Lead Climate Action Coordinator

About the Opportunity

Start Date: November 16th, 2026

Length of Fellowship: 8 months

Location Type: Remote (Within California)

Are you passionate about tackling climate challenges, communicating sustainability solutions, and supporting statewide climate action? As a Climate Action Program Coordinator in the Climate Corps Fellowship program, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to impactful sustainability initiatives with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. This is a remote position within California, with the expectation of regular travel to colleges and universities as needed.

In this role, you’ll support the advancement of Vision 2030 by working directly with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Climate Action Team and partnering with colleges across the system to implement and communicate climate action and sustainability initiatives. Working at the intersection of climate resilience, higher education, communications, and institutional transformation, the Fellow will support statewide climate programs through program coordination, technical assistance, stakeholder engagement, communications, public relations, social media, administrative support, and development of resources that advance climate action across California’s community colleges.

The Fellow will also provide technical assistance to colleges completing the AASHE STARS sustainability assessment and reporting framework, helping campuses measure progress, identify opportunities for improvement, and communicate their sustainability accomplishments. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to one of the nation’s largest systems of higher education while gaining hands-on experience in climate program implementation, sustainability reporting, communications, stakeholder engagement, project coordination, and statewide climate action.

About Our Partner: California Community College Chancellor's Office

California Community College Chancellor's Office is the administrative headquarters for the country's largest higher education system. With 116 colleges and 2.2 million students, the California Community Colleges seek to educate students from all backgrounds and with all educational goals, from transfer to workforce development. Under Vision 2030, the 116 colleges have been asked to lead the way in climate action, including with curriculum integration, workforce development for climate-ready careers, sustainable facilities and operations, and community engagement with climate partners.

What You’ll Do

• Support Climate Action Team Programs and Initiatives: Provide programmatic and administrative support to the Chancellor’s Office Climate Action Team, helping coordinate statewide initiatives, projects, partnerships, meetings, timelines, deliverables, and follow-up activities.
• Advance Vision 2030 Climate Initiatives: Assist in implementing statewide climate action priorities that support Vision 2030, with a focus on climate resilience, sustainability, equity, workforce development, institutional transformation, and community engagement across the California Community Colleges system.
• Support AASHE STARS Implementation: Provide technical assistance to assigned California Community Colleges completing the AASHE STARS assessment, including data collection, documentation, reporting, coordination, and identification of opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Provide Campus Engagement and Technical Assistance: Build collaborative relationships with college administrators, faculty, staff, students, sustainability leaders, and other stakeholders to support climate planning, sustainability initiatives, reporting, and adoption of best practices.
• Support Communications, Public Relations, and Storytelling: Develop and support communications that increase awareness of Chancellor’s Office climate action initiatives and highlight college achievements, programs, partnerships, and success stories. Assist with articles, announcements, newsletters, talking points, presentations, web content, press materials, and other communications for internal and external audiences.
• Coordinate Social Media and Digital Outreach: Support the development and coordination of social media content related to climate action, sustainability programs, events, student initiatives, college accomplishments, resources, and statewide campaigns. Identify stories and visuals from colleges and partners that showcase the impact of climate initiatives across the system.
• Provide Administrative and Project Coordination Support: Support Climate Action Team operations through meeting scheduling and coordination, agenda development, meeting notes, action-item tracking, project trackers, file and resource organization, correspondence, partner follow-up, and monitoring of project timelines and deliverables.
• Support Events, Conferences, and Stakeholder Engagement: Assist with planning and coordinating webinars, workshops, conferences, communities of practice, presentations, outreach events, and stakeholder meetings, including logistics, communications, participant coordination, presentation materials, and follow-up.
• Analyze and Communicate Sustainability Data: Collect, organize, analyze, and summarize sustainability metrics and institutional data to track progress toward systemwide climate and sustainability goals. Translate technical information into accessible reports, presentations, graphics, summaries, and communications.
• Develop Resources and Deliver Training: Create guidance documents, templates, toolkits, webinars, presentations, FAQs, and educational resources that help colleges navigate sustainability reporting and advance campus climate action.
• Support Statewide Climate Programs and Partnerships: Collaborate with the Chancellor’s Office Climate Action Team, colleges, state agencies, nonprofit organizations, industry partners, and other stakeholders to coordinate initiatives related to climate action, sustainable facilities, resilience, workforce development, and institutional sustainability.
• Identify and Share Best Practices: Research emerging trends, policies, funding opportunities, communication strategies, and innovative practices in higher education sustainability. Identify and share successful college programs and models that can be replicated or scaled across the California Community Colleges.
• Maintain Climate Action Resources and Information: Help maintain Climate Action Team resources, contact lists, communications calendars, program materials, presentations, outreach databases, project trackers, and other information supporting statewide implementation and engagement.
• Provide mentorship and leadership support to other Fellows in their work.

What We Provide

• A fixed, monthly stipend of $3900.
• Health care coverage with 100% of health care insurance premiums covered by SEI.
• 10 Personal Days (for a standard 10-month Fellowship), in addition to all holidays off that are observed as closure days by the partner placement site.
• Comprehensive career-readiness training, including interview prep, salary negotiation, and resume building.
• Panels, workshops, and networking with climate resilience industry professionals.
• Professional networking and learning opportunities, including multiple conferences.
• The University of California Climate Stewards Certification equips you to lead community and ecosystem resilience initiatives.

What We’re Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in environmental science, sustainability, climate policy, engineering, public administration, higher education, or a closely related field (or equivalent combination of education and experience).
• Demonstrated knowledge of climate action, sustainability, greenhouse gas reduction, resilience planning, or environmental programs, preferably in higher education, government, or the public sector.
• Experience collecting, analyzing, and organizing quantitative and qualitative data using spreadsheets or other data management tools to support reporting, research, or program evaluation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present technical information clearly to a variety of audiences and willingness to contact individuals at institutions.
• Strong project management and organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and work independently.
• Collaborative mindset with the ability to build effective working relationships and contribute positively to cross-functional teams and diverse stakeholder groups.
• Experience or familiarity with AASHE STARS is a plus.
• Access to regular and reliable transportation to travel to colleges and universities in your geographic region.
• Commitment to a fair workplace that honors the experiences, voices, viewpoints, and values of all individuals.
• Authorization to work in the United States for the duration of the fellowship (SEI is unable to sponsor visas).
• May require occasional moving about to accomplish tasks, moving from one worksite to another, or adjusting or moving objects under 25-50 pounds in all directions.
• Must be 18 years or older to apply.

We encourage everyone interested in this position to apply, even if you don’t meet every qualification. We value all perspectives and believe that a unique background can bring significant strengths to this role, even if some qualifications are not fully met.

Climate Corps Fellowships are classified under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as temporary, educational internships that emphasize training and career development, and thus no employment relationship exists, nor is compensation required. However, while not considered traditional employment, Fellows receive a living stipend and professional development support throughout the program.

Recruiting Timeline: Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage early submissions, as we may stop accepting new applications once a sufficient pool of qualified candidates is identified.