Sustainable Housing Program Fellow

POSITION: Sustainable Housing Program Fellow

LOCATION: Remote within the San Francisco Bay Area preferred. (Other areas of California will also be considered.)

HOURS: Part-time (10-20 hours/week)

About the California Housing Partnership

The California Housing Partnership (The Partnership) is a statewide nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and preserve affordable and sustainable homes for Californians with low incomes by providing expert financial and policy solutions to nonprofit and public partners.

Our Sustainable Housing program works directly with nonprofit affordable housing owners and public housing authorities to help them evaluate and finance clean energy and water improvements. This involves educating owners about the programs and opportunities for incentives available to them, as well as developing innovative demonstration projects to explore new technologies, financing tools and business models for affordable rental homes. The Partnership’s Sustainable Housing team is leading efforts to ensure that nonprofit affordable housing providers and residents are able to participate in California’s path towards equitable decarbonization. Currently, 26% of California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are from buildings. To address the emissions from this sector, city, county and state agencies are actively pursuing policies that will ensure that emissions from this sector are significantly reduced. 

About the Position

The Partnership is seeking a part-time Sustainable Housing Fellow for 10-20 hours per week from March to May, with potential to extend to a full-time fellowship from June through December. The schedule is flexible and can be adjusted to accommodate class schedules if the Fellow is currently enrolled in an academic program. This position will be based out of the Partnership’s San Francisco office, when we return to in-person workspaces. It will begin remotely.

The Fellow will work under the supervision of the Sustainable Housing Policy Manager and work closely with other members of the Sustainable Housing team to identify and pursue policy interventions in California on key outcomes of recent decarbonization convenings, including looking at opportunities for changes to state policies, law, and regulations at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Energy Commission (CEC) level. Work will also include engaging with a wide variety of stakeholders to collaborate on policy work. This will include researching Utility Allowances and their impact on building electrification and financing for existing building electrification, as well as organizing webinars and other events for stakeholders.

This fellowship will provide an excellent opportunity to develop policy expertise in the major energy policy forums in California (Legislature, CPUC, CEC, TCAC) and exposure to the stakeholders engaged in clean energy issues in California, especially as they relate to equitable decarbonization. The goal is to expand building decarbonization program offerings and increase participation in clean energy programs. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Research Utility Allowance (UA) schedules and maintain a database of schedules across California;
• Research UA financing mechanisms for building decarbonization in both existing buildings and new construction;
• Create an easily accessible and navigable database of all utility energy efficiency, clean energy vehicle and distributed energy resource programs across California (potentially map them for The Partnership’s website);
• Develop blog posts to showcase innovative affordable housing sustainability projects and other content for the GREEN (Green Rental home Energy Efficiency Network) website and network; and
• Organize webinars, talks and convenings, inviting expert panelists to educate affordable housing providers on building decarbonization.

Required Qualifications

• ·      Demonstrated interest in affordable multifamily housing development and/or building environmental science or sustainability;
• ·      Ability to research and synthesize key findings;
• ·      Detail-oriented self-starter with strong organizational skills;
• ·      Ability to multitask and handle overlapping deadlines and assignments;
• ·      Strong interpersonal skills and ability to thrive in small, nonprofit office environment;
• ·      Strong writing skills;
• ·      Knowledge of and ability to communicate about the intersection of affordable rental housing policy and environmental justice issues; and
• ·      Proficiency with Microsoft Office software including Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate Student currently pursuing a graduate degree in City Planning/ Public policy/ Energy/ Environmental Science;
• At least two (2) years’ experience in affordable multifamily housing development or building environmental science or sustainability;
• Knowledge of QGIS;
• Proficiency with Apple computer platform and OS X standard applications preferred.

Diversity and Equal Opportunity Employer Statement: The California Housing Partnership is an equal opportunity employer where diversity is considered an asset and centered in the work we do. We strongly encourage people of all races, ethnicities, backgrounds and abilities to apply. For more information about our organization, visit our website at www.chpc.net.

Compensation: The hourly rate of pay for this position is $22.00 to $25.00. This is a temporary position and is not eligible for benefits.

Application Deadline: Friday, February 12, 2021.                                                                                                                                  

TO APPLY: Send a Cover Letter and Resume to sustainablehousing@chpc.net with the subject line “Sustainable Housing Fellow – [YOUR LAST NAME]”