City of Cambridge Participatory Budgeting

Are you interested in city government, civic engagement, and community building? If so, help us launch the third PB cycle in Cambridge! 

The City's Budget Office seeks an undergraduate junior/senior or a graduate student to work as a summer intern during June, July, and August to support idea collection, Budget Delegate recruitment, and outreach efforts. This is a paid position. For more details, please see the job description or read below.

NOTICE OF POSTING

POSTING DATE: May 13, 2016
CLOSING DATE: June 14, 2016

Cambridge residents are especially encouraged to apply.

Department: Budget Department
Job Title: Participatory Budgeting Intern
Job Code: X088
Civil Service Position: Non Civil Service position
Union Affiliation: None
Hours Per Week: 10 hours per week; temporary 2-3 month position; June, 2016 through August, 2016

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The City of Cambridge's Budget Office seeks an intern to assist with the City's third Participatory Budgeting (PB) process, which will run from June-December 2016. PB is a democratic process in which residents directly decide how to spend part of a public budget.

The PB intern will be instrumental in gathering ideas from community members in June and July 2016 about how they wish to spend $700,000 of the City's FY18 capital budget on projects to improve Cambridge. Winning projects from the first and second PB cycles include a public toilet in Central Square, bike repair stations, water bottle fill stations, bilingual books for children learning English, new laptops for the Community Learning Center, and several others.

The intern will also assist in recruiting Budget Delegates - volunteers who will work in committees to review all of the submitted ideas, research and evaluate those ideas, and ultimately develop the final list of projects that will appear on the next PB ballot. Cambridge residents ages 12 and older will vote on how to spend the $700,000 on their favorite projects in December 2016.

This internship is a great opportunity to learn about and become involved in city government, civic engagement, and community building. Please visit pb.cambridgema.gov for more information about Participatory Budgeting in Cambridge.

Intern responsibilities include:

Event support and outreach: Help Budget Office staff schedule idea collection events; draft social media posts to promote PB events; prepare materials for events; assist with event set up and clean up; staff PB idea collection events; take photos at PB meetings and eventsData entry and management: Enter PB event sign-in sheet information and survey data into Google sheets; manage multiple PB contact lists; type up notes from PB meetingsAdministrative support: Photocopy and distribute meeting materials and outreach flyers; organize mailingsDesign: Assist with creation of flyers, posters, postcards, and other promotional materials for PBWebsite management: Post updates on the City's PB websiteOther: Assist Budget Office staff with other duties as necessary

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Undergraduate junior or senior, or graduate studentExtremely organized, reliable, and detail-orientedExcellent writing skillsAbility to work well with people from diverse backgroundsComfortable speaking to the public one-on-one and in groupsProficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Drive; proficiency with Adobe InDesign preferredMarketing and/or design experienceFluency in Spanish, Portuguese, or Haitian Creole a plus (to assist with translation of PB outreach and voting materials)

RATE: $15.04 per hour

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

Internal applicants submit a job bidding form and 2 copies of both your resume and letter of interest; external applicants submit both your resume and letter of interest by 5pm on the closing date via email to: [email protected] or to Personnel Dept, Room 309, City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA 02139. Fax 617-349-4312. Please contact Michelle Monsegur at [email protected] or (617) 349-3266 with any questions.

THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER. WOMEN, MINORITIES, VETERANS, AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.

CITY OF CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS ESPECIALLY ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.