MI Healthy Climate Corps:

Join the MI Healthy Climate Corps (MHC Corps) and make a lasting impact on Michigan’s carbon-neutral future! The MHC Corps accelerates Michigan’s climate action through capacity building and leadership development. Members serve across the state to advance the MI Healthy Climate Plan’s (MHCP) goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The plan, unveiled by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in April 2022, aims to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis; create good-paying jobs; position Michigan as a climate action leader; and build a healthier and more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable Michigan for all Michiganders.

About the Host Partner:

MassTimber@MSU leverages research, education, outreach, stakeholder engagement, communications, and policy to advance sustainable mass timber construction and manufacture in Michigan, the Great Lakes Region, and beyond. The program is a collaboration across Michigan State University’s Department of Forestry; School of Planning, Design, and Construction; and MSU Extension – all housed under the umbrella of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“Mass Timber” is an umbrella term for a variety of large, engineered wood building construction materials that are quickly growing in popularity across the U.S. because they enable us to build big buildings – like apartment complexes, commercial buildings like oces and hotels, schools, and even industrial facilities – more beautifully, more eciently, and more sustainably. This last quality – sustainability – is what’s driving most of the interest in mass timber – and why mass timber is mentioned three times in the MI Healthy Climate Plan as a tool to help achieve net zero carbon by 2050. Part of the reason mass timber is exciting as a climate solution is because it can connect rural forested communities with towns, suburbs, and cities!

The outreach and stakeholder engagement elements of our program have focused on building a Michigan mass timber community of practice comprising real estate developers; building designers, engineers, and erectors; forestry and forest products industry professionals; policymakers; and urban and community planners. As we enter the third year of our program, a key priority for us is to understand whether and how mass timber could support the economic development, health, and well-being goals of under-invested or climate-affected communities in Michigan, including tribal communities, BIPOC communities, and other communities our three-year-old-programs. The MI Healthy Climate Corps member will be instrumental in designing and implementing a strategy to connect with these communities in a curious and respectful way.

MHC Corps Member Role and Responsibilities:

• The MI Healthy Climate Corps member placed with our program would focus on developing and launching an outreach and engagement plan focused on reaching under-served and climate-affected communities MassTimber@MSU has not yet reached – tribal communities, BIPOC communities, and other under-invested communities. The focus of this outreach and engagement would be to meet these communities where they are in order to explore interests in mass timber and identify ways MassTimber@MSU could support action on those interests.
• The 24-25 MHC Corps member will build off the work of the 2024 MHC Corps member (that was hosted by MI Dept. of Natural Resources Oce of Public Lands), who is developing and launching a mass timber stakeholder and outreach plan focused on the forestry and forest products industry. The plan can be used as a base from which to build and customize an outreach and engagement strategy focused on the prioritized communities described above.
  The specic tasks and activities the member would be responsible for include:
  • Identify specic organizations and individuals representing the prioritized communities.
  • Gauge their interest in engaging with MassTimber@MSU about mass timber – this could happen through an online survey, introductory conversations, or other methods as determined by the member in collaboration with the site supervisor, MSU Extension personnel, Community Engagement staff, and other experts.
  • Determine the best methods for engaging with interested communities (online meetings or webinars, in-person presentations or roundtables, facilitated conversation, etc.)
  • Draft an outreach and stakeholder engagement plan for the prioritized communities.
  • Organize and attend/help to facilitate an initial round of the outreach/stakeholder engagement activities laid out in the plan. It is important to ag that activities 1-4 will be time-intensive as they require identifying and reaching communities that MassTimber@MSU does not yet have relationships with.
• Empower the community to access federal and state climate resources by planning meetings, educational programs, and/or other activities to consistently share information.
• Participate in MHC Corps member development shared learning and collaboration activities including four MHC Corps in-person convenings, MHC Corps monthly virtual trainings (refer to calendar attachment), and Michigan’s AmeriCorps activities.
• Members will host a community input session with their host site to collect community feedback and advance the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan.

Evaluation and Reporting:

• Members will complete a Mid-year Performance Evaluation during the term.
• Other reporting requirements (bi-weekly timesheets, monthly data reports, quarterly narrative reports).

Preferred Qualications:

The appropriate candidate will have a strong interest and/or background in some combination of forest, carbon, climate, and sustainable communities issues; coalition building and/or community organizing; and communications. The appropriate candidate must possess strong verbal and written communication skills, excellent attention to detail, the ability to work within a team or as an individual and be familiar with the Microsoft Oce suite and Google Applications. Members are required to work the standard oce hours of their host communities.

No specic background or education is required to join the MHC Corps!
But a minimum of 2 years of experience in these types of situations is essential for success:

• Experience facilitating a meeting with people who have more experience than them
• Complete their work independently and without constant supervision
• Experience overcoming obstacles in work situations in the past
• Experience managing multiple professional relationships
• Comfortable working outside of the typical 9 am – 5 pm to attend community events
• Ability to use or teach oneself new software in a fast-paced role with little oversight

Minimum Qualications:

• Live in Michigan
• Ability to travel to four in-person MHC Corps convenings around the state. Carpools will be available and encouraged.
• Be at least 18 years of age. Applicants must have a high school diploma, GED, or be working toward the completion of one.
• U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or lawful permanent resident of the U.S.
• Pass the following National Service Criminal History Checks: State of Michigan background check, State of residency (if not Michigan), FBI Fingerprinting, and National Sex Offender Registry

Compensation:

Members will receive a living allowance of $35,200 distributed in even increments, bi-weekly. Members will receive student loan forbearance for qualied loans, health care benets, child care assistance upon eligibility, and continual professional development. Upon successful completion of service, an education award in the amount of $7,395 will be issued. Members will serve approximately 40 hours per week (a total of 1,700 hours during the service term).

The MI Healthy Climate Corps Program is an equal opportunity employer. Reasonable accommodations will be made for interviews and service as needed.