HomeGrown Bay Area Government Outreach Fellow
Summer Internship Opportunity for College Student
About Acterra
Acterra is driven by the opportunity to learn and grow together, while achieving high impact through fighting
climate change and reducing carbon emissions. We harness the individual strengths within our staff and our
network to foster a leader-full organization and movement. Our team members are high performers and high
collaborators. We encourage creativity and failing forward. This is not an aspirational vision: this is how we live and
breathe into our work together.
Inclusiveness
Acterra strives to ensure that the organization is welcoming and inclusive. Acterra is an equal opportunity employer
that supports and lives diversity in our staffing and values. Acterra does not discriminate as to gender, race, culture,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, social background, disability, pregnancy, marital status, political
affiliation, or age. Acterra strives to include persons from traditionally under-represented groups and complies with
all applicable national and local laws pertaining to non- discrimination and equal opportunity.
We strongly encourage and seek applications from women; people of color; immigrant, bilingual, and bicultural
individuals; and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming communities.
Acterra’s Climate Action Programs
Acterra is a Bay Area-focused environmental organization based in Palo Alto that brings people together to create
local solutions for a healthy planet. The organization’s roots go back to 1970 with a history of inspiring and
motivating action for change. Our programs are:
• Beneficial Electrification for All: helps accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy by
prioritizing and accelerating the adoption of all-electric appliances, buildings, and vehicles that operate
on clean energy instead of fossil fuels.
• Healthy Plate, Healthy Planet: promotes plant-rich eating and food waste reduction by residents,
institutions, and local communities for better personal health and a lower carbon footprint.
• Workplace Sustainability: draws upon our successful 30+ year history of Acterra’s Business
Environmental Awards and supports a growing peer-to-peer learning network for sustainability-minded
professionals, the Green Team Network.
• Education: includes the Public Lecture Series, which invites leading voices from academia, business, and
policy to discuss global change issues; the You(th) Be the Change climate-based education and leadership
program; Acterra’s Student Ambassador Program, which encourages student-led change in local
communities.
HomeGrown Bay Area
HomeGrown Bay Area is a newly formed coalition of Bay Area organizations and individuals working towards a more
sustainable and equitable food system. Our vision for 2030 is that all city, town and county governments in the SF
Bay Area have committed to policy, purchasing and programming that:
• makes healthy food, which is predominantly plant-based and minimally processed, accessible and
affordable for all,
• supports small, local farms, including urban farms, with sustainable, regenerative and carbon-reducing
farming methods,
• prioritizes and ensures the safety and well-being of food workers, and
• minimizes the loss and waste of food from farm to fork.
We seek to convene local governments at a summit in Fall of 2022 to learn about solutions, engage with peers,
commit to action and sign a declaration to pursue our vision for 2030.
Position Description
With oversight and support from Acterra’s Food Systems Director, Acterra’s Senior Manager of Policy and External
Relations and other key members of the local government outreach committee:
• Receive training in local government advocacy techniques and key tools to advance sustainable and
equitable food policy at the local and regional level
• Conduct outreach to and develop relationships with key local government contacts via email, phone and
videoconference to educate and engage them in HomeGrown Bay Area’s vision and encourage
participation in summit and declarations
• Participate in meetings with the local government outreach committee to help identify and select policy
tools, plan for the summit, and record meeting notes
• Document all communications in a shared tracking document with other volunteers and team members
• Update existing local government policy research and contact information as needed with new
information
• Participate in Acterra staff meetings and provide updates on progress while learning about Acterra
programs and being part of the team at a dynamic nonprofit
• Connect with other Acterra summer interns to learn and share your experiences
Desired qualifications/characteristics:
• Coursework in environmental studies, food systems and/or policy is preferred
• Professionalism and excellent organizational, writing, interpersonal, and speaking skills
• Ability to engage and build relationships with people from a wide diversity of backgrounds and cultures
• Strong team player and enthusiastic self-starter
• Knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Interest in food systems, environmental sustainability and social justice
Physical Requirements
Intern is required to speak, hear, read and write correspondence.
Location
Remote, work from home, preferably in the SF Bay Area
Dates and hours
Flexible, but prefer full-time during regular business hours, pacific time, for ~10 weeks between June 1 and August 31,
2022.
(Note all Acterra staff take vacation for the week of July 4 and you will have this week off.)
Apply
Applicants should submit a substantive and thoughtful cover letter describing their interest in the position, relevant
experience and the value of the experience to their future career plans. The cover letter should be submitted
together with a current resume to [email protected] Applications will be accepted until the position is
filled.
Megamenu Social