Job Title: Intern
Department/Team: CA Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation / Strategic Growth Council
Location: Hybrid or fully in-person in Sacramento, CA (1400 10th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814)
Duration: 35-40 hours per week for ten weeks over the summer
Reports to: Adrienne Moretz (Special Advisor, Innovation and Partnerships), Sean Kennedy (Deputy Director, Energy Investments)
Areas of Interest: Community-led climate initiatives, community engagement, environmental justice and equity
About the CA Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the Strategic Growth Council:
The CA Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) is the State’s Comprehensive Planning Agency. LCI is responsible for formulating long-range goals and policies spanning numerous issues, including land use, state and local planning, climate change, environmental justice, renewable energy, transportation, health, and military affairs. The Strategic Growth Council (SGC) is housed within LCI and is a cabinet-level body responsible for the implementation of policies through grant programs and policy initiatives related to affordable housing, sustainable communities, transit-oriented development, infrastructure, conservation, health, and social equity.
Position Description/Scope of Work:
Interns at LCI and SGC will work on a variety of projects that further the Governor’s policy and planning priorities. Interns will have a hands-on opportunity to learn about state government and policy implementation. The interns will gain skills in policy research and writing, land use planning, local government outreach, interagency coordination, legislative analysis, and more.
At LCI/SGC, the student may have the opportunity to:
- Collaborate with programs within SGC, other state departments and agencies, federal officials, community leaders, and industry organizations to develop initiatives for new programs and identify the need to establish new and/or revise/improve existing programs.
- Lead and participate in staff meetings, attend and provide training to staff, handle special projects, provide work status reports, serve on inter-agency working groups, participate in SGC initiatives, and perform other job-related duties as assigned.
- Develop external facing materials to build relationships with federal agencies, philanthropies, California communities, and other relevant audiences (e.g., blog posts, fact sheets, trainings, recorded content)
- Collaborate with SGC program teams to develop community-led stories and understand project data/information that can be used for external storytelling
- Work with Deputy Director of Energy Investments to lead implementation of SGC responsibilities contained in Executive Order N-2-24 on Infill Housing, including investigating and reporting on processes, permits, and other administrative actions that can be adjusted to create flexibility and lower the per unit cost of infill housing
List of Potential Projects:
- Connecting Communities Initiative: Intern may support external communications efforts, grant research/applications for the Connecting Communities initiative, which supports SGC grantees and unawarded applicants in accessing federal funding and demonstrate proven strategies to advance community climate leadership.
- Energy Investments: Intern work on projects related to the Energy Investments portfolio, which supports communities historically excluded from the benefits of California’s energy transition through dedicated outreach, engagement, and technical assistance, while working across the broader portfolio of grantees and applicants to create pathways to alternative funding opportunities, such as those available under the Inflation Reduction Act and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
- Health and Equity: Intern may work on various projects to advance health and racial equity in California, including through the Health in All Policies Task Force.
- Affordable Housing: Intern may research how to advance State policy objectives through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant program.
- Intern projects, to an extent, can be tailored to the intern’s specific areas of interest.
Desired Skills/Qualifications:
Ideal candidates are self-driven and independently motivated, can balance multiple projects at once and meet deadlines, are highly professional and responsible, have strong verbal and written communication as well as analytical and organizational skills, and demonstrate a strong interest in one or more of the subject matters that LCI and SGC cover. Please see the LCI and SGC websites for more information on the areas of work.
Bonus skills: Experience with graphic design/web design/multimedia skills, communications/outreach skills, legal or legislative analysis.
Logistics:
- EPIC fellows are required to work full-time (35-40 hours per week) for 10 weeks over the summer, and will receive a stipend of $8,000 – $9,500, depending on financial need. This stipend is intended to help cover living and transportation expenses during the fellowship, which the student is expected to arrange and coordinate.
- Start and end dates are flexible (start date no later than July 7, 2025).