Fall 2009 University Organizing Fellowship
About Earth Aid
Earth Aid (www.earthaid.net), a Washington, DC-based social venture, has developed the first free service to enable individuals to track their electric, gas, and water usage in one place online; receive customized tips to save; and earn points if they do save that they can redeem for discounts at participating local businesses through the first-of-its-kind Earth Aid Rewards Program.
Particularly where the Rewards Program exists, a cycle of sustainability is created that benefits each sector of the community: residents save energy and save money, local business gains new green customers and new green jobs, and less pollution is emitted into the environment.
About the Fellowship
This September, Earth Aid is proud to announce the launch of our Fall 2009 University Organizing Fellowships to empower students throughout the country to bring our Rewards Program and cycle of sustainability to their community, and to provide a set of trainings and valuable experiences in the process. For students interested in issues of energy and environment, Earth Aid’s cutting-edge technology, vision of sustainability, and commitment to metrics-based organizing will provide a valuable and rewarding experience.
Earth Aid Fellows will work with staff to:
- Engage residents in your community to go online and save energy in their homes, with the ability to measure the results of your efforts in terms of actual carbon reductions;
- Recruit local business owners to build the network of Rewards Partners where you live, and in so doing, engage the business community in sponsoring sustainability in the neighborhood; and
- Organize a launch event or a series of house parties with business and environmental leaders, community activists, and in some cases elected officials, to celebrate the launch of the Rewards Network where you live.
Earth Aid Fellows will receive training in the following areas:
- Grassroots organizing and recruitment
- Social networking
- Event planning
- Political outreach
Why Earth Aid?
If you care about energy and the environment, there are a lot of reasons this Fellowship is a truly unique opportunity:
Measure your impact. Unlike virtually any other environmental or energy-based effort, by working with Earth Aid, you will be able to measure the carbon reductions you have achieved through your efforts. Fellows will be able to track their actual impact both individually and across all Fellows from their campus.
Take a leadership role. We’re also looking for students not just to participate, but to lead. After a very successful launch of our Rewards Network in Washington, DC, we are looking for students who want to take a leadership role in building and launching this network where they live.
Build your skills, and your resume. Through the Earth Aid Fellowship, you will not only learn invaluable skills about organizing, outreach, and event-planning—and be able to measure the results of your efforts—but you also will be able to add this experience to your resume. Employers like to see resumes that demonstrate accomplishment, not simply attendance. A standard environmental volunteer opportunity might lead to resume summaries such as “helped organize green event on campus,” or “compiled letters to send to Congressman in support of climate change legislation.” Through an Earth Aid Fellowship, you will experience and be able to include items such as “established local presence for national green energy start-up by recruiting 46 local business partners to sponsor sustainability; increased household participation by 400%, collectively achieving a reduction of 50 tons of carbon compared to prior year; organized series of 5 house parties across my community with 100 attendees, that attracted local media.”
Meet key leaders in your community. Through your efforts as a Fellow, you’ll be reaching out to business, community, and environmental leaders where you live. This will help you create important relationships that can help you in a variety of ways—whether it’s meeting environmental leaders who may want to hire you or simply be more excited to work with you in the future, or restaurant and bar owners you can go to when planning social events for other groups you’re involved with.
How to Apply
To apply, fill out an online application. Applicants will be contacted for phone interviews on a rolling basis. For more information or with any questions, contact Andrew Gall at andrew [at] earthaid [dot] net.