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. 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 interpersonal skills to manage the Headwaters Youth Program statewide. 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 and may supervise interns and/or seasonal employees. The position can be based at TU’s Denver office with opportunities for remote work.
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. Flagship programs include:
Trout in the Classroom (TIC). Function as Colorado TIC Coordinator. Support existing sites by coordinating logistics between participating schools, chapters, partners, and agencies. Develop resources to support TIC sites with educational curriculum, equipment maintenance, and troubleshooting. Recruit prospective new sites for TIC in Colorado. Facilitate fish health testing and TIC release events with sites. Coordinate statewide evaluations on TIC program outcomes.
STREAM Girls/Keepers. Function as state-wide CTU coordinator with program partners, including Colorado Girl Scouts Council for STREAM Girls. Facilitate program liability and risk management requirements. Coordinate event scheduling. Develop volunteer leaders to support program delivery in person or virtual. Train and manage regional volunteers for program implementation. Conduct chapter outreach and volunteer recruitment. Identify and cultivate new volunteer partners. Inventory, maintain, and prepare equipment and supplies.
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. Support River Watch educational outreach through special projects.
Youth camps. Manage existing and future recruited volunteers to ensure successful youth conservation camps on an annual basis including our high-school one-week summer camp. Facilitate partnership with camp site and coordinate any associated state licensing requirement. 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. Manage systematic and consistent education evaluation tools for use both in tracking and improving Colorado TU programming and as a resource for local chapters, partner groups, schools, and fundraising. Maintain database of volunteer and participant evaluations. Serve as a central point for evaluation data collection, entry and analysis.
Grant writing 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 e-zine; 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:
Bachelor degree in environmental science, science education, natural resources, wildlife biology, or related field.
Experience or demonstrated ability with development and/or delivery of youth education programs.
Ability to recruit, train, and manage volunteers.
Experience in managing partnership programs or projects (e.g., relationships with agencies, nonprofits, etc.)
Background knowledge of watershed and fishery issues and dedication to conservation; specific experience with water quality monitoring is a plus.
Experience coordinating special events for community engagement
Experience with budget development and management
Fundraising and/or grant writing experience strongly preferred.
Strong communications, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
Ability to travel statewide and to work weekend and evening hours when needed.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google suites.
Must have reliable transportation statewide.
Ability to lift and carry objects weighing up to 30 pounds.
Candidates must pass a background check for involvement with youth programs.
This position is based from Colorado TU’s Denver office, but with the opportunity for remote and/or hybrid work from an in-state location with comfortable travel access to the Front Range and other program locations statewide. The position will report directly to the Executive Director.
Staff and leadership at TU understand that life outside of work is important to personal health, and we strive to create a healthy and family-friendly atmosphere. This is a full-time position with a generous benefits package. The approximate salary range is $40,000 – $50,000 depending on experience.
At TU, we value a diverse representation of staff, and we encourage candidates for this position who come from communities that have been historically under-represented in conservation and those who have been most impacted by degraded rivers and streams. We are committed to building space for all people to participate in our work to care for trout and their watersheds. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcome you to read more about TU’s equity practice and values at tu.org/equity.
How to Apply: Please upload a cover letter, resume, and names and contact information for three references to TU’s applicant system by visiting the website link below. We will begin reviewing applications on October 15; position is open until filled. Apply here
