Welcome to the twelfth Jobs, Opportunities and Funding Dispatch!
I was just walking, as I do and I was struck by the site of this house, in red and green colors, with a wreath on the door. I thought about how ironic it was, especially since this house is that color 364 other days of the year. Plus, I was kind of jealous as that person never needs to do all the light stringing and deciding if it’s worth buying that $120 Santa that looks kind of like your dad because you want to uplift black dudes on your porch, but, its $120 for something that can only be displayed for roughly 30 days each year.
Oh and speaking of houses, namely those owned by black folks, both The Brookings Institution and Georgia State University released studies that discussed how black-owned homes have systematically been devalued and how black homebuyers have managed to somewhat overcome some of those barriers individually, respectively. I participated in a Twitter chat yesterday morning (12/2) with the Brookings researchers and other influencers on their report.
I want to take a moment and go a bit beyond what I discussed yesterday morning. It’s not that I don’t want people to have homes and assets. However, there’s an issue when it’s easier to get the goods to fill the homes than it is to actually find shelter. I also lived through the 2008 recession and I don’t know if I’ll ever, without a lot of help, be able to trust the housing and job markets the same way.
However, I realize many of you reading this, do trust the process, do trust the hustle and just need one connection or just awareness to help you get in the door. I’m happy I can be here for you.
One other thing before we get to the meat of the jobs and opportunities. I want to thank you so much for supporting me thus far. This newsletter will always be a free subscription (or if you’re reading this on the web, the website will always be free to access). However, starting today and over the next few months, I will be adding lots more advertisements to this dispatch, more aggressively promoting my Patreon and other means of supporting me financially, introducing more merchandise and courses and finally, will prioritize paid speaking and training engagements going forward.
On this email, I’ve included samples of ads of some of my other projects and pieces of The Black Urbanist platform. You’ll soon see a few other ads from outside sources. I’m taking great care to choose organizations and even companies that support this mission of providing a jobs and opportunities email that not just supports black, indigenous, queer and otherwise marginalized folks getting jobs and funding, but also makes sure that you have connections to real people who could be mentors, colleagues and friends and real funding for projects for our communities.
Finally, are you an organization or company that believes that you’re doing the right thing by our kinds of folks? Are you an organization that is owned, operated or funds or funded by our kinds of folks? Do you want to take an extra step beyond having me share your job and offer financial support? Reply back to this email and I’ll set up a time with you to go over ad rates, ad terms and make sure you’re a good fit for being aligned with the mission of this site.
Now, after a break, on to those jobs and opportunities for this week:
The Still Open and Ready’s
SieX 1 and 2 ( A reminder that this is a start-up venture and that you would be taking on one of these roles and generating revenue. However, if you’re entrepreneurial, but don’t quite have an idea of your own, this would be a perfect fit for you).
Marin County (CA) Bicycle Coalition
All those jobs in Boston but some are already starting to review resumes and interview candidates. I would suggest continuing to check that pages regularly if you are interested in any of these posted or upcoming City of Boston jobs. And remember, there are four new temporary positions that after ten months could become permanent.
The Loeb Fellowship until January 4, 2019, you’ve got about a month left to get something together and feel free to reach out to friend–of-the-site and fellow black woman urbanist and Loeb Fellow Karen Abrams if you want to learn more about the fellowship.
The League of American Bicyclists
City of Bloomington, IN (Closes today — 12/3)
Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) (Position has been put on hold, so bookmark this page for updates if you’re interested).
Apex Design (Three of these positions are still open and searching).
IndyGo (With Jerome Horne and Austin Gibble!)
Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) (Open until filled)
ODOT (Closes today — 12/3)
Jarrett Walker & Associates (Original position has closed, but bookmark this page for two other upcoming position openings)
Carson City, NV (Several potential opportunities but the bike/ped position may be the most interesting).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) (Several openings with a variety of closing dates)
The City of Eugene, OR (First application review was yesterday, but still accepting applications)
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
DVRPC (This is their main page which has jobs, internships and other partnership opportunities listed on a rolling basis).
The City of Toronto (The Director of the Transit Expansion Office one that closes 12/7)
Greater Greater Washington (Still not on the hiring committee, but can answer some questions personally)
The Coalition for Smarter Growth
Baltimore Regional Transportation Board Public Advisory Committee (Volunteer service opportunity with applications due on 12/4)
(Portland Area) Metro (Closes 12/7)
The City of Madison, WI ( Grant Foster is willing to answer questions about the position you may have and this closes on Monday 12/3)
Agency Landscape and Planning (Two positions with rolling close dates)
NYC EDC (Several positions with varied close dates)
Vote Solar (Several positions with varied close dates)
WMATA-related Arlington, VA projects via First Group
Brink Communications (Closes 12/3)
Portland Oregon Office of Community and Civic Life (Closes 12/7 and Thomas Ngo is on the interview panel)
The Downtown Long Beach Association
Fairfax County, VA (Closes 12/7)
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (Boston area org with several open opportunities).
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) (Several positions)
From the Bike Equity Network listserv this week:
The National Park Service is hiring for two fellowships in Seattle one on River Programs and another on Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Alex Stone is your point of contact for both of these positions and their priority deadline is December 10th.
The Tucson DOT is hiring a Transportation Program Coordinator for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program. Tucson, AZ. Source: National Center for Biking and Walking. Salary listed.
The Treasure Valley Family YMCA is hiring a Safe Routes to School Program Coordinator. Boise, ID. Source: National Center for Biking and Walking. Salary listed.
TransOptions is hiring a Safe Routes to School Coordinator. Cedar Knolls, NJ. Source: National Center for Biking and Walking. Salary not listed.
SFMTA is hiring a Director of Transit and a Central Subway Project Director. SF, CA. Source: NACTO jobs board. Salary listed.
The City of Alexandria is hiring a Smart Mobility Program Manager. Alexandria, VA. Source: NACTO jobs board. Salary listed.
SPUR is hiring a President/CEO. SF bay area (can’t tell which office). Source: Twitter user @lauraetam. Salary not listed.
The City of Hyattsville is hiring a City Planner. Hyattsville, MD. Source: A Jobs Jawn. Salary listed.
The City of Houston is hiring a Transportation Planner III. Houston, TX. Source: sent to me. Salary listed.
Opportunities from the Blacks in Planning and Development Facebook Group
The City of Portland, Oregon is also hiring a transportation planning manager and Irene Marion would love to answer any questions you may have about the position. This does close on Monday 12/3 though.
Gensler, the multinational architecture firm, is providing a number of scholarships to architecture students and their deadlines are on December 9th.
Penn Design has launched the Moelis Urban Scholars Program, for folks interested in doing a master of city planning degree with them. Direct any direct questions on the application process to Professor Lisa Servon. This is also the program in which Dr. Matthew Jordan Miller is a post-doc and Dan Reed is an alumnus. Dan is also willing to talk about his experience with you as a Penn student.
A paid internship with Metro-North Railroad, the commuter rail that services Connecticut from Manhattan that closes on my birthday, 12/14.
More Jobs and Opps from Other Social Media Stalking and Email and DMs
The City of Oakland, City of Seattle and Bush International Airport in Houston are commissioning artist works. The Seattle link also has some helpful information on writing grants and links to other grant writing resources.
Enterprise Community Partners is looking for a Senior Program Director in Local and State Policy that will be based in San Francisco.
Ann Hartell, who works over at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (a.k.a. The organization that houses the Transportation Research Board), let me know about a new position open in the TRB for an outreach strategist to help get the word out about the Transportation Research Record. The position description’s pretty detailed about what you would be doing, but suffice to say you’ll be going to the TRB Annual Meeting and doing things there as long as you want to stay on the job. Ann is not the hiring manager, but can also answer questions about the position. She also mentioned jobs at the FHWA, but she can’t be a reference to them, but knows some awesome people there who do want you to come work with them.
Calvin Gladney at Smart Growth America sent me their opening for a Director of Smart Cities, which will be under the Transportation for America banner. As of when I sent this newsletter out and put it up on my website, I don’t have a salary range for it, but I am following up with Calvin to see if I can get one.
Sasha Berger at NACTO emailed me to add a link to their careers page and per my request, she followed up with information on each position’s hiring manager and the position level as follows, though she was not able to provide a hard salary number per organization policy:
—Event Coordinator; Hiring Manager: Sasha Berger; Level: Entry-Level
—Program Manager, Climate Challenge; Hiring Manager: Kate Fillin-Yeh; Level: Mid-Level
—Communications Associate; Hiring Manager: Alex Engel; Level: Entry-Level
Also, that main careers page link has job listings from NACTO-member cities and other jobs in the field so be sure to check that list for other positions. I will not include all of those here, but if you happen to have a personal tie, either as a hiring manager, potential colleague, board member on anyone else who can give specific help to someone hoping to get that position or opportunity, please reply back and let me know!
And finally, Seam Social Labs is also seeking freelancers with experience doing environmental studies, graphic representations (I’m thinking these are the folks that draw meetings as they go along), copywriters and other freelancy-type things. I’m putting in an application and for NYC folks (or folks who want to get to NYC), there’s an open house on December 6th, which you can register for here.
Get Some Money (and Models) to Do Something
Transportation for Massachusetts wants to fund transportation justice projects, both by established nonprofits and from independent and un-incorporated activists and advocates. While their efforts are primarily focused on Mass, there’s room for others outside of Mass to get funding to work on a specific climate justice project. What’s also nice, is that when Jessica Roberts tweeted this to me and several other awesome black/POC women-identified folks, several folks offered specific services or to partner.
In addition Safe Routes to School National Partnership is encouraging nonprofits around the country and specifically one nonprofit or local government in Oregon to apply for ten slots (eleven if you include the Oregon specific one) that will provide funding and a suite of technical support and training to help create an action plan and build parks, especially in areas where equitable access to parks has been an issue. S/O to Dr. Adonia Lugo, who created the Bike Equity Network list, for sharing that with us this week on the listserv. All materials are due on December 10th.
The Transportation Review Board (TRB)’s Transit Cooperative Research Program is accepting requests for proposals for funded research or projects that could use some technical support.
UNICEF has published this guide on child-responsive urban planning.
Finally, several heavy-hitters in urban economic revitalization have released this equity toolkit to help you build your projects.
Work With Me
As I’ve been doing this platform for the better part of a decade, what’s emerged is that I’m really good at digging out stories, from individuals, from organizations, from governments and communities. I think it’s vital that we are clear on who we are, what we are about and how we hope to go about in the world. Plus, you can draw the prettiest maps, but if you’ve not gone to the community and learned what all used to be on that site and, more often than not, what the community’s sketched out for itself, you’re also doomed. Oh and that doesn’t even get into government funding cycles that cancel projects or private developers who don’t seem to have a soul.
So here I am, offering to build the public engagement campaigns, the neighborhood identities, and the individual personal brands that your work, community or venture deserves. Feel free to fill out this checklist I made to help you build your outreach and branding strategy and check out these six things I do when I present my work. Reply back if you’d like to hire me to help you implement some of the things you want to do that you developed from both of those resources. Oh and if you want me to come to speak to your group, here’s a sample of some of my other speeches from over the years. And yes, I’m available to be a subcontractor on your federal and state projects that need public engagement. I’m still working on getting myself to where I can be a full MWBE, but I have been able to work around that and team with some great folks, namely in Birmingham, AL.
Other Things To Do
— The flagship Transportation Camp, in Arlington, VA the weekend of the Transportation Review Board Annual Meeting, has opened registration. As much as I love big #transpocamp, having been on planning boards for Midwest and Baltimore and knowing how intimate the older DC camps were, I want to challenge you to pull together a group and get one going in your city, or, sign up for one nearby. DC is still fun, especially as part of the Transportation Super Bowl that TRBAM is, but don’t sleep on the other camps either.
—Barb Chamberlain has also issued a challenge for white folks in the space to evaluate their conference invites and jobs for opportunities to include folks of color. She has also added a tweet in the thread for my fellow POC and otherwise marginalized folks to tag themselves and their work if you want to be considered for more panels, keynotes, workshops, commissions and the like. Absolutely do this and let me know when you are participating in these kinds of engagements.
—Send jobs! Tag me on any social media outlets, reply to this email, etc. The goal is getting this email out over the weekends, but occasionally, I’ll get a batch of jobs and throw them up quicker. Or, life happens and jobs come out a little later, but they will be here, in some email or on the job board page of the site. Please also don’t limit your jobs to transportation and planning. If it has anything to do with land use and mobility, regardless of what it’s called or where it’s located, please send it to me.
—Note the closing dates on jobs. As I said before, I try to get this out in a timely manner, as well as clean off old jobs that aren’t open anymore. Please also tell me when your jobs, especially those that have ambiguous close dates, actually close.
— Click on this link if you just want notifications once a week, with a link to content from the prior week. I’m still determining a hard date for that (truly weekly) recap. And do nothing if you don’t mind seeing me in your inbox 3-5 times a week, as I increase the frequency that I share jobs and content from The Black Urbanist platform.
— Review your announcements for areas of potential inequity and to publish at least a salary range. It’s not enough to include an EEOC pledge or invite for certain groups to hire, especially if things like work environment, licenses, and other things don’t actually affect your day to day work product. Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to specific folks that you might have in mind, especially from previously marginalized groups with invites or offers to do informational interviews. Also, if it matters that someone writes their cover letter or email or any application materials to a particular person, please go ahead and include that person, versus mocking candidates or not considering them for writing to a general department or person.
—Advertise As I said above, email me and I’ll set up a time with you to go over ad rates, ad terms and make sure you’re a good fit for being aligned with the mission of this site
Before I Go…
The goal with this list is that these are jobs you are either a point of contact for, either as a future colleague or hiring manager or can mentor applicants to producing a successful application. I may also pick listings and posts on some of your social media accounts that are excellent resources for good leads and add anything of note that I think you (the potential applicant) should shoot for, regardless of if there’s a lead from this list or in your own personal life.
I believe that while being a prepared or preferred candidate may not be a job guarantee, it will start the process of building a bigger group of mentors and friends for all of us throughout the industry and in the communities, we both serve and live.
Plus, I’ve heard from multiple people that my post where I included some questions to ask and traps to avoid when considering this career field has helped them decide on planning school and also have a better balance of their career. Also, for those of you who live in SF-330 hell (and you know who you are), friend of the site and A/E/C marketing coordinators everywhere Matt Handal has released a new SF-330 survival guide. And if you’re discouraged in your job hunt, read this Twitter thread and know you’re not alone in the hustle. Also, the American Institute of Architects has had this great guide out for a minute on how to start your own small firm, that I really like as someone who’s created a firm who wants to continue to grow.
Finally, Ashley Dash and Gisla Bush (can help coach you through this job and opportunity hunt if you’d like.
Alright, that’s been the twelfth job dispatch. Go forth and get your bag! And maybe that friendly Black Santa at the 14th and Irving CVS in DC.
