Community Fellows

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City Park Plan Ambassadors

The Community Fellows model has proven to be a successful outreach and engagement tool to assist with the planning objectives in improving communication methods amongst community members.

A Community Fellow is a community member who will join the community engagement team to assist in continuous community outreach and engagement throughout the City Park Planning process. As Community Fellows, they can provide essential outreach tasks to involve their neighbors, coworkers, and friends on the project. Community Fellows will also assist with facilitation at community engagement meetings and pop-up events.

Community Fellows will act as guides through community networks, taking the lead on ensuring everyone has a voice at the table. The Community Fellows program will help the City Park Plan to:

• Ensure diversity and inclusivity in the decision-making process
• Promote fair and equitable outreach and engagement
• Develop a system of timely and relevant communication with community members, community-based organizations, and other key stakeholders
• Provide the New Orleans community with consistent and accessible information related to the feedback they provide to the City Park Plan team
• Offer transparency in the public decision-making processes
• Build civic trust and capacity around proposed projects or programs  

This approach also has a short-term and a potential long-term economic impact. Throughout the process, Community Fellows will have the opportunity to earn some supplemental income and participate in robust training while gaining facilitation, outreach, and information-gathering skills that can go beyond this project.

• Number of Community Fellows: 10 members minimum from a variety of New Orleans metropolitan neighborhoods
• Recruitment: Community Fellows will play a key role in the project’s on-the-ground recruitment strategy. They will be asked to reflect on their personal networks of friends, family members, coworkers, and others to invite a broad representation of community voices to participate in the community meetings. In addition to personal networks, however, Community Fellows will be asked to broaden their networks and further their reach when welcoming community members to participate in the process. 
• Outreach: Invite stakeholders and community members to participate in the community engagement meetings  
• Planning: Assist the City Park Plan team with the facilitation of community engagement meetings and pop-up events
• Communication: Support the City Park Plan team in communicating with the public and ongoing recruitment efforts. All project-related communications, including social-media posts, must be approved in accordance with the City Park Conservancy communication regulations.  
• Documentation: Assist the City Park Plan team with documenting community feedback during the engagement process 

COMMUNITY FELLOWS EXPECTATIONS 

• Sign the offer letter and independent-contractor agreement
• Submit a signed W-9 form 
• Enter all hours worked by the end of each week, services were performed 

Participate in all scheduled training sessions, community engagement neetings, check-ins, and outreach to your community and network.

Community Fellows Tasks 

• Task 1: Recruitment + Training Process  
  • Virtual Community Fellows onboarding and training kick off  
  • In-person Community Fellows training  
• Task 2: Facilitation at Community Engagement Meetings 
  • Four community engagement meetings
  • In-person Community Fellows training prior to public meetings
  • Coordination meetings with the City Park Plan team post-public meetings to provide feedback 
• Task 3: Facilitation at Pop-Up Events 
  • Attend an estimated 20 pop-up engagement events throughout the eight-month City Park Plan engagement and planning phase
  • Community Fellows training 
  • Location and format to be finalized after recruitment  
  • Pop-up tabling at local community events and spaces 
  • Location(s): Local community events 
  • Time: Varies, dependent on events 
  • Facilitation: (City Park Plan team members and Community Fellows) 
  • 1-2 people per event
  • Typical Format:
    • Set up a table at an existing event  
    • Informational and Graphic Boards  
    • Co-Design table sheet(s) (reusable) 
    • Pathway graphic handout and flyer invitations to public meetings

WORKLOAD

Using the tasks outlined, Community Fellows will dedicate between 40-60 hours depending on schedule and availability. Dates, detailed tasks, and the number of hours required will be finalized as events become available. Any additional time beyond 60 hours will be discussed with the community engagement team before proceeding. All hours must be accounted for through the submission of verified timesheets.

COMPENSATION 

Community Fellows will be compensated at an hourly rate of $20/hr by City Park Plan partner Concordia. Community Fellows will record hours worked at engagement events by submitting hours in an online time-tracking software provided by Concordia. Invoices will be submitted to Concordia monthly using the provided templates.  

APPLICATION TIMELINE

• October 18, 2024 – Applications due
• November 8, 2024 – Offer letters to selected Community Fellows
• November 13, 2024 – Onboarding and training begins

Apply NOW