UNH Sustainability Fellowship: NH Community Center Investment Fund Community Mapping
Community Development Finance Authority
NH Community Center Investment Fund Community Mapping
Concord, NH
Mostly remote, with potential for hybrid.
About the Host Organization:
The NH Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA) supports the development of vibrant, resilient communities by providing financial resources to municipalities and nonprofits for activities that include but are not limited to affordable housing, job creation and retention, and community economic development projects. Specifically, CDFA manages the New Hampshire Community Development Tax Credit program, the federal Community Development Block Grant program, and Clean Energy programs.
In December 2022, CDFA was contracted to administer the Community Center Investment Program, which aims to provide $20 million in grant resources to eligible entities to support infrastructure improvements to community spaces across the state. The Program aligns well with CDFA’s mission as the organization annually invests approximately $20 million of state and federal resources to support meaningful community economic development projects across New Hampshire.
About the Fellowship:
The Fellow will be part of Community facilities team of CDFA. The Fellow shall be responsible for developing methodology and implementing a Community Facilities Study for the State of New Hampshire. We want to ensure NH’s facilities are developed and/or improved to meet community needs in a changing world. New Hampshire’s towns and cities have a have a portfolio of community facilities, and there are other groups in New Hampshire who provide community spaces, services, and support to enable people to come together to connect, learn and create. In addition, there are groups who currently do not have community facilities that meet their specific needs.
Thus, the first phase of the project is to create the plan for a study that will be initiated by the Fellow and lead to an inventory of all of New Hampshire’s community facilities. The outcome of this summer’s Fellowship will be laying the groundwork for creating a New Hampshire Community Facility inventory and assessment. This will involve reviewing other approaches to surveying community facilities, assessing currently available data, performing benchmarking analyses and other foundational work.
This will tee up the subsequent post-summer project work as follows: (1) Completing the survey of all current facilities; 2) Analyzing the populations and needs in New Hampshire using existing data and to compare that to the existing facilities; and 3) Publishing the inventory and analysis in a final report and likely a map layer of NH Granite.
Outcomes:
- Development of a further refined project plan established and presented to the team, staff and the Community Development Advisory Committee for input.
- Methodology for executing the inventory.
- Conduct pilot inventory with sample communities.
- Compile information and instructions for the next group of Fellows to carry on the project.
Impact:
This Fellow will develop an in-depth understanding of community facility needs in New Hampshire. They will also gain experience and insight into working within a non-profit with a focus on statewide community development finance, program implementation, and evaluation.
The Fellow will develop the below skills:
- community engagement
- study development
- research
- presentation/ public speaking
- non-profit development and coordination
- increased knowledge of community economic development finance, New Hampshire community economic development partners and mapping capacity across the state.
Desired Qualifications:
This fellowship would be ideal for any array of candidates earning their degrees in Sociology, Economics, Geography, Community Economic Development, Political Science, and Law. Other degrees and concentrations will be considered. This fellowship would require the below skills:
- strong communication skills
- writing/editing
- Study methodology development
- training and presentation
- community outreach
- teamwork
- Microsoft Office proficiency
Location:
14 Dixon Ave.
Concord, NH 03310
Work will be performed: Mainly online with potential for some hybrid work.
Mentors:
NH Community Development Finance Authority. Will work directly with the Director of Community Facilities.