Parks in Focus® 2025 Position Announcement: Arizona (Tucson) Trip Leader
Posted:
9/10/2024
The Stewart L. Udall Parks in Focus® Program (Parks in Focus®) is a program of the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Udall Foundation) that provides opportunities for middle school youth to explore nature and our Nation’s public lands through photography and outdoor learning.
POSITION OVERVIEW
The Udall Foundation is seeking two enthusiastic, organized, and highly motivated individuals to lead Parks in Focus® activities with groups of youth from Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, schools, and other youth-serving organizations in Tucson and other Arizona communities in 2025. The trip leaders will spend the year organizing and leading local field trips around Tucson as well as multiday summer camping trips to northern Arizona and the Grand Canyon.
The selected trip leaders will receive training, be provided with program curriculum and resources, and work closely with staff from the Udall Foundation, our partner youth organizations, and volunteers.
Trip Leaders will hold an intermittent, excepted service term position with the Udall Foundation. Hours will vary each week depending on the activities planned (average of 20-25 hours/week). Weekday, evening, weekend, and overnight activities are common. These positions are slated to begin in December 2024/January 2025 and continue through December 2025. There may be an opportunity for increased hours in the months of June and July as well as an opportunity to extend the position into 2026 if performance is satisfactory and other considerations, such as funding, are obtained.
PARKS IN FOCUS® DUTIES
Onboarding, Training & Program Preparation
- Attend a multiday training program in December/January (dates TBD).
- Become familiar with Parks in Focus® mission, goals, curriculum, and resources.
- Visit activity sites for scouting and risk management planning.
- Shadow other Parks in Focus® staff during several local outings.
Program Implementation
- Host informational meetings for participants, parents, and partners.
- Finalize activity itineraries and handle all logistics including meal preparation.
- Lead assigned Parks in Focus® activities and field trips.
- Ensure activities run smoothly and safely.
- Teach photography curricula and meet educational goals for each activity.
- Work with participants to develop their photography skills.
- Lead games, team building exercises, journaling, art, environmental science, and other relevant educational activities with participants.
- Help engage and motivate participants, partner staff, and volunteers.
- Ensure activities are well-documented through photographs and video footage.
- Ensure all participant forms and evaluation data are gathered and complete.
Program Reporting & Other Tasks
- Provide scheduled updates and reports to supervisor.
- Organize all photographs, video footage, and evaluation data.
- Prepare photo highlights for all participants, staff, and partners.
- Perform other administrative tasks as assigned.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Appreciation of the outdoors and ability to spark that enthusiasm in others.
- Experience working with K-12 youth, preferably in an outdoor or camp setting.
- Comfort with camping, hiking, and being outdoors in various weather conditions.
- Interest in photography and willingness to learn and teach basic curriculum.
- Familiarity with local parks and/or the communities served by this position.
- Ability to assess and manage risks associated with outdoor activities.
- Positive, upbeat attitude, and ability to adapt to changing demands.
- Strong writing, communication, teaching, leadership, and teamwork skills.
- Valid driver’s license, clean driving record, and access to reliable transportation.
- Must have current First Aid and CPR certifications prior to start date.
- Wilderness First Aid certification highly desired.
- Spanish fluency highly desired.
- Live in/near Tucson (housing is not provided).
- Must be a U.S. citizen.
- Must be willing to provide fingerprints for a criminal background check.
PAY & PERKS
- $21.62/hour regular pay (average 20-25 hrs/wk)
- Food, campsites, and rental vehicle provided for scheduled overnight activities.
- Desk and office space at the Udall Foundation.
- DSLR digital camera to use for duration of employment.
ANTI-HUMAN-TRAFFICKING
The Udall Foundation, as an independent Federal agency, seeks to deter activities that would facilitate or support the trafficking in persons. As such, all Udall Foundation employees are prohibited from engaging in human trafficking while employed by the Federal Government, must receive Anti-Human-Trafficking training, and must promptly report to the Udall Foundation General Counsel any suspected cases of misconduct, waste, fraud, or abuse relating to trafficking persons. All new employees must acknowledge the Udall Foundation Code of Conduct and are required to complete Anti-Human-Trafficking training within 90 days of appointment.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Udall Foundation provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. The Udall Foundation Policy on Reasonable Accommodation can be found on its website: https://udall.gov/AboutUs/EEO.aspx. If you need an accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please contact hiring@udall.gov. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. TTY users may call 520.901.8500.
HOW TO APPLY
Please submit a cover letter describing your interest in the position and relevant qualifications, a current resume, and contact information for three professional references via email to:
Ernesto Somoza
Parks in Focus® Program Manager
Udall Foundation
434 E. University Blvd., Suite 300
Tucson, AZ 85705
hiring@udall.gov
PLEASE NOTE
The successful applicants will be required to provide fingerprints that will be used to conduct a criminal history background check. Employment for this position will be subject to the Udall Foundation’s review and evaluation of the results of the background check.
DEADLINE TO APPLY
11:59 p.m. (PDT) on Friday, October 11, 2024
About the Udall Foundation
The Morris K. Udall Foundation was established by the U.S. Congress in 1992 as an independent executive branch agency to honor Morris K. Udall's lasting impact on this Nation’s environment, public lands, and natural resources, and his support of the rights and self-governance of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. In 2009, Congress enacted legislation to also honor Stewart L. Udall for his half century of distinguished national leadership in environmental and Native American policy. The agency is known today as the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Udall Foundation) and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona.
The Udall Foundation is authorized by Congress to:
- Award Scholarships, Fellowships, and Internships for study in fields related to the environment and to Native Americans and Alaska Natives in fields related to health care and Tribal public policy.
- Connect youth to the Nation’s public lands and natural resources to foster greater understanding, appreciation, stewardship, and enjoyment of those lands and resources through photography, positive outdoor experiences, and environmental education through the Stewart L. Udall Parks in Focus® Program.
- Provide funding to the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy to conduct policy research and outreach on the environment and related themes.
- Provide funding to the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, a program of the Udall Center, for research, education, and outreach on Native American and Alaska Native health care issues and Tribal public policy issues.
- Provide funding through the Udall Center to The University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections to serve as the repository for the papers of Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall and other such public papers as may be appropriate and assure such papers' availability to the public.
- Provide impartial collaboration, consensus-building, training, and conflict resolution services on a wide range of environmental, natural and cultural resources, Tribal, and public lands issues, conflicts, and disputes involving the Federal Government through the John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution.
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