POSITION SUMMARY  

As the SDR Community Fellow, you will work with Catalyst staff and community leaders to help fortify community efforts in building safe, positive, and engaging park programs and community culture and collaboration in Sara D. Roosevelt Park, where some of our city’s most intractable issues challenge community and park staff leadership. This position is not for the faint of heart. The challenges in this park are real and persistent. And yet, the community of NYC Parks staff, community park groups, and community leaders is truly  exemplary. Please scan recent media pieces that highlight some of the challenges in this park.

The Catalyst Organizing Fellow is expected to work as part of a team and will support the Catalyst Director, Operations Manager, and other PfP staff on occasion.

COMPENSATION: $25 per hour (15 - 20 hours per week)

RESPONSIBILITES: 

The Fellow will work with a primary focus on Sara D. Roosevelt Park in lower Manhattan. Responsibilities will generally fall along this order of duties. 

• Conduct onsite/neighborhood outreach, flyering, and survey distribution in the park and surrounding neighborhoods to galvanize community involvement in existing and new park efforts
• Make phone calls and emails to group members and the public to promote attendance and / or participation for meetings, events, public forums
• Promote park group events and Catalyst initiatives in the communities surrounding the park to increase engagement and attendance
• Serve as a visible, in-community and park presence, acting as an effective liaison between community partners and NYC Parks, CPF and other organizations, mindful of the needs and interests all all parties

• Provide day-of event support on weekends, evenings, and weekdays including managing sign-ins & attendance, supporting with table and chair set-up, picking up event materials & supplies, and other event logistics
• Attend community events and other activations to connect community members to Catalyst and park group programs and services
• Document events via photos, video, surveys, and other measures

• Survey New York and other cities’ practices to find promising models that promote community revitalizing efforts in parks and public spaces, especially in public spaces where there are  vulnerable populations of drug users, sellers, and unhoused community members’ needs are met while the social, community, and recreation needs of other park stakeholders and users are also met.
• Synthesize and report on these best practices to help make recommendations on promising initiatives that can take place in SDR Park.

• Conduct qualitative and quantitative assessments to measure community and Partnerships for Parks impacts
• Track & report outreach, engagement, and attendance metrics 
• Support Catalyst Director, Operations Manager and Catalyst team with tracking organizing work in database - maintain individual and organizational records, input outcomes and other data sets

• Support ongoing Partnerships for Parks/City Parks Foundation/NYC Parks initiatives as needed, working collaboratively and effectively as needed. Tasks and assignments will come from all three areas of our organization. Catalyst team members are accountable to and receive direction/assignments from each area of our public/private program
• Connect and leverage local and regional resources to support and amplify community partner efforts

QUALIFICATIONS 

• Knowledgeable, committed to, and familiar with community organizing practices
• Experienced in outreach, community event promotion and engagement, flyering, door-knocking
• Experience with social initiatives/interventions where strategic consensus building around polarizing issues (public drug use, drug selling addiction, and support to unhoused people in public spaces) can be challenging
• Ability to research, synthesize, and make recommendations as to best park practices where vulnerable populations of drug users, sellers, and unhoused community members’ needs are met while the social, community, and recreation needs of other park stakeholders and users are also met.
• Ability to take direction from Catalyst team members and established park group and community leaders. Be an excellent, active listener and communicator, verbal and written communication are also both important
• Demonstrable ability to work with diverse constituencies, including a comfort with vulnerable NYC community members 
• Willingness and ability to consistently engage with stakeholders through in-person and digital engagements, including frequent and regular, on-site work in Sara D. Roosevelt Park
• Flexibility to work significant hours during evenings and weekends in addition to some regular business hours 
• Motivated, resourceful, and creative self-starter with a passion for sustainable community engagement
• Confident working both individually and as part of a team
• Effective public speaking and listening skills. People skills are important with this position
• Responsible and detail-oriented 
• Understanding and ability to effectively represent and advance NYC government programs and policies. Clarity at all times we are working with and at the behest of NYC Parks and NYC government
• Catalyst is traditionally a place-based, on-the-ground engagement effort and requires:
• Physical ability to lift up to 40lbs and participate in physical activities required in the job. This includes the ability to provide direct support in leading stewardship, landscaping and beautification projects in parks plus a range of community and park events, including transporting, setup and breakdown of event materials
• Driver’s license strongly preferred 
• Bi or multilingual strongly preferred

ABOUT CITY PARKS FOUNDATION

At City Parks Foundation (CPF), we are dedicated to invigorating and transforming New York City parks into dynamic, vibrant centers of urban life through arts, environmental education, sports, and community building programs for all New Yorkers. Our ethos is simple: we believe thriving parks mean thriving communities.

Community engagement includes Partnerships for Parks, a public-private program of City Parks Foundation and NYC Parks, which supports and champions a growing network of community leaders who care and advocate for the transformation of our neighborhood parks and the Parks and Open Space Partners-NYC coalition of conservancies and alliances. We also administer the NYC Green Fund, a regranting program for parks and open space nonprofits and grassroots organizations.

We produce SummerStage, the iconic free, outdoor performing arts festival in NYC, presenting world-class artists from across the globe and our own neighborhoods on our mainstage in Central Park and in local parks in all five boroughs, and our Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre and roving PuppetMobile present marionette puppet theater throughout New York City.

We connect youngsters to nature in the urban environment through progressive, experiential teaching. Using parks as classrooms, we provide learning experiences and hands-on activities in urban forests, coastal areas, and gardens.

Free golf, tennis, track & field, soccer, and fitness programs bring high-quality instruction and equipment into areas where few organized athletic opportunities exist. We offer leveled training, year-round scholarship coaching, and special pro events.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. City Parks Foundation does not offer visa sponsorship.