The Boulder Housing Coalition is accepting applications for a Summer 2015 internship position. Interns are highly valued and fully integrated into our staff and community. We seek people who are passionate about social justice issues, with prior knowledge and experience of housing cooperatives, as well as excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Background
Our nonprofit organization has been dedicated to creating affordable, sustainable housing cooperatives in Boulder, Colorado, for the past 15 years, and we now find ourselves at a critical juncture in our evolution. We have received substantial financial support over the years from both the City of Boulder and Boulder County in pursuit of our mission. However, our progress has been impeded by local laws limiting the number of unrelated individuals that can legally live together.
Since the fall of 2013 we have been working closely with city staff, elected officials, and other local nonprofit and civic organizations on a campaign to change these laws, and enable the creation of many more community living opportunities in Boulder. Serendipitously, this work has coincided with a more extensive housing policy initiative from the City of Boulder. As we head into what we hope will be the home stretch of the campaign, we are seeking the support of a full time summer intern who can help get us across the finish line!
Description of Work
The intern will take on a leadership position within and receive support from our existing advocacy organization, which is composed of volunteers from within Boulder’s vibrant cooperative housing community.
The position will involve a combination of housing policy and community organizing work. Responsibilities may include:
- Coordinating and attending weekly organizing meetings with volunteers working on the campaign.
- Attending and preparing testimony for public hearings at Boulder City Council, Planning Board, and other public meetings.
- Attending and participating in the monthly Boulder Housing Coalition board meeting and weekly house meetings at one or more of Boulder’s cooperative households.
- Outreach to and communication with local elected and appointed officials and city staff, both in person and in writing.
- Attending other public events related to the local civic sphere and housing policy discussion (e.g. events put on by PLAN Boulder, Better Boulder, the Boulder Chamber, the City of Boulder, neighborhood associations, etc.)
- Writing for the local newspaper (letters to the editor, opinion pieces) as well as the campaign website and electronic newsletters.
- Development of an extended social network of current and former housing coop members and other natural political allies.
- Creation of video, photographic, and artistic collateral for the campaign.
- Managing logistics for community events supporting the campaign, including
fundraisers. - Analysis of existing zoning ordinances and potential legislation.
- Analysis of various affordability and sustainability metrics as they apply to the
cooperative housing communities within Boulder. - Managing social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in support of the campaign.
Useful Skills
- Meeting facilitation and consensus-based decision making.
- Proficiency with the WordPress online publishing platform.
- Proficiency with Google Apps (documents, spreadsheets, forms, etc.)
- Familiarity with the MailChimp or other electronic mailing list and newsletter management platforms.
- Familiarity with basic video editing techniques.
- Familiarity with basic graphic design techniques and software.
- Familiarity with social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.
Supporting Documents
Submission of a NASCO internship application (which includes a résumé, some short and long format questions, summary of experience, references, etc.) is required for consideration. Additionally, a writing sample and examples of photography or video projects are also encouraged if you are invited to interview, as these will be valuable skills to have within the campaign.
Logistics
While participating in this internship, you will live in a 25 person cooperative community in central Boulder, composed primarily of non-students. You will participate as a full member, taking on cooking, cleaning, and other labor responsibilities, as well as taking part in house meetings and group decision making. Room and board costs will be covered as part of the compensation for the internship. In addition, you will receive a stipend of $250/month. You’ll be within easy walking and biking distance of downtown, the University of Colorado, hiking trails and rock climbing opportunities in the city’s extensive Open Space and Mountain Parks lands in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
The internship will run for three months, roughly May 15th August 15th, though those dates are somewhat flexible. You will be expected to treat it like a job, working 30 hours per week, alongside volunteers from the community and BHC staff and board members.
The BHC contact person for this internship is:
Zane Selvans
BHC Board Member
zane.selvans@gmail.com
(303) 815-6866
References & Resources
For (much) more information on our campaign, check out the following links:
- Make Boulder Home, our campaign organization.
- The Boulder Housing Coalition.
- Legalizing Affordable Housing, a blog post series from The Sightline Institute.
- Coverage of the (illegal) Boulder Co-ops in Shareable.
- Boulder’s Co-ops in the local newspaper:
- Boulder’s affordable housing issues (including co-ops) covered by the BBC.
- Our draft proposal to enable housing cooperatives in Boulder.
- Housing Boulder, the city’s ongoing housing policy process.
- General information on visiting Boulder, Colorado.
