Sara D Roosevelt Park Community Fellow

Position Summary

As the SDR Community Fellow, you will work with Catalyst staff and community leaders to help fortify community efforts in building safe, positive, and engaging park programs and community culture and collaboration in Sara

D. Roosevelt Park. This position is challenging but offers a unique opportunity to work alongside a dedicated team addressing complex park issues.

$25 per hour (15 - 20 hours per week)

• Canvassing, Outreach, and Community Coordination (30%)
  • Conduct onsite/neighborhood outreach, flyering, and survey distribution in the park and surrounding neighborhoods to galvanize community involvement.
  • Make phone calls and emails to group members and the public to promote attendance and/or participation for meetings, events, and public forums.
  • Promote park group events and Catalyst initiatives in the surrounding communities to increase engagement.
  • Serve as a visible community presence, acting as a liaison between partners and NYC Parks, CPF, and other organizations.
• Event Support and Execution (25%)
  • Provide day‑of event support on weekends, evenings, and weekdays, including managing sign‑ins, setting up tables and chairs, and handling logistics.
  • Attend community events and activations to connect members to Catalyst and park programs.
  • Document events via photos, video, and surveys.
• Research and Best Practice Finding (25%)
  • Survey practices from New York and other cities to find models that promote community revitalization in parks, especially in areas with vulnerable populations.
  • Synthesize and report on these best practices to make recommendations for SDR Park initiatives.
• Reporting, Data & Metrics Tracking (15%)
  • Conduct qualitative and quantitative assessments to measure community and Partnerships for Parks impacts.
  • Track and report outreach, engagement, and attendance metrics.
  • Maintain individual and organizational records in the database, input outcomes and other data.
• Miscellaneous (5%)
  • Support ongoing Partnerships for Parks, City Parks Foundation, and NYC Parks initiatives as needed.
  • Connect and leverage local and regional resources to support community partner efforts.

• Knowledgeable, committed to, and familiar with community organizing practices.
• Experienced in outreach, community event promotion, flyering, and door‑knocking.
• Experience with social initiatives where strategic consensus building around polarizing issues is challenging.
• Ability to research, synthesize, and recommend best park practices addressing vulnerable populations while meeting other stakeholder needs.
• Ability to take direction from team members and community leaders; excellent active listening and communication skills.
• Demonstrable ability to work with diverse constituencies, including vulnerable NYC community members.
• Willingness and ability to consistently engage stakeholders through in‑person and digital engagements, including frequent on‑site work in Sara
  
  D. Roosevelt Park.
• Flexibility to work significant hours during evenings and weekends in addition to some regular business hours.
• Motivated, resourceful, and creative self‑starter with a passion for sustainable community engagement.
• Confident working both individually and as part of a team.
• Effective public speaking and listening skills.
• Responsible and detail‑oriented.
• Understanding and ability to effectively represent and advance NYC government programs and policies; clarity that working at the behest of NYC Parks and NYC government.
• Physical ability to lift up to 40 lbs and participate in physical activities required in the job.
• Driver’s license strongly preferred.
• Bi‑lingual or multilingual strongly preferred.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. City Parks Foundation does not offer visa sponsorship.