Coldharbour Institute Community Engagement – VISTA Summer Associate-AmeriCorps

Position Title:  Community Engagement – VISTA Summer Associate

Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placement

Site Location:

Coldharbour Institute

1 Western Way Gunnison, CO 81230

Terms of Service:

• Start Date: 6/29/2026
• End Date: 9/6/2026
• AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 300 hours (Minimum-Time)

Purpose:

• Gunnison, Colorado, is a rural community with higher-than-average poverty rates, limited economic diversification, and barriers to access for educational and professional opportunities. This project connects to poverty alleviation by strengthening Coldharbour Institute’s capacity to provide educational programming, workforce skills, and community engagement opportunities in regenerative agriculture and watershed management. By expanding outreach systems, increasing workshop participation, and creating sustainable communications infrastructure, the VISTA member will help residents gain knowledge, skills, and connections that support long-term economic resilience, improved livelihoods, and access to resources that reduce vulnerability to poverty.
• This project will build capacity at Coldharbour Institute by creating sustainable systems and tools for community engagement, outreach, and communications. The Summer Associate VISTA Member will support the development of standardized workflows for event planning, social media management, and email communications. They will help document processes, track participation metrics, and develop templates and content calendars that can be used beyond the 10-week term. By establishing these structures, the VISTA member will enable Coldharbour to efficiently expand program reach, increase workshop participation, strengthen relationships with the community and donors, and maintain consistent communications—all of which enhance the Institute’s long-term organizational capacity and impact.
• The Summer Associate VISTA Member will support Coldharbour Institute in designing and implementing a comprehensive community outreach strategy to expand awareness of regenerative agriculture and watershed education in the Gunnison Valley. The member will assist with developing sustainable outreach systems, including audience research, messaging frameworks, event planning workflows, and communications processes. Activities will include supporting marketing efforts, creating outreach materials, expanding social media presence and engagement, assisting with email campaigns, and updating website content. The member will also help track participation metrics, document workflows, and organize templates and processes to ensure sustainability beyond the 10-week term.  The goal of this position is to strengthen CI’s capacity for community engagement and program outreach. By the end of the term, the VISTA member will have contributed a fully documented outreach plan, including a content calendar for social media and emails, standardized event and communications templates, and a system for tracking engagement metrics. These tools will provide Coldharbour Institute with lasting infrastructure to grow workshop participation, enhance community engagement, and support long-term program impact in regenerative practices and rural development.

 
Description of Duties:

The Summer Associate will focus on capacity-building activities that produce internal planning resources, documentation tools, and community engagement materials. Duties may include compiling labor market research summaries, developing workforce resource inventories, creating community asset maps, organizing environmental data sets, drafting partnership coordination frameworks, designing planning templates and resource guides, and assisting with public-facing informational workshops, outreach campaigns, or site observations. Activities are designed to strengthen host organizations’ capacity, guide long-term workforce and environmental program development, provide tangible connections between planning tools and community needs, and support measurable outcomes in workforce access, environmental stewardship, and community engagement.

• The VISTA Summer Associate will support development of sustainable outreach and engagement systems by:
• Supporting event management and planning for workshops, conferences, and Institute gatherings
• Assisting with development of marketing materials promoting programs and Coldharbour’s mission
• Supporting outreach strategies using online and in-person engagement methods to increase participation
• Assisting in maintaining an active social media presence (Facebook, Instagram), including content creation and scheduling
• Supporting development of a sustainable social media strategy and content calendar
• Assisting with email communications and drafting of outreach content
• Supporting website updates and content management (Weebly)

This role builds sustainable marketing and outreach systems that expand program reach, strengthen community engagement, and support rural economic resilience.

 
Qualifications:

• Car recommended;
• Desired education level: High School Diploma
• Language requirement: English
• United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien
• At least 17 years of age
• Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of elementary or secondary school to enroll as an AmeriCorps participant, and agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent prior to using the education award
• Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check.

Physical Requirements:

Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.

Time Requirements:

• Typically, this position is expected to serve full-time, 35-40 hours per week, but exact service schedules may vary. A half hour lunch break will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service
• Permits attendance at school during off hours;
• Permits working at another job during off hours 

Note: Stated are required by AmeriCorps. Programs may add additional requirements

Orientation and Training:

• Member will receive an orientation that includes training on AmeriCorps prohibited and unallowable activities.
• Member will receive a Virtual Member Orientation (VMO) from VISTA on their first day of service. 

Benefits:

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $1,565.08
• Living Allowance of $957.46 (taxable) every other week.
• Healthcare Coverage if Eligible
• Childcare Coverage if Eligible
• Loan forbearance if Eligible
• Interest Payments if Eligible
• Recreational Opportunities
• Professional Development Opportunities

Evaluation and Reporting:

As an AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate, performance will be evaluated on whether the Summer Associate has completed the required number of hours, whether the Summer Associate has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the Summer Associate has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.

Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.

Supervisor Name and Contact Information:

Erin Adams

eadams@conservationlegacy.org

330 Harper Park Drive

Beckley, WV 25801

(304) 860-0578

Host Organization Contact:

Ella Donovan
programs@coldharbourinstitute.org
(302) 739-3277

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodations due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.