involvement with FFRP, we will give our Fellow opportunities to engage alongside participants as part of these field training activities and wildfire mitigation projects. This will give an opportunity to observe where changes may need to be made with regards to tools or systems that they are developing to support staff, participants, and project partners with these activities and projects in the future. 

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Organizational & Community Highlights

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While our participants and program activities will all be based out of our office in Oakland, our field training area will likely extend beyond the Bay Area to include other Northern California forest locations within 2-3 hours of the Bay Area such as Grouse Ridge in Nevada City.  Our Fellow should expect to split time between a traditional office setting and supporting the Program Team with communications and project management related to the fire and forestry resilience projects that are included as part of the training activities for the cohort. Our Fellow will have an opportunity to learn a variety of nonprofit management and administration skills in a start-up environment, while also having a direct opportunity to contribute to local fire and forestry resilience projects and create meaningful training opportunities for participants to learn crucial wildfire and forestry technician skills. This includes an opportunity for exposure to a wide range of forestry and fire employment opportunities, as well as related training and credentialing opportunities.  

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Our Fellow will be a part of a lean, close-knit team that will be deeply invested in their professional development and advancement over the course of their 11-month term. As a relatively young and small nonprofit organization, our Fellow will have the opportunity to create meaningful and measurable systems and tools that support the Bay Area expansion and the organization overall as we scale our capacity. With FFRP, you will be given the opportunity to tailor your fellowship to your own interests within the scope of planning and implementation to develop a Field Training & Project Management System for the Bay Area expansion. Our Fellow can expect to be well supported, and also given the opportunity and freedom to problem-solve independently and create new tools and systems to be adopted at an early stage in the organization’s growth.

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