Internship: Food Forest Institute for Earth Stewardship and Urban Climate Resilience

Are you ready to support the launch of a new national climate initiative?

As global urbanization accelerates, climate change, urban heat islands, and community disconnection are creating a public health crisis. In Boston, this reality is defined by inequity: heat-vulnerable neighborhoods can be 15°F hotter than wealthier suburbs—a disparity projected to widen as Boston’s climate shifts by the end of the century to more closely resemble that of Birmingham, Alabama. Boston Food Forest Coalition (BFFC) is a leading force in parkland equity and climate action, reclaiming neglected land to create community-owned edible parks that provide cooling, food, and social connection.

Boston Food Forest Coalition’s Institute will serve as a research and support function for kindred food forest initiatives across the country. This is a rare, ground-floor opportunity: you will be integral in launching and piloting this new work alongside the Associate Director.

This role is designed as a special project manager or chief of staff type candidate—a person with high energy and flexibility who is excited to learn from organization builders. We are looking for a true thought partner: a "jack of all trades" who can hear strategic visions of kindred initiatives and other stakeholders and translate them into actionable products, aesthetically pleasing designs, and community-building initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

The Intern will engage in a high-production blend of strategic and operational activities. While projects will evolve, potential areas of focus include:

• Resource Design & Knowledge Management: Take ownership of the design and build-out of the Institute’s resource library. This includes reformatting documents and creating materials that are both strategic and aesthetically pleasing for kindred initiatives.
• Strategic Research & Stakeholder Engagement: Support the creation of an updated learning agenda and identify potential research partners. This may involve being involved in the "listening tour" and performing interviews with key community stakeholders the Associate Director cannot currently reach.
• Development & Fundraising Support: Perform research on funders and assist in creating fundraising decks and pitches to attract funding.
• Launch Strategy & Service Framing: Assist in developing a formal launch plan, including defining service offerings based on pilot learnings. This may include drafting messaging, framing service models, and conducting surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of pilot offerings.
• Event Coordination & Community Building: Support the coordination of a specialized track for 5-7 kindred groups to attend BFFC’s Stewarding Change event in October. Activities may include planning training sessions and facilitating relationship-building to foster sustainable partnerships.
• General Operations & Administration: Provide general support for special projects, operations, and administrative tasks for Associate Director for the Institute and additional BFFC operations.

Qualifications

• Education: Fields of study or experience related to environmental issues, sustainability, or ecology. Public policy, urban planning or nonprofit management may also be relevant. Highly passionate about climate change and BFFC’s mission.
• Mindset: Builder who is technically competent and operationally dependable; someone who "gets things done" and maintains flexibility across a variety of tasks. A “thought partner” – someone, for example, who is excited to digest a new Institute interview, have ideas to share back, proactively prep resources the partner asked for, and asks for direction on what to do next.
• Communication: Strong writer and communicator capable of drafting questionnaires and synthesizing complex strategy into clear documents.
• Interpersonal: Customer service experience is a plus; must excel at listening and building sustainable, trust-based relationships with a diverse range of partners. Fast, thorough follow-through with new partners.
• Aesthetic/Technical: Instinctive about making things "look good" and the ability to think and design on one's feet.
• Values: Aligned with BFFC’s values of diversity, equity, inclusion, community resilience, racial justice, and climate resilience .

Learning Opportunities

The intern will gain experience in:

• Nonprofit management
• Start-up operations
• Research and thought leadership
• Climate resilience