East Bay Regional Representative

Firm: Greenbelt Alliance
Locations:
San Francisco
Walnut Creek

Payment: Paid
Start Date: Jul 12, 2018
Category: Land Use
Contact: Matt Vander Sluis
jobs@greenbelt.org

Posted: Jul 12, 2018

Full-time position

The Opportunity
Greenbelt Alliance seeks a committed, experienced, and enthusiastic candidate for the position of Regional Representative. The right, self-motivated individual will have the exciting opportunity to ensure that the right development happens in the right places. The Regional Representative will lead Greenbelt Alliance’s cutting-edge advocacy campaigns in one of the Bay Area’s most challenging and rewarding areas for shaping how our communities grow—Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

The Organization
For 60 years, Greenbelt Alliance has been the leading land-use advocacy organization in the San Francisco Bay Area. As the champion of the places that make the Bay Area special, we protect the region’s open spaces and make sure our cities and towns grow in a way that creates great neighborhoods for everyone.
Greenbelt Alliance is one of the most effective and well-respected environmental organizations in the Bay Area. Our work has encouraged Bay Area cities and counties to adopt land-use policies to effectively protect over two million acres of natural and agricultural lands. We were one of the first environmental organizations in the nation to establish a program to endorse and advocate for sustainable, equitable developments—improving more than 140 neighborhoods around the region and, to date, endorsing the approval of over 70,000 new homes. Our work makes the Bay Area more affordable, sustainable, and resilient—improving the quality of life for our region’s residents.

With a committed staff of 18 savvy professionals at the forefront of the conservation and smart growth movement, Greenbelt Alliance has a strong team spirit, powerful commitment to mission, and healthy sense of fun. We are headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in San Jose, Santa Rosa, Vallejo, and Walnut Creek.

Position Summary
The Regional Representative will be Greenbelt Alliance’s leading voice in the East Bay, providing leadership in our unique niche of conservation and sustainable, equitable development. S/he will be responsible for managing a diverse portfolio of advocacy efforts in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Examples of Greenbelt Alliance’s successful advocacy efforts in the East Bay include:

Establishing voter-approved urban growth boundaries in jurisdictions across the East Bay, protecting tens of thousands of acres of land from sprawl development;
Securing precedent-setting policies to support farming and ranching in Contra Costa County’s 12,000-acre “ag core;” and
Shaping innovative plans for thriving, walkable communities at the Concord Naval Weapons Station, Oakland’s Broadway Valdez district, and Walnut Creek’s West Downtown.
Greenbelt Alliance’s current initiatives in the East Bay include:

Protecting Antioch’s 2,000-acre Sand Creek watershed from sprawl development;
Advancing cutting-edge growth policies in Contra Costa County’s General Plan update; and
Cultivating local grassroots groups that support positive development patterns.
See www.greenbelt.org to learn more about our work.

As the primary contact for a range of stakeholders, including elected officials, city and county staff, and community leaders, the Regional Representative will act independently to determine how to most effectively engage the organization—drawing on high-level standards and goals set with organizational leadership.

The Regional Representative will report to Greenbelt Alliance’s Deputy Director and work closely with the entire Greenbelt Alliance team, including staff in San Francisco, volunteers and allies in the East Bay, and other regional staff throughout the Bay Area.

S/he should have experience with managing outreach and/or public advocacy programs across a broad range of stakeholders. The Regional Representative should be an analytical thinker and problem solver as well as an excellent writer. S/he should be able to proactively lead and act independently while at other times respond effectively as part of a team led by others.

Key Responsibilities
Advocacy: Lead local campaign efforts that result in the protection of our irreplaceable natural and agricultural lands and the creation of thriving, inclusive neighborhoods across Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Responsibilities include campaign planning, coalition building, and policy advocacy.

Policy Analysis: Analyze public policies, plans, and projects that will influence development patterns in the East Bay and, in collaboration with others at Greenbelt Alliance and allies, develop policy positions for the organization.

Persuasive Communication: Build relationships with local media, serve as a key spokesperson on local land-use issues, develop media campaigns with Greenbelt Alliance’s Marketing and Communications Department, write opinion pieces, organize media events, and make public presentations.

Organizing and Outreach: Recruit and coordinate activists to win specific campaigns and to build local capacity for long-term effectiveness in local communities. Reach out to community organizations and the public to increase awareness and inspire action.

Management: Run the East Bay office in Walnut Creek and manage volunteers and interns.

Qualifications
The Regional Representative will be an enthusiastic self-starter with some combination of experience in the following areas:

Strategic planning/campaign planning
Analyzing, developing, and implementing public policy (experience on land-use, open space conservation, urban planning, affordable housing, and/or community development policy preferred)
Building relationships with community leaders and elected officials
Engaging stakeholders to create positive change in their communities
Volunteer recruitment and management
Public speaking before citizen organizations and elected bodies
Interacting with the media and serving as a spokesperson
Writing persuasively on tight deadlines
Ability to simultaneously manage multiple issues, campaigns, and diverse relationships
Bachelor’s degree in Planning, Environmental Studies, Urban Studies, Public Policy, or another appropriate field required, with subsequent work or graduate experience preferred.
Flexible schedule and access to a car also required.

Most importantly, the Regional Representative will be enthusiastically committed to protecting the Bay Area’s greenbelt of natural landscapes, farms, and ranches, and to creating thriving neighborhoods that meet the needs of people from all walks of life.

Essential Job Functions
Job requires employee to be able to:

Comprehend complex issues and communicate effectively to diverse groups
Interact and cooperate with co-workers in a variety of situations and work as part of a team
Interact professionally with press and diverse stakeholders
Plan and think strategically
Take initiative
Both accept supervision and work independently
Manage a small office and volunteers
Drive 50-60 miles a week on average, with some occasional 100 mile trips
Use a computer to write for an extended period of time
Express ideas in spoken and written form clearly and concisely
Be passionate about the Bay Area, and about conservation and sustainable, equitable development
Compensation
Salary is dependent on experience. Compensation includes full employer-paid health and dental insurance for employees, generous vacation and sick time, and an exciting, team-oriented work environment. Flexible spending accounts, Commuter Checks, and 403(b) retirement accounts are also available.

To Apply
Email a resume, cover letter, and brief writing sample to jobs@greenbelt.org. Be sure to include the job title followed by your name in the subject line.

Greenbelt Alliance values a diverse workplace and is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage and seek applications from people of color, women, bilingual and bicultural individuals, as well as members of the LGBTQ community.

Greenbelt Alliance complies with all applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the organization has offices.

Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status.