PLEASE NOTE : Applicants will need to apply here: Application form requires a resume, cover letter, professional references.
Position Title: Community Volunteer Ambassador – Valley Forge National Historical Park - AmeriCorps
Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placements
Site Location: King of Prussia, PA
Application Timeline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. First review will occur in early November. Final deadline is Sunday, December 8, 2024 .
Terms of Service:
Purpose:
Stewards Individual Placements, a program of Conservation Legacy, provides individuals with service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. The Community Volunteer Ambassador (CVA) Program combines the strength of a national leader in conservation service with the National Park Service to train a diverse group of emerging leaders to assist park units in building lasting connections to communities.
The CVA will be uniquely positioned within the park as a member of both the Visitor and Community
Engagement (VCE) and the Natural Resource Management (NRM) teams.
The primary supervisor is the park’s Digital Experience Specialist (on the VCE team), and the secondary
supervisor is the Manager of Natural Resources. The scope of the CVA’s work will support new and ongoing projects on both teams, and the supervisor will collaborate with the CVA to identify passion projects that align with this dual role. Depending on the interests and goals of the CVA, work may include website and social media content creation, audio/video production, graphic design, helping the public plan their park visit at the visitor center, interpretive and educational programming, conducting wildlife and vegetation surveys, writing reports and briefs, and supporting existing volunteer programs.
Site Description
Valley Forge National Historical Park encompasses much of the site of the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army led by General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. The fascinating history preserved and interpreted at Valley Forge brings visitors from around the world, but the park also provides valuable opportunities for local recreators to walk, run, bike, hike, and paddle, play, and picnic.
In 1893, Valley Forge was established as Pennsylvania’s very first state park, and in 1975, on the eve of the 200-year anniversary of the founding of the United States, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania authorized the transfer of the park to the federal government. President Gerald Ford established Valley Forge National Historical Park on July 4, 1976.
The park is located in southeastern Pennsylvania, 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia, and today is situated in a rapidly growing urban area. The park comprises 3,452 acres and protects many significant cultural resources, including cultural landscapes, historic buildings and structures, monuments, archeological sites, and archives and collections. As urban and suburban sprawl expands around Valley Forge, the park’s value as a refuge for plants, animals, and their habitats also increases. Valley Forge supports more than 1,000 species of flora and fauna and habitats ranging from mixed oak and tulip poplar forests to tall grass meadows, wetlands, and waterways.
The volunteer program at the park features a dynamic mix of permanent volunteer opportunities across several park divisions and well-established seasonal drop-in opportunities for individuals and groups. Permanent volunteer groups include the Litterati trash pickup team, the Trail Maintenance team, and Visitor Services volunteers who work at the front desk in the visitor center. Drop-in opportunities include programs like Crayfish Corps and Weed Warriors, which are coordinated through the division of Natural Resource Management.
The park has been operating with a general preference for building long-lasting volunteer programs staffed by regular volunteers — however, in Fiscal Year 2025 the CVA will have the opportunity to assess the existing list of drop-in volunteer programs and possibly work to expand those offerings.
Description of Duties:
Qualifications:
Preferred Qualifications:
Physical Requirements:
Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.
Time Requirements:
Orientation and Training:
Additional Information:
Opportunity to work at multiple sites: Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (HOFU) and Valley Forge National Historical Park are managed by the same superintendent, and the Natural Resource Management
staff oversee both park units. The CVA's work will also benefit HOFU, and there will be some opportunities to
work there, however the main focus will be at VAFO.
Collaborative and dynamic work environment: The staff at Valley Forge National Historical Park are friendly, smart, and passionate. Common aspects of our working culture include a strong focus on safety, health and wellness, and a highly collaborative and communicative process for goal setting, planning, and after-action reviews. The staff have a lot of experience working with CVAs. The CVA will be closely supported by three staff: Digital Experience Specialist (primary supervisor), Natural Resource Manager (secondary supervisor), parkwide Volunteer and Youth Program Coordinator (administrative and project support).
Housing available: CVA may be housed in one of our furnished seasonal dorm style housing units. Most of these are single family home structures originally built from the mid-1850s to the early 1900s and furnished today as seasonal housing units. The CVA may have a housemate but will have their own room. Housing is mixed gender. Rooms are single occupancy with twin beds. Bedrooms have locking doors that are secured with separate keys assigned to the individuals in the room. Housing has a communal kitchen (microwave, stove, refrigerator, oven, pots, pans etc.), living room, dining room and bathroom. Kitchen appliances, furniture, washer, dryer, and cleaning supplies are provided, but food, towels, bedding, and personal toiletries are not provided. WiFi, TV/video, and heat and cooling units are provided. A majority of the housing options are within a 3-minute walk to the primary office location, or a 20-minute bicycle ride/10-minute drive to the secondary office location. The nearest hospital is less than four miles away, the nearest police station is less than three miles away, and the nearest fire department is less than one mile away.
Benefits:
Evaluation and Reporting:
As an AmeriCorps member, performance will be evaluated on whether the member has completed the required number of hours, the member has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the member has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.
Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.
How to Apply
Please visit Community Volunteer Ambassador (cvainternships.org) to review “Member Positions” by region and find instructions on how to apply.
The CVA position will start on Tuesday, January 21, and run for 48 weeks until Friday, December 19, 2025.
PLEASE NOTE : Applicants will need to apply here: Application form requires a resume, cover letter, professional references.
Please ensure your cover letter addresses how your experience aligns with the CVA program, your experience working with diverse populations, and position details for this park/position. You may submit one application for multiple positions by selecting all sites you are interested in.
Applications Deadline
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. First review will occur in early November. Final deadline is Sunday, December 8, 2024 .
For Application Questions:
Please contact James Gasaway, Program Director at [email protected]
Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to hiring a breadth of diverse professionals and encourage members of diverse groups to apply. This program is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, political affiliation, marital or parental status, genetic information, and military service. Where a significant portion of the population eligible to be served needs services or information in a language other than English, the recipient shall take reasonable steps to provide written material of the type ordinarily available to the public in appropriate languages.
We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with AmeriCorps requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.
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