Serve with Commonwealth Corps

The mission of Whale & Dolphin Conservation (WDC) is to amaze people with the wonder of whales and dolphins and inspire global action to protect them. WDC will host two full-time Commonwealth Corps members who will serve as Education Specialist to educate people of different ages, backgrounds, and abilities in Massachusetts. Through their service, members will help increase conservation literacy of marine mammals by increasing our number of individual contacts, seek and build strategic relationships with schools, teachers, and community partners. They will also develop high-quality, inquiry-based lessons and activities centered on marine conservation and science literacy that will continue to be utilized for years to come. In addition, they will leverage 20 volunteers that will be engaged in education & outreach.

Each Commonwealth Corps member at TPZ will work directly with TPZ students and full-time educators as a “Co-Teacher” - a second adult in the classroom who will help customize and differentiate instruction and support individual students and student teams as they progress through TPZ’s project-based curriculum. Each Commonwealth Corps member at TPZ will co-teach six classes per week (2 classes two days per week, and one class two days per week), supporting students social-emotional development, as well as the development of career-related skills. Throughout their 10-month term of service, each Commonwealth Corps member will receive professional development related to youth development, education, trauma-informed practices, and other key areas of knowledge that will help each member during their term of service and throughout their career. Approximately 75%-80% of each TPZ Commonwealth Corps member’s time will be focused on co-teaching, related preparation and co-planning, and professional development. In addition, each Commonwealth Corps member at TPZ will spend 20%-25% of their time on a “capstone” capacity building project, which will strengthen TPZ and its program while also helping each Commonwealth Corps member develop lasting knowledge and skills. Members will also spend time each week on Massachusetts Service Alliance-related activities, which will also be part of their 40 hours of service weekly.

The Commonwealth Corps Members will assist in outreach and engagement efforts to grow our food access partnerships and provide local food distribution support. Service members will perform the following: (a) Mobile Market Launch: engage food insecure communities and food access partners in a North Shore Mobile Market Coalition; support Mobile Market operations; provide nutrition education; and track results to develop an enterprise model for a new mobile market program in low-income North Shore communities; (b) Food Hub and Farm Production Support: alongside farmer trainees and farmer training staff, support educational goals and experiential farm programming in demonstration training plot, support demonstration plot maintenance with Practicum participants, volunteers including planting, weeding, harvesting of crops for food access and food hub markets; (c) Food Hub Logistical Support: support volunteer outreach, training, coaching, and food hub distribution logistics; (d) Volunteer Recruitment and Engagement: engage volunteers and identify volunteer needs on farm and in food hub; (e) Community Event Planning and Support: develop schedule of community engagement events on farm and volunteer roles needed, engage community partners to leverage outreach, and support execution of events and follow up services.

Boston Cares recruits, trains, and deploys individual and corporate volunteers who strengthen communities and improve the lives of people in need. Two Commonwealth Corps members will serve as part of Boston Cares’ Allies for Immigrants program in partnership with English for New Bostonians. The Boston Cares member will serve as a Commonwealth Corps Program Coordinator, supporting the growth and development of the Allies program by recruiting, training, and supporting volunteer ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) tutors, and developing systems and tools to facilitate stronger engagement, including the continued development of the Allies Peer Leadership Program a peer leadership program to build sustainable capacity. The Boston Cares member will also collaborate closely with the Commonwealth Corps member at English for New Bostonians to recruit and train new volunteer tutors and provide support to an active tutor base of 110 tutors serving with 11+ programs in Dorchester, East Boston, Roslindale, Allston, Chinatown, South End, and Quincy. Boston Cares Allies For Immigrants

The Regional Environmental Council, Inc. (REC) is a grassroots, nonprofit, environmental and food justice organization with a 50-year history working for environmental sustainability and social justice in Central Massachusetts. REC is seeking two half-time Commonwealth Corps members to support developing and implementing farm to early childhood programming at daycare and early childhood centers throughout Worcester as well as providing broad support to the 34 school gardens supported by REC. In addition, they will collaborate with other members to leverage 100+ volunteers that will be engaged in hands-on garden support and maintenance and urban food production for food insecure neighborhoods.

The mission of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) is to educate our students to become wellrounded global citizens who support their community, empower themselves and become leaders in the process. MCLA will host two (2) half-time Commonwealth Corps members in the College's Division of Student Affairs who will serve as a Veterans Services Support Coordinator to address the unique social and mental health needs of our veteran students, and a K-12 Afterschool Program Coordinator to support the reimagining of our program based on our campus in North Adams, Massachusetts.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro South is the preeminent youth development organization in Southeastern Massachusetts, serving more than 2,500 youth annually from nearly 50 communities at our Clubhouses in Brockton and Taunton, Camp Riverside, and community extension sites. The Commonwealth Corps Urban Farm & Food Access Coordinators will serve as essential members of the BGCMS team, contributing to the expanded capacity of our Clubs to serve healthy daily meals to our youth and provide fresh, locally grown produce to children and families throughout Southeastern, MA. Through their service, Corps members will provide direct nutritional and educational support to youth and families in our service area, create and implement processes to increase the sustainability and efficiency of expanding Freight Farms programs, develop relationships with key community partners, and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of new programs to identify areas of improvement.

THRIVE’s mission is to empower communities to welcome and support our neighbors transitioning from incarceration. THRIVE seeks to support adults returning from incarceration and to revolutionize the role community members play in their lives upon reentry. Our goals are to disrupt cycles of incarceration, isolation, and social harm among returning citizens and within impacted communities through evidence-based restorative justice models, community building through education, and constituent leadership development. THRIVE’s current programs primarily serve the greater Lowell community. In this Peer-to-Peer project, the Commonwealth Corps member will participate in community outreach about THRIVE and its mission and in volunteer recruitment activities, provide resource and social support to THRIVE members returning to the Lowell community, and work on a capacity-building project that will either enhance THRIVE’s alumni engagement or increase THRIVE’s Spanish-language resource services.

Gould Farm, established in 1913, stands as the nation's first residential therapeutic community dedicated to adults with mental health challenges in achieving recovery and independence through community living, meaningful work, and clinical care. Residents, referred to as "guests," are welcomed into a supportive 700-acre campus environment, where depression, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, and other challenges are addressed through a full continuum of services. The wellness program, known as REACH, embraces a holistic approach encompassing recovery, nutrition, exercise, appreciation for the land, and fostering healthy relationships. REACH groups, held twice a week, offer various activities such as stress management, yoga, nutrition, and exercise. With the assistance of Commonwealth Corps participants, we seek to enhance and expand the wellness program to include wellness and nutrition education, more groups for guests, individual assessments, and tools for improved outcomes. Members will help Gould Farm build program capacity and contribute to sustained outcomes and ensure a comprehensive and supportive environment aligned with Gould Farm's mental health mission for years to come.

Project Citizenship's mission is to increase the naturalization rate in Massachusetts, with a focus on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. We do that by providing free legal services to permanent residents seeking U.S. citizenship, from screening for eligibility, assisting them with their citizenship application, providing attorney review and oversight, and submitting their application as their attorney of record. Two full-time Commonwealth Corps members will help build capacity to serve even more clients by conducting eligibility screening, assisting with Project Citizenship’s citizenship workshops, and performing data entry, as well as promoting a new service delivery model: an online portal for tech-savvy clients who might be interested in filling out an immigration application online, prior to legal review by Project Citizenship

The ENB member will serve as a Commonwealth Corps Program Outreach Coordinator, supporting the growth and development of the Allies program by recruiting, training and supporting volunteer ESOL tutors, and developing systems and tools to facilitate stronger engagement, including continued development of the Allies Peer Leadership Program to build sustainable capacity. The ENB member will collaborate closely with the member at Boston Cares to recruit, train and provide support to an active tutor base of 110 tutors serving with 11+ Boston-area programs, virtually and/or in-person. The member will also recruit, train and support volunteers engaging in one-time opportunities, such as mock job or citizenship interviews with ESOL students. The member also will collaborate with ENB staff to deepen ESOL volunteer and staff training experiences.

Tutoring Plus is seeking 2 Volunteer Engagement Specialists to build capacity for our volunteer initiatives. The Volunteer Engagement Specialists will procure resources for student-volunteer match support, generate new recruitment channels, and create initiatives for volunteer engagement and appreciation. This position requires youth work experience, strong interpersonal skills, willingness to learn program management skills, ability to take initiative, and flexibility. The Volunteer Engagement Specialists will report to the Director of Programs.

The Office of Workforce Development (OWD) is a public agency housed in the City of Boston’s Worker Empowerment Cabinet that promotes economic self-sufficiency, connecting low-income residents with job training and employment opportunities. OWD seeks three, half-time Commonwealth Corps Service Members to provide capacity building and direct service in the Economic Opportunity/Workforce Development focus area. Service Members will serve in Outreach/Recruitment and Data/Evaluation roles, developing more comprehensive outreach strategies and networks, performing activities such as refining evaluation tools and systems, and deepening OWD’s institutional partnership in the Greater Boston area. Members will lead outreach activities and data evaluation to promote Tuition Free Community College, City Academy, and Boston Saves, three critical workforce preparedness programs designed to improve post-secondary education and credential attainment rates among primarily historically marginalized communities in the Boston area.

New American Association of Massachusetts (NAAM) assists newly arriving refugees and immigrants with becoming economically stable and builds bridges for refugees and immigrants to be a part of the larger community. NAAM is seeking 2 full-time Commonwealth Corps members who will serve as the Digital Literacy and Outreach Associates throughout the North Shore, Lowell, Greater Boston, and MetroWest of Massachusetts. The members will undertake a range of service activities addressing identified community needs. The members will design, facilitate, and develop digital literacy sessions to empower refugees and immigrants with essential technological skills to be engaged in the technology society and participate in ESOL programing.