Youth Education Coordinator

Colorado Trout Unlimited (CTU) is Colorado’s leading fisheries conservation organization with a mission to conserve, protect, and restore coldwater streams and their watersheds. CTU has state offices located in Denver and 24 local chapters throughout Colorado. As the state affiliate of the national conservation group Trout Unlimited (TU), CTU’s focus is on effective grassroots advocacy for river conservation, coupled with on-the-ground volunteer efforts that directly contribute to stream habitat improvement, native trout restoration, and youth education.

Position Summary: CTU seeks an energetic, self-starter with strong communications and social skills to manage youth education programs. The successful candidate will work with our 24 local chapters and other education partners to engage young people from elementary school through college-age groups with watershed education, conservation, and angling. The position benefits greatly from experience in managing volunteers. The Youth Education Coordinator is a full-time position developing capacity for delivery of established Stream of Engagement educational programs to target audiences, assisting chapters in strengthening their programs for youth education, cultivating educational partnerships, and identifying and developing funding partnerships to support these programs. The Youth Education Coordinator reports to Colorado TU’s Executive Director, may supervise interns and/or seasonal employees, and is located in TU’s Denver office.

The position work plan includes:

Manage established programs: Manage communications and scheduling for existing programs among chapters and other educational partners. Identify program needs, develop outreach information, trainings, and maintain standardized program materials. Build chapter capacity to support existing programs through outreach, volunteer management support, and training.

Trout in the Classroom (TIC). Function as Colorado TIC Coordinator. Support existing sites by coordinating logistics between participating schools, chapters, partners, and agencies. Recruit and evaluate prospective new sites for TIC in Colorado.

STREAM Girls. Function as state-wide CTU coordinator with Colorado Girl Scouts Council. Facilitate program liability and risk management requirements. Coordinate event scheduling and work with volunteer leaders to assist program delivery, regional volunteer pool management, and volunteer training. Oversee equipment and supplies. Manage chapter outreach and volunteer recruitment. Identify and cultivate new volunteer partners.

RiverWatch. Work with chapters and school RiverWatch sites to advance outreach of both watershed education and water quality monitoring. Complete training for RiverWatch trainer certification to assist in training of new participants/sites and in conducting site visits for QA/QC purposes.

Youth camps. Work with existing and future recruited volunteers to ensure successful youth conservation camps on an annual basis including our high-school one-week summer camp. Facilitate meeting and maintaining state licensing requirements. Assist with camp administration, records tracking, outreach and camper recruiting. Provide assistance to chapters that wish to establish localized camp programs for youth in summer.

Program evaluation. Develop, refine and distribute education evaluation tools for use both in tracking and improving Colorado TU programming and as a resource for local chapters, partner groups and schools. Host training for volunteer leaders and evaluation participants. Serve as a central point for evaluation data collection, entry and analysis.

Adapt Programming for Families, Virtual Delivery, and DIY. Transform existing programming to virtual delivery and DIY family opportunities. Explore channels for maintaining significant outreach and personal connection.

Grantwriting and donor cultivation. Support fundraising efforts, in coordination with CTU development staff and Headwaters Committee, to cultivate potential donors for youth education programs. Identify, prepare and submit grant applications to prospective foundation and corporate giving programs for youth education efforts. Develop and maintain a management information system of quality information about grants, foundations, revenue sources, and donors. Prepare written reports on youth programs for grant and funder reporting. This position is funded primarily through successfully sustaining restricted fund sources.

Recruit and assist new sites for Trout Unlimited educational programs. Develop relationships with mentoring organizations, schools, and other youth-focused partners in order to bring Trout Unlimited Stream of Engagement youth programming to new audiences. With new sites, assist in building capacity for delivering appropriate Stream of Engagement programs (Stream Explorers, Trout in the Classroom, Outdoor Mentors, National Fishing in Schools Program, etc.) using a “gradual release” method by which CTU would provide appropriate levels of support initially while local volunteers, teachers, etc. would gradually take on more responsibility for continuing programming. Refine curricula for these programs based on experiences from participating sites.

Other duties. Provide content relevant to the above program areas for the Colorado TU blog, website, social media outlets and High Country Angler magazine; participate in core Colorado TU events such as the Annual Gala, Rendezvous, and Spring Meeting (including volunteer training opportunities); collaborate in other Colorado TU campaigns and initiatives, especially where there are crossover opportunities with youth education efforts.

Qualifications:

• Bachelors or graduate degree in a related field.

• Previous experience or demonstrated ability with development and/or delivery of youth education programs.

• Strong communications and interpersonal skills.

• Experience in managing partnership programs or projects (e.g., relationships with agencies, nonprofits, etc.)

• Fundraising and/or grant writing experience preferred.

• Ability to recruit and manage volunteers.

• Experience coordinating special events for community engagement

• Ability to travel statewide and to work weekend and evening hours when needed.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google suites.

• Background knowledge of watershed and fishery issues and dedication to conservation; specific experience with water quality monitoring is a plus.

• Must have reliable transportation.

• Ability to lift and carry objects weighing up to 30 pounds.

• Candidates must pass a background check for involvement with youth programs.

Salary Range: $32 – 36,000 plus excellent benefits, depending upon experience. Relocation not provided.

To apply, please email cover letter and resume by June 19 to: David Nickum, Executive Director, Colorado Trout Unlimited, at dnickum@tu.org. No phone calls please.

TU is an Equal Employment Opportunity & Affirmative Action Employer pursuant to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act & Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistant Act.

TU hires staff without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or disability.