Resilient Neponset Liaisons

Overview

Community Liaisons plan and lead outreach to educate residents about community efforts to improve climate resilience. They enhance participation, build local leadership, and support the implementation of projects that make their communities more resilient to flooding and extreme heat.

• Direct Impact: Your voice will directly influence implementation of strategies to reduce the impacts of flooding and extreme heat in your community and across the region.
• Collaboration: Work alongside residents and project staff to raise awareness of climate resilience-building opportunities that work for your community. Working alongside 1-3 other liaisons in the region will help you build connections and a supportive network.
• Professional Development: This compensated role can help you build skills in:
  • Community Engagement
  • Facilitation
  • Event planning
  • Working with funders
  • Navigating local government processes
  • Understanding local strategies, initiatives, programs, and projects that reduce flooding and extreme heat impacts

Responsibilities

Attend Liaison Team trainings and preparatory/check in meetings. (About 12 hrs)

• There will be 2 training calls hosted for 1.5 hours each to train liaisons and onboard them to the process. Formal or informal calls will be scheduled from there to fully support the work of liaisons. This will be customized for each liaison.
• There will be a final meeting to discuss ongoing and planned events, lessons learned and plans to advance the Resilient Neponset project. Liaisons will also collaborate on a final presentation to the Resilient Neponset Community Action Team.

Conduct 2-3 Community Engagement events to connect with community members. (About 17 hrs., including prep, outreach, and holding the event.)

Events might include:

• Hosting a listening session in a local café
• Leading an art workshop about climate resilience
• Partnering with a school or community group to host a meeting
• Posting on social media to spark community conversations
• Any creative idea you have — the more engaging, the better!

Conversation topics might include:

• Residents’ experience with flooding or extreme heat
• What people know about or plan to do during extreme weather
• Community vulnerabilities that may not appear in existing data
• How flooding or heat waves affect daily routines, commutes, or wellbeing

We encourage you to conduct events or conversations in any non-English languages you’re comfortable with. Collaboration with other organizations is also encouraged.

Report back findings via a meeting with the Resilient Neponset Community Action Team. (About 4 hrs)

• Work with the other liaisons to present on and discuss the Liaison events, experiences and lessons learned with the Resilient Neponset Community Action Team at an in-person or hybrid meeting.