About Mass Audubon
Mass Audubon is the largest nature-based conservation organization in New England. Founded in 1896 by two women who fought for the protection of birds, Mass Audubon carries on their legacy by focusing on the greatest challenges facing the environment today: the loss of biodiversity, inequitable access to nature, and climate change. With the help of our 160,000 members and supporters, we protect wildlife, conserve and restore resilient land, advocate for impactful environmental policies, offer nationally recognized education programs for adults and children, and provide endless opportunities to experience the outdoors at our wildlife sanctuaries. Explore, find inspiration, and take action at massaudubon.org. 

About This Position
Mass Audubon is committed to creating a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just organization and to providing greater access to nature for everyone. Part of this work requires us to address the historic inequities within the environmental and conservation fields, which is why we launched the Environmental Fellowship Program for Early Careers (EFP). The EFP is a unique program designed to increase pathways into environmental professions for people whose identities have been historically underrepresented. Each 14-month fellowship is hosted within one of four departments: Land Conservation, Conservation Science, Environmental Education, or Policy and Advocacy. Our fellows will have the opportunity to tackle some of the most pressing environmental concerns of our time while working alongside a passionate and dedicated team of professionals. In addition to professional experience, the fellows are given opportunities for networking, mentoring, and skill development within a supportive cohort model. To learn more about the program, please register our next Information Session, which will take place on Tuesday, February 4th at 6pm.

The Fellow will be a fully integrated contributor to Mass Audubon’s Policy and Advocacy department, which works to pass powerful laws and regulations through the Massachusetts state legislature, agencies, and beyond. We research and design innovative policy solutions, lobby legislators and state and local policymakers, and organize our communities to build a grassroots movement around using nature as a solution to the climate crisis.

Our current priority advocacy campaigns are focused on the responsible development of clean energy; reducing the use of deadly rodent poisons harmful to wildlife; securing a statewide funding mechanism for nature conservation; and accelerating wetlands restoration for climate resilience across Massachusetts. These campaigns are designed to deliver high-impact, systemic policy solutions and programs that set Massachusetts apart as a leader on the most critical issues of our time: climate change, biodiversity, and inequitable access to nature. 

The range of activities that the Fellow will engage in to shape and contribute to winning campaigns will include policy research and analysis, legislative outreach, strategic policy communications, and grassroots organizing. Mentoring opportunities will include regular check-ins with advocacy staff and leadership; participation in team, organizational, and external meetings with key state and local policymakers; engaging in a variety of policy forums (e.g., webinars, stakeholder gatherings), and the chance to develop and co-lead one or more key initiatives within the ongoing campaign framework.

Application Instructions
Please submit a resume and complete the following Microsoft Form to apply for this role: https://forms.microsoft.com/r/GqVpvKD8Fw.

Responsibilities
Primary duties and responsibilities will be divided (80%) between direct support of the Policy and Advocacy team’s goals, activities and operations. Additional time will be allotted (20%) for professional development, mentoring, and professional projects.

Example of activities and tasks the Fellow would engage in on behalf of Policy and Advocacy campaigns and priorities include:

Policy Research and Analysis 

• Support the evaluation of local, state, regional and federal policies, regulations, and programs to advance environmental protection, climate resilience and mitigation, and deployment of clean energy and nature-based solutions 
• Research specific bills, and/or legislative and regulatory programs and proposals 
• Conduct primary research on emerging issues impacting our objectives (e.g., impacts of clean energy infrastructure on wildlife and habitat) 
• Write legislative summaries, draft letters of support/opposition and other relevant summaries
• Synthesize findings and insights from datasets, peer-review literature, white papers, etc. 
• Research legislative supporters and opponents, conduct power mapping analyses to identify campaign targets

Strategic Communications and Advocacy Campaigns 

• Create content for fact sheets, presentations, draft case studies, training materials, talking points, action alerts, and content for social media and website 
• Contribute to written reports, letters, proposals and plans
• Develop charts, infographics and other visualizations of quantitative information 
• Support Policy and Advocacy team members to implement tactics on behalf of Mass Audubon’s grassroots advocacy (e.g., recruiting volunteers for campaign work, creating databases and conducting data analysis)

Team and Campaign Support and Administration 

• Support campaigns by taking meeting notes, define priority take-away tasks, provide task and project management activities (e.g., sending meeting requests, developing task assignments and timelines), and other team and project management activities
•  Participate in regular teamwide and organization activities (weekly meetings, staff outings)

Qualifications
At Mass Audubon, our highest priority is finding the best candidate for the job. Research has shown that people of color and women are less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t believe they meet every one of the qualifications described in a job description. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't believe you meet every one of our described qualifications or you have a less traditional background. We are looking for applicants with the following qualifications:

Must Haves

• Must obtain a bachelor's degree by the start of the fellowship. Degrees or fields of study especially suitable for this work include Environmental Studies/Policy, Economics, Political Science, Public Policy, social sciences, urban planning, data science, or related field 
• Enthusiasm for policy and advocacy, especially related to climate change, biodiversity, and providing access to nature to all
• Excellent writing and speaking skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Ability to manage time and resources to meet deadlines under fast-paced legislative schedules
• Solid skills in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook)
• Ability to be in Lincoln and Boston offices each week

Nice to Haves

• Ability to communicate technical concepts to general audiences highly desirable
• Data and quantitative analysis skills 
• Strong project management skills
• Valid driver’s license, and willingness to travel throughout the state