Adamah Detroit, Environmental Education Senior Program Associate

Adamah cultivates vibrant Jewish life in deep connection with the Earth. Adamah Detroit implements Adamah’s national mission at a local scale: connecting people and planet in Detroit through Jewish environmental education, leadership development, and climate action.

Our team provides critical and practical resources, support, and programming to over 40 local Jewish organizations integrating environmental values into Jewish life. We inspire and empower Jewish youth, teens, families, leaders, and institutions through programs and events that cultivate environmental stewardship through Earth-rooted holiday celebrations and experiential, nature-based programming. Our programs cultivate the next generation of environmental leaders, and support institutions in the development and implementation of climate action plans.

The Adamah Detroit Environmental Education Senior Program Associate is a full-time position (37.5 hours/5 days per week) who will work in collaboration with Adamah Detroit colleagues to develop and implement impactful Jewish environmental education programs and trainings, while supporting the diverse initiatives of the broader team. This position is based in person in Metro-Detroit and interested applicants must have access to reliable transportation for regular programs and meetings throughout the region. The Senior Program Associate will report to the Adamah Detroit Program Manager.

Responsibilities include

• Educational Programming:
  • Support the development, coordination, and facilitation of impactful Jewish environmental education programming. Steward the growth and impact of these programs through relationship building with partner organizations and key stakeholders. Current initiatives include but are not limited to: Nature Chuggim: Jewish nature-based experiential education highlighting Jewish environmental values with elementary age students; Adamah Nature Camp at JCC Day Camp: Immersive weeklong nature camp hosted at The J campus; and Teva Tots: Jewish early childhood and family nature programming.
  • Support the development and coordination of impactful Jewish holiday programs to showcase Adamah Detroit’s mission, values and share our work with the broader community. Current initiatives include but are not limited to: Tu B’Shvat Seder and Sukkot on the Farm.
  • Work with Adamah Detroit colleagues to contribute to impactful Network gatherings, including the annual Adamah Detroit Community Summit.
• Program Administration: Demonstrate strong customer service and attention to detail with program logistics – responding to emails and inquiries in a timely and professional manner, keeping track of all program bookings, managing relevant invoicing and payments, logging program data in relevant information systems, uploading event photos, conducting timely program evaluations, and tabling at events/conferences.
• Field Building: Partner with colleagues to develop and facilitate impactful Jewish environmental training and leadership development experiences to build the field of Jewish environmental education in SE Michigan. Programs and initiatives include but are not limited to coordinating the Jewish Environmental Education Cohort and developing and facilitating impactful training experiences at conferences, summer camps, and for other partner organizations.
• Revenue Generation: Together with colleagues, identify opportunities for impactful and revenue-generating Jewish environmental education programming in the region, including trainings, consulting and curriculum development contracts with partner organizations.
• Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Collaborate with other Adamah Hubs, local and national colleagues, to stay informed about Adamah’s Climate Action and Youth Empowerment initiatives and integrate learnings into Adamah Detroit’s strategy and programs.

Additional Team Member Responsibilities:

• Attend and contribute to regular Adamah Detroit team meetings, monthly all-staff meetings, and quarterly divisional meetings.
• Support Adamah Detroit lay-leadership development, including attending and supporting quarterly Adamah Detroit advisory council meetings and participating in fundraising initiatives.
• Collaborate with team members to support Adamah Detroit outreach, communications, and community building in the region, with a focus on supporting social media channels to effectively tell the story of Adamah Detroit’s impact and connect with new communities and individuals.
• While this role will focus on Jewish environmental education and leadership development initiatives, other responsibilities may be delegated and expanded as needed to support our interdisciplinary and collaborative team. Responsibilities could include but are not limited to: Supporting set up for adjacent Adamah Detroit programming, supporting local engagement with the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, administrative support, marketing and communications support, and development and fundraising support.
• Engage in ongoing learning and professional development consistent with Adamah’s mission. Interested candidates should note the possibility of participating in an all-expense paid Jewish experiential education professional development training at the Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center in late April 2025.

Desired Skills:

The ideal candidate for the Adamah Detroit Environmental Education Senior Program Associate position will possess the following skills and experiences:

• Demonstrated enthusiasm for working with children and cultivating a lifelong sense of environmental stewardship.
• Experience as an outdoor experiential educator with children and/or young families in formal or informal educational environments. This could include roles within the Jewish summer camp field, outdoor adventure and/or environmental education organizations.
• Experience developing curricula and lesson plans.
• Demonstrated commitment to environmental stewardship through professional experiences and personal practice and actions.
• Demonstrated experience working on collaborative teams and working independently to move time sensitive and variable tasks forward.
• Experience working within Jewish community organizations.
• Strong personal organizational systems to effectively track and manage multiple projects.
• Compelling written and oral communication skills – the ability to tell the story of our work through email communications, newsletters, program facilitation, public speaking, and social media coordination.

Compensation: $45,000 annual salary.

Competitive Benefits and Generous Time Off: The equivalent of 14-18 Federal and Jewish holidays, depending on where they fall each year, and an additional 15 personal vacation days per year, and 9 sick days. Benefits include medical, dental and vision insurance. Employees are eligible for 4% employer retirement match into the organization’s 401K with TransAmerica. Adamah offers life insurance, supplemental insurance, HSA, FSA, and more!

Location and Schedule: This is a full-time position based out of Adamah Detroit’s shared coworking space at the Samantha Woll Center for Jewish Detroit (home of the Downtown Synagogue) in Detroit, Michigan. Adamah Detroit has a hybrid work environment with some in-person meetings required and a great deal of flexibility for staff to conduct other work remotely as they wish. Candidates must also be able and willing to travel to regular meetings and programs around the Metro Detroit area. Adamah offers a seasonal early stop on Fridays and some Jewish holidays. Adamah Detroit cultivates a culture of “no meetings” on Fridays, meant to ensure staff have time for deep work and planning without meeting interruption. The schedule will often vary to accommodate weekend programs on Sundays and occasional late afternoon/early evening programs. (This is estimated at 2 weekend commitments per month during high programming time.) Additional expectations include an annual all-staff gathering that is out of state and aligned professional development opportunities or conferences to be coordinated with the Adamah Detroit Program Manager.

To apply: In order to be considered, please submit a resume and one-page cover letter to the job application portal. https://adamah.org/about-adamah/careers/

Your cover letter should share why you are interested in Adamah Detroit’s mission and how the skills reflected in your resume and experience will set you up to be successful in this role. Only applications with both a resume and personalized cover letter will be considered complete and reviewed. Finalists will be asked to provide references. The deadline to apply is Sunday, March 9th with an anticipated start date of April 1, 2025. though applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Direct link to the posting is here.

Adamah Detroit values a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. Candidates may be of any (or no) faith or background but should be well equipped to work within the Jewish community and demonstrate literacy in Jewish environmental values and tradition which inform all our educational programs.

Adamah is strongly committed to equal employment opportunities for all individuals. All employment decisions are made without unlawful discrimination as to race, creed, color, national origin, gender identity and expression, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, alienage, citizenship, or any other basis protected by law.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, compensation, training and development, benefits, promotion, demotion transfer, discipline, or termination.

Frequently cited statistics show that women and underrepresented groups apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the criteria. We encourage you to break that statistic and apply.