The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is a membership organization of the Chicago region’s 275 cities, towns and villages. Founded in 1997 by then Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and leading Mayors from nine suburban municipal groups, the Mayors Caucus pushes past geographical boundaries and local interests to work on public policy issues. The Caucus provides a forum for metropolitan Chicago’s chief elected officials to collaborate on common problems and work toward a common goal of improving the quality of life for the millions of people who call the region home.
The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is a nonprofit organization with 275 municipal members that improves the quality of life for residents of the region through collaboration and public policy. In partnership with 2 solid waste agencies and 4 counties, the coalition is creating a recycling education and outreach campaign to increase the collection of recyclable materials and decrease contamination of the recycling stream in hundreds of communities in northeastern Illinois. The new position of Recycling Education & Outreach Specialist will support this Chicago Metro Region Recycling Education and Outreach Campaign (REO Campaign).
The ideal candidate is adaptable, creative, and communicates well. The position requires collaborating with local governments, community partners, and individuals to improve understanding of recycling programs, policies, and operations.
The Chicago Metro Region Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) Campaign is funded by a 3-year grant from the US EPA. The Recycling Education & Outreach Specialist will be housed at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus’ Chicago office with outreach responsibilities throughout DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties and portions of Cook County.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Act as the primary point of contact between the Caucus’ contracted marketing consultant and the REO Partners to coordinate on development and rollout of the regional education and outreach campaign promoting "recycling right" through diverse outlets and media.
- Assist in the creation of localized outreach engagement materials, including exhibits and activities promoting the campaign’s messaging.
- Communicate with community leaders in the region to engage them in the REO Campaign and garner support for its goals. Determine community needs, opportunities, and identify effective methods of communication with community officials, staff, and residents, with a focus on environmental justice communities.
- Coordinate with and support REO Partners on outreach needs throughout the region, including event attendance and material provisions.
- Lead outreach efforts to educate residents and stakeholders about recycling right by participating in community and special events, giving presentations, demonstrations and leading workshops and activities hosted by coalition members, local governments and community organizations in the region, and by contributing information to existing newsletters and outlets, focusing on communities that lack staff dedicated to waste and recycling issues.
- Identify and implement new community partnership and engagement pathways for reaching residents, particularly in environmental justice communities.
- Develop, maintain, and strengthen relationships with stakeholders in targeted communities including municipal governments, citizen commissions, community and environmental groups, to engage them in achieving REO campaign goals.
- Tailor outreach and engagement to effectively serve low-income and disadvantaged communities in the region with linguistic and cultural awareness.
- Track, evaluate, and provide detailed reporting on outreach efforts to document progress on meeting outreach targets and satisfy grant requirements.
- Other duties as assigned.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree.
- Two or more years of experience, combining any of the following: recycling and solid waste, sustainability, environmental science, local government, environmental education, interpretation, communications, sales, marketing, community engagement, customer service or project management.
- Proficient in communicating via various means: face-to-face, phone, email, online meetings, and in developing and delivering formal presentations in some settings and informal education in other venues.
- Ability to communicate with a variety of stakeholders, including local government staff, elected officials, community groups, recycling industry professionals, and residents.
- Demonstrate the ability to communicate and effectively interact with people across cultures, ranges of ability, genders, ethnicities, races, and ages, with the goal of increasing and improving resident participation in municipal recycling programs.
- Ability to self-manage in a professional environment and take the initiative to complete tasks, including suggesting new solutions for meeting goals and metrics.
- Technical computer skills in Microsoft Office (including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams), Zoom, customer relationship management systems, social networking websites, and ability to adapt to emerging technology.
- Possess a valid U.S. driver’s license and a personal vehicle to attend meetings and events throughout the Chicago region.
- Must be able to travel locally up to approximately 50% of the time. Travel will be fully compensated at federal rates.
- Familiarity with Chicago suburbs is also highly desired.
- Ability to write and speak in English. Spanish fluency is preferred.
- Willingness to work a flexible schedule, including daytime (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and some evening and weekend hours for meetings and events.
Pay and Benefits:
· Full time, salary range $50,000 to $62,000, commensurate with experience
· Two weeks of paid time off
· Medical insurance
· Dental insurance
· Vision insurance
· Life insurance, long- and short-term disability insurance
· 401k with company contribution
· Twelve paid holidays
Employment and Working Conditions
This is a hybrid position that will involve local travel throughout the region for in-person meetings and events. Work will be performed at home, at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus office in Chicago, in communities throughout DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties and portions of Cook County.
The position is full-time through May of 2027. Position renewal is not expected at this time but is contingent upon grant funding. Salary is commensurate with experience.
About the Caucus and the Chicago Metro Region Recycling Education and Outreach Coalition
The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (Caucus) is a nonprofit regional council of governments that empowers and supports municipalities to improve the region’s quality of life through sharing of expertise, advancing multi-jurisdictional relationships and building consensus. The Caucus is the grant administrator for the REO coalition.
The Chicago Metro REO coalition brings together the extraordinary expertise of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC), the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO), DuPage, Kane, Will, and McHenry Counties to advise a comprehensive strategy to increase collection and reduce recycling contamination in the recycled materials stream. These partners have been working together since 2018 on the Illinois Task Force on Recycling Contamination Solutions to create unified and clear messaging around the quality of recyclable materials. The Task Force has produced strategic outreach materials that will be fundamental to this campaign.
How to Apply
Please fill out a brief application and submit your resume, cover letter, and optional writing samples by November 20, 2024.
The Caucus will be loaning out two different energy efficiency games for municipalities’ upcoming events. There are four energy efficiency challenge wheels available for municipalities to borrow for Earth Day and other events. There are two energy efficiency toss games. For details and pictures of these games, go to: https://mayorscaucus.org/energy-efficiency-games/
**Because the grant funding for this project ended on June 30, 2023, we do not have the funds to ship the games. If you would like to borrow a game after June 30th, then you will need to pick it up from one of our game locations or from the municipality that last borrowed the game for an event, and then drop it off to us or the next municipality that is having an event. Another option is to provide us with your UPS or FedEx account number, if you would like to pay for the games to be shipped to you.**
These games will be loaned out on a first-come, first-served basis. Please complete this form if you have an upcoming event and would like to ensure that your community can borrow it on that day.
These games and prizes for municipalities were made possible through the generous support of the Illinois Science & Energy Innovation Foundation (ISEIF).
The CS2 Residential Program allows municipalities to extend fair and transparent community solar subscription terms to their residents and small businesses. Local governments provide a trusted voice to citizens to let them know that a community solar offer is credible. The CS2 Residential Program can provide subscribers with a guaranteed minimum 10% savings of the community solar credits they receive on their bill. The program also provides equitable access to community solar by seeking projects that do not require credit checks.
To express interest in participating in the Community Solar Clearinghouse Solution (CS2) Program for Residents, then please fill out this form. Filling out this form is the first step in the process.
This site will also allow you to upload documents later in the process, like the approved municipal resolution and required marketing designation documentation.
For information on the next steps of the process, go to our CS2 webpage at https://mayorscaucus.org/initiatives/environment/community-solar-clearinghouse-solution-program-cs2program/.