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Research Communications Fellow
Who We Are:
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is the leader of a movement to connect everyone in America to the outdoors. A national nonprofit, TPL partners with communities to create high-quality parks and protect public lands—especially in communities that need them most—to improve public health, create social cohesion, strengthen historic and cultural connection to place, and increase climate resilience. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,500 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, generated over $112 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 10 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.
Position Summary:
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is seeking a Research Communications Fellow who is passionate about elevating the role of parks and public lands in addressing some of the most critical health, climate, and equity challenges facing communities today. The Research Communications Fellow will manage a) one of TPL’s primary annual data collection efforts (the City Park Facts survey) and b) TPL’s Center for Community Impact external communications with tens of thousands of parks, recreation, and public land professionals across the country. This role will work directly with local government and non-governmental public land organizations across the country, collecting key data and information and helping synthesize that information into actionable insights. Additionally, this role will serve as a key facilitator of participant engagement, program implementation, and knowledge-sharing efforts, ensuring successful recruitment, communication, logistics, and delivery of program resources and events for the Center for Community Impact (CCI). This position is a 12-month fellowship with the opportunity to apply for other roles at TPL upon conclusion.
A core goal of this program is to provide opportunities for early career professional development for those interested in entering the world of parks, public lands, and outdoor recreation. Key skills you will gain from this fellowship include:
Essential Functions:
Qualifications:
Compensation:
Trust for Public Land is a hybrid work environment, and this role will ideally be located near any Trust for Public Land office around the United States. The role may be done remotely but the employee will also have access to the nearby Trust for Public Land office. As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for the Trust for Public Land’s comprehensive benefits program which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, vacation and sick pay plus holidays, a year end office closure, and a 403(b)-retirement plan, currently with up to a 7% company match. We offer competitive salaries commensurate with experience; the compensation for this fellowship is $29/hr. or $60,320 annualized.
Trust for Public Land’s active goal is to be an inclusive and equitable place to work and build community. As the organization actively works to eliminate racial and other disparities it welcomes candidates with diverse backgrounds and/or multicultural skillsets. We are open to the possibility that a great candidate for this job may not precisely meet all the above criteria; if you believe you are the right person for this job and can persuasively make that case, we encourage you to apply.
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is the leader of a movement to connect everyone in America to the outdoors. A national nonprofit, TPL partners with communities to create high-quality parks and protect public lands—especially in communities that need them most—to improve public health, create social cohesion, strengthen historic and cultural connection to place, and increase climate resilience. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,500 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, generated over $112 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 10 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.
Position Summary:
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is seeking a Research Communications Fellow who is passionate about elevating the role of parks and public lands in addressing some of the most critical health, climate, and equity challenges facing communities today. The Research Communications Fellow will manage a) one of TPL’s primary annual data collection efforts (the City Park Facts survey) and b) TPL’s Center for Community Impact external communications with tens of thousands of parks, recreation, and public land professionals across the country. This role will work directly with local government and non-governmental public land organizations across the country, collecting key data and information and helping synthesize that information into actionable insights. Additionally, this role will serve as a key facilitator of participant engagement, program implementation, and knowledge-sharing efforts, ensuring successful recruitment, communication, logistics, and delivery of program resources and events for the Center for Community Impact (CCI). This position is a 12-month fellowship with the opportunity to apply for other roles at TPL upon conclusion.
A core goal of this program is to provide opportunities for early career professional development for those interested in entering the world of parks, public lands, and outdoor recreation. Key skills you will gain from this fellowship include:
- Opportunities to meet, network, and collaborate with public lands and recreation staff in a wide range of communities across the country.
- Training and experience in strategic communications and/or data science
- Coaching and individualized professional development.
- Strong understanding of the key strategies to elevate the importance of parks and public lands.
Essential Functions:
- Manage annual City Park Facts survey of the 100 most populous U.S. cities as part of data collection for annual ParkScore Index release (50%)
- Communicate directly with each city organization (governmental and non-governmental) to secure and confirm data inputs.
- Collaborate with other TPL staff to prepare ParkScore and City Park Facts for release, including preparing supporting documentation and media outreach documentation.
- Manage CCI’s external communications distribution lists, including reconciling contact databases across programs and departments, ensuring data accuracy, and developing and implementing a coordinated communications calendar (50%)
- Support programmatic outreach and engagement efforts for technical assistance programs, including drafting and distributing promotional communications, supporting recruitment campaigns, and maintaining regular communication with program participants and partners.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to plan, coordinate, and execute integrated communications strategies that ensure consistent messaging, effective stakeholder engagement, and alignment across CCI programs and initiatives.
- Generalizable functions
- Lead project of personal interest in either of above two domains for fellowship
- Participate in regular team and organizational meetings.
- Develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with colleagues, municipalities, partner organizations and others.
- Assist with internal coordination, documentation, and continuous improvement efforts.
- Support and engage with other relevant projects as opportunities arise.
Qualifications:
- Passion for parks, public spaces, people, and working together
- Positive attitude, with interest and ability to develop client and partner relationships. Demonstrates sensitivity and tact in interpersonal relationships
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively on a geographically distributed team and with staff in other departments
- Detail oriented and organized
- Willingness to adapt and remain flexible as projects and priorities change
- Experience with relationship management software (e.g. Microsoft Excel, Airtable, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Microsoft Word Mailmerge etc.)
- Strong writing, messaging, and storytelling skills
- Excellent time management and project management skills, proficiency overseeing multiple projects at once
- Commitment to the full fellowship term (12 months)
- Strong commitment to TPL’s shared values (Belonging, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Hope) to effectively work across the organization.
- Academic or personal studies in urban planning, parks and recreation, public affairs, communications, geography, community development or related fields
- Experience working with any of the following types of software:
- GIS data using Esri software (ArcCatalog, ArcPro, etc.)
- Data analysis software (e.g. Microsoft Excel, Tableau, SurveyMonkey)
- Web communications software (Adobe, Microsoft Powerpoint, Wordpress, etc.)
- Experience communicating research findings to specific audiences
- Experience with local government policies and structures
- Experience in public affairs or advocacy campaigns
- Experience as a community advocate and/or offering community service
Compensation:
Trust for Public Land is a hybrid work environment, and this role will ideally be located near any Trust for Public Land office around the United States. The role may be done remotely but the employee will also have access to the nearby Trust for Public Land office. As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for the Trust for Public Land’s comprehensive benefits program which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, vacation and sick pay plus holidays, a year end office closure, and a 403(b)-retirement plan, currently with up to a 7% company match. We offer competitive salaries commensurate with experience; the compensation for this fellowship is $29/hr. or $60,320 annualized.
Trust for Public Land’s active goal is to be an inclusive and equitable place to work and build community. As the organization actively works to eliminate racial and other disparities it welcomes candidates with diverse backgrounds and/or multicultural skillsets. We are open to the possibility that a great candidate for this job may not precisely meet all the above criteria; if you believe you are the right person for this job and can persuasively make that case, we encourage you to apply.
www.tpl.org/careers