Environmental Education Associate

About Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC)

TLC is an accredited and highly-respected land trust, having protected over 25,000 acres in the rapidly growing Triangle region of North Carolina. Since 1983, TLC has conserved land to safeguard drinking water, support family farms and the local food economy, protect important natural habitat, and connect people with nature. TLC operates a hybrid workplace and is headquartered in vibrant downtown Durham. This is an exciting time to work at TLC as we are seeing a dramatic increase in the use of our public nature preserves and growth in community support for our mission. TLC has doubled the pace of conservation in the Triangle and is conserving an average of 1,000 acres annually in addition to monitoring and stewarding TLC-conserved lands in perpetuity, hosting numerous public events and education programs, providing volunteer opportunities, and cultivating future leaders with an impactful youth career pathways program. Learn more at triangleland.org

Position Summary

The Environmental Education Associate will coordinate the Pathways into Natural Environments and Science (PINES) Fellowship and foster partnerships with educational and community organizations to advance our mission. This position will develop and implement engaging educational programs, support emerging professionals, and cultivate relationships that create long-term impact in conservation and environmental education.

Key Responsibilities

PINES Fellowship Coordination:

• Plan and implement high quality programmatic meetings and engagement opportunities that strengthen and grow the program.
• Support and mentor high school-aged PINES Fellows by providing guidance and identifying opportunities for their professional growth.
• Supports recruitment and selection process for PINES cohort members.
• Recruit and engage guest speakers for meetings as well as managing logistics and supply needs.
• Engage with family members of PINES Fellows to develop strong lines of communication and successful participation in the program.
• Mentor and lead college and career support and trainings for PINES student leaders/peer mentors.
• Participate in and support program evaluation and reporting needs to drive continuous improvement.
• Works with PINES Assistant to facilitate engagement with fellowship alumni.

Partner Engagement and Community Building:

• Serve as a liaison to educational partners, maintaining and expanding TLC’s connections with the community.
• Develop and support educational initiatives that align with the organization’s mission, such as community engagement events, farmer education workshops and student field trips.
• Work collaboratively with TLC’s communications team to write and develop environmental education content for electronic and print media.
• Develop impactful programming that utilizes intentional strategies to remove barriers from participation for all members in the community (i.e. multi-lingual, accessibility needs, etc.)
• Special projects and other duties as assigned.

Education & Outreach Team Support:

• Work closely with Education & Outreach Team (staff and volunteers) to ensure quality and impactful educational programming at TLC preserves.
• Assists in training volunteer Trail Guides to lead environmental education activities and programs on TLC nature preserves.
• Provides leadership for educational aspects to our larger events such as Wild Ideas and the NC Statewide Star Party.
• Special projects and other duties as assigned.

Skills and Qualifications

• Proven experience working with high school age youth from marginalized communities, preferably in a nonprofit setting. Experience with outdoor youth pathways program is a plus.
• Knowledge of natural environments and science and/or environmental education.
• Spanish language proficiency preferred.
• Strong organizational and event planning skills, with experience managing projects.
• Ability to foster community, including conflict resolution, setting group norms, and creating an environment of care within youth programs.
• Experience building and maintaining authentic, long-lasting relationships with partner organizations.
• Proficiency with MS Office and Google Suite; experience with BlackBaud NXT, Wordpress, and MailChimp is a plus.
• Flexibility and adaptability in a dynamic work environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate with staff, youth, family and community members.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks with minimal supervision.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, fostering an inclusive workplace.
• Ability to lift and move items up to 20 pounds.
• Valid driver’s license with a clean driving history that meets TLC’s insurance requirements, along with reliable personal transportation to travel to TLC worksites.
• Willingness to work evening and weekend hours to provide community programming.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

TLC is an equal opportunity employer that recruits, hires, trains, and promotes individuals without regard to color, race, religious belief, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, disability, veteran status, or age. People of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and members of other historically disenfranchised populations are strongly encouraged to apply. We also strive to ensure our hiring process, including the submission of the application, meets your needs. To submit an application to this post, you will need to upload a resume and answer a few questions (using open text and multiple choice answers). If there are accommodations that would help you in submitting the application, please email hr ATtriangleland.org. For accommodations needed during the interview process, we have a section to indicate this in the application (no need to email).