Goals & Needs

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GrizzlyCorps is an AmeriCorps state program administered by the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) at Berkeley Law. Our program launched in the fall of 2020 and will be starting the fourth fellowship year this September. As a relatively new AmeriCorps program, this fellow will support GrizzlyCorps by building our capacity to understand the work on the ground, research workforce pathways for fellows, and create a strong cohort community through event planning and synthesizing feedback. GrizzlyCorps is always looking for opportunities to grow and better support their fellows and this Fellow would be crucial to making programmatic improvements. 

 

GrizzlyCorps is positioned to make a larger impact by bridging the experience and knowledge of our fellows and communities with the work we do here at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. CLEE channels the expertise of the Berkeley Law community – faculty, staff, and students – into pragmatic, creative policy solutions to critical environmental and energy challenges. This fellow position will ensure that the experience and expertise of GrizzlyCorps is also leveraged by CLEE.

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Capacity Building Projects

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Project 1: Translating GrizzlyCorps insights into into broader climate action

• Visit GrizzlyCorps host sites and interview their staff and fellows to learn about their local impact, successes and challenges, and opportunities for policy change. 

• Reach out to former GrizzlyCorps fellows to learn more about challenges they experienced working on their projects and what insights they took away from their year of service. 

• Review current and former capacity building projects, including monthly progress reports

• Conduct research focused on the following questions: How do we translate what GrizzlyCorps fellows and their site placement are learning from the various interventions into broader policy and climate action in California? How could these takeaways apply to climate action on a larger scale? Are there actions that have been particularly impactful or successful? Why? 

  • Research will be conducted with support from the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, as well as other stakeholders and research institutions. 

• The fellow will produce a white paper upon completion of the service year and present to multiple stakeholders, including CLEE staff and GrizzlyCorps fellows. 

 

Project 2: GrizzlyCorps Workforce Pathways

• Compile research of potential workforce pathways in the environmental sector, particularly relating to agriculture, food systems, fire and forestry. 

• Interview current fellows and alumni to learn more about certificates, experience and education that are crucial for their desired career paths.

• Conduct outreach to universities, AmeriCorps programs, and professionals in these climate industries to learn more about career options and required experience or training for these careers. 

• Design curriculum and report outlining workforce pathways for GrizzlyCorps Fellows. 

• Propose new training programs that the program should provide or fund for GrizzlyCorps fellows.

 

Project 3: Improve GrizzlyCorps Cohort Experience 

• Plan regional events with GrizzlyCorps fellows throughout the year, including bonding, service and training opportunities. 

• Build on relationships with other AmeriCorps programs, including the California Climate Action Corps, and coordinate training and events at the local level with their corps teams. 

• Conduct site visits to GrizzlyCorps host sites. 

• Create surveys and collect feedback from fellows and host sites.

• Propose changes to the program based on fellow and host site feedback. 

• Support GrizzlyCorps communications to better translate fellow experiences to the general public, including social media, virtual presentations and blog posts.

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Organizational & Community Highlights

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GrizzlyCorps is a small team of three full time staff members. Our program is seated within the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE), a policy and research center home to just under thirty research fellows and staff at Berkeley Law. CLEE develops policy solutions to the most pressing environmental and energy issues at the state, local, and national levels and plays a direct role in advancing environmental policy. The center’s primary program areas are climate & energy, water, oceans, and land use. 

 

Our office is located on University Avenue in downtown Berkeley. We have a hybrid work schedule and regularly meet as a team during and after work hours to discuss project ideas and spend time together. People from around the world come to Berkeley seeking acclaimed restaurants, museums, shops and arts. Our city by the bay is surrounded by the largest regional park system in the nation and is a launching point for exploring the rest of California. Within thirty minutes you can be exploring the Marin Headlands or visiting the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and within three hours you could be at Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, Big Sur or along the north coast in Mendocino.