Welcome to the eleventh Jobs, Opportunities and Funding Dispatch! I was out in the future National Landing area long enough to grab this shot over top of Pentagon Row, which is still new to me despite spending lots of time in that area over the years, as I mentioned in this tweet stream when we received the HQ2 news last week.
I’m also sure, despite this being a cold and sometimes dreary Thanksgiving weekend, that it’s packed with people, but on Wednesday November 21, when I shot this image, it was bright and glistening.
Let me take a moment and tell you how thankful I am that so many of you are getting value from this newsletter. I appreciate all the feedback, from sending me new jobs, to the number of jobs I send, to the types of jobs I send. I hope that maybe this list can be the present you need, of a new job, a funding lead or just awareness that there are positions and places in the world. Plus, please continue to write me if you have questions or want to do more things. Also, I misspelled Gordon Chaffin’s name in my imagery and this dispatch last week. My regrets.
Now, on to those jobs and opportunities:
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.
The Loeb Fellowship (until January 4, 2019, so you have some time, but again, this is a fellowship so it can take some time to get an application package together).
The NAACP National Headquarters Design Competition.) Just a reminder here to have your final materials in by November 30th.
The League of American Bicyclists
City of Bloomington, IN (Closes 12/3)
Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT)
IndyGo (With Jerome Horne and Austin Gibble!)
SLF Consulting (Henry Pan can connect you with a staff member)
And not just one, but a second position at Uber. For the second Nadia Anderson is the actual hiring manager.
Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) (Open until filled)
ODOT (Closes 12/3)
The Federal Highway Administration— this is that one that’s only taking the first 150 candidates, so be sure to jump on that fast.
Jarrett Walker & Associates (Original position has closed, but bookmark this page for two other upcoming position openings)
California Walks (Closes 11/30)
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 Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
UNC Charlotte (Closes on 11/25)
Adventure Cycling (Closes 11/27)
DVRPC (This is also 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)
The I-70 Mountain Corridor Coalition (Closes 11/30)
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)
Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at UCLA (Closes 11/29)
The City of Madison, WI ( Grant Foster is willing to answer questions about the position you may have).
WMATA-related Arlington, VA projects via First Group
What Jessica Roberts slid us in the Bike Equity Network listserv this week:
The City of Key West is hiring a Multimodal Transportation Coordinator Planner. Full job description linked here. Key West, FL. Source: TRANSP-TDM list serve. Salary listed.
The City of Boston is hiring 4 temporary Bicycling Program Team Members. Boston, MA. Source: National Center for Biking and Walking. Salary listed.
USDOT is hiring a (paid) Traffic Safety Data Fellow. DC. Source: A Jobs Jawn. Salary listed.
The Mayor of Stockton,CA is hiring a part-time Program Manager III / Transformative Climate Communities Manager. Stockton, CA. Source: A Jobs Jawn. Salary listed. ( Closes Monday 11/26)
The Downtown Long Beach Association is hiring a Placemaking Manager. Long Beach, CA. Source: emailed to me. Salary not listed.
Playworks is hiring a Program Manager. Oakland, CA. Source: A Jobs Jawn. Salary not listed.
Fairfax County, VA is hiring a Transportation Planner IV. Source: A Jobs Jawn. Salary listed. (Closes 12/7)
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is hiring a Public Health Planner. Boston, MA. Source: emailed to me. Salary listed.
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) is hiring a Transportation Travel Demand Modeler. Pittsburgh, PA. Source: National Center for Biking and Walking. Salary not listed.
The City of Santa Monica is hiring a Transportation Planning Assistant. Santa Monica, CA. Source: LinkedIn. Salary listed. (Closes 11/30)
More Jobs and Opps from My Own Social Media Stalking and Email and DMs
Thomas Ngo sent me a couple gigs, one more with his agency in Portland, Brink Communications, as a copywriter (Closes 12/3) and another with Portland’s Office of Community and Civic Life as a strategic communications officer, for which he will be serving on the interview panel and closes on 11/17).
Get Some Money to Do Something
Transportation for Massachusetts wants to fund transportation justice projects, both by established nonprofits and also 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 also 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 request for proposals for funded research or projects that could use some technical support.
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 also 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 things you want to do that you developed from both of those resources. Oh and if you want me to come 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.
— Adina Howard, a black woman planner posted this in the newly revamped Blacks in Planning and Urban Development Facebook Group and I asked her if I could repost it here—If any jurisdictions are undergoing the Analysis of Impediments or Assessment of Fair Housing and in need of consulting I am offering free 30 minute “pick my brain” sessions. Schedule a time at www.seespotrunllc.com. She’s only doing this until the end of this month and this which is probably the last time you’ll see this offer here, so make sure you don’t miss out.
—Barb Chamberlain has 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 also 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, mobility or making black communities stronger, please send it my way.
—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.
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, my colleagues Ashley Dash and Gisla Bush (Congrats on becoming chair of your local planning board Gisla!) can help coach you through this job and opportunity hunt if you’d like.
Alright, that’s been the eleventh job dispatch. Go forth and get your bag! Santa can’t bring it all :).
Please forward this to anyone who needs this. And if you’re new here, come over and let’s get to know each other better.
Also, this platform doesn’t have a paywall, but I still need to eat. Buy me a meal via PayPal or Cash App, or many meals via Patreon.