Position: Summer Youth Corps Crew Leader (AmeriCorps, ages 19 - 35)

Location: This is a residential program; food and lodging will be provided during the service term. Based at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, MN; travel throughout region to complete projects.

Service Term: 675-hour AmeriCorps position; 5/28 – 5/31 online training and 6/3 – 8/14 residential

Benefits:

• Living Allowance: $2,300/month
• Housing & Food Provided
• Education Award: $2,817.14, if eligible and upon successful completion of program
• Student loan forbearance (on qualifying student loans)
• Health insurance
• Childcare assistance
• Training, certifications, networking

About Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa: Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa, a nonprofit organization and AmeriCorps grantee, engages hundreds of youth and young adults each year in in meaningful service, leadership development, and environmental stewardship. Our vision is a world in which everyone has equitable access to nature, is equipped to succeed in career and life, and is empowered to make a difference in conserving natural resources. Our projects and programs embody our core values of safety, service, respect, equity, and community. In working toward our vision, we believe it is important to acknowledge that natural resources organizations, including Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa, have a legacy of supporting and benefiting from systems that have restricted access to public lands and careers for marginalized groups. To challenge this, we commit to using equity as a lens for the work we do and decisions we make, building a shared vision surrounding justice, equity, diversity, and Inclusion goals with our partnering organizations and communities and providing an equitable training environment and high-quality programming to all our participants.
 
Position Summary: Summer Youth Corps Crew Leader will add value to the community, environment and youth participants through their dedicated service. The Crew Leader will motivate and supervise a crew of young people in a rigorous program focused on job skills training, environmental education, and conservation projects. The Crew Leader will be responsible for behavior management and fostering positive crew morale by through consistent teamwork. The member must ensure that they and the crew adhere to program goals and mission. The member will work alongside youth to set the standard and pace of work. While serving alongside another AmeriCorps member, the crew leader will provide collaborative leadership for the crew, ensure safety procedures are followed, and communicate with project partners. Projects may include but are not limited to:

• Introduced species management
• Trail construction & maintenance
• Stream bank stabilization, erosion control
• Rain garden construction
• Tree planting
• Basic carpentry
• Plant or animal surveying
• Emergency response

Duties & Responsibilities

• Complete natural resources service projects in cooperation with fellow crew leader and crew members safely, effectively and efficiently and to the satisfaction and specifications of the project host
• Abide by Corps program safety regulations as well as applicable federal/state/municipal law and OSHA requirements; communicate any safety concerns and incidents
• Contribute actively to the team to complete projects, demonstrating a commitment to the Corps values of safety, service, respect, equity and community, as well as justice, diversity, and inclusion.
• Positive attitude, desire to learn new skills, interest in community service; represent Conservation Corps in positive manner in public
• Serve a minimum of 675 hours and complete the entire service term per the start and end dates listed on the Member Service Agreement
• Complete and approve timecards and other required reports and paperwork in timely manner

Hours & Schedule
Schedules can vary, depending on crew location. Crew members should expect to be scheduled for at least 40 hours of service per week. A typical schedule is Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM, including a mandatory 30 minute lunch break which does not count towards service hours and an additional hour of facilitating education activities for youth in the evening. Crews typically camp near their project sites for a week, then do crew chores including laundry, grocery shopping, phone calls home, and travel to a new project location on Sundays.

Training & Development
The Corps provides orientation and skills training at the start of the program year, and additional region or project specific training throughout the service term that may include:

• AmeriCorps benefits
• Team building and conflict resolution
• Justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion
• Youth Development
• Introduction to American Sign Language
• Safety and risk management
• Hand tool safety and maintenance
• First Aid and CPR
• MN Safety Council defensive driving
• Introduced species management
• Plant identification
• Leave No Trace principles.

No more than 20% of total service hours will be spent on training and development activities.

Qualifications

• Ability and desire to work well with others in a team setting, outdoors, and in all weather conditions
• Ability to foster strong work habits, environmental ethics, youth leadership, and team unity with youth from diverse backgrounds who may be experiencing a job and/or camping for the first time
• Commitment to upholding Corps values of safety, service, respect, equity, and community
• Dedication to complete the full term of AmeriCorps service
• Ability to perform the Essential Service Functions, which include but are not limited to:

• • Long (7-8 hour) days of shoveling, digging, and swinging heavy tools repetitively
  • Heavy lifting, bending, and carrying up to 50 pounds
  • Walking and working on steep or uneven terrain
  • Working in extremes of heat or cold
  • Eating and camping outdoors in all weather conditions