- Visit our NEW State Employee Benefits Overview page!
- Professional growth and development opportunities
- A healthy work/life balance to all employees
- The State of Connecticut is an eligible Public Service Loan Forgiveness employer, meaning you may be eligible to have qualifying student loans forgiven after 10 years of service. Click here for more information.
Position Highlights
DEEP’s Office of Equity and Environmental Justice focuses, for the agency and its partners, on (1) Environmental Justice, (2) Tribal Affairs, and (3) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the agency.
Your work within the office will support, for the state, meaningful community engagement and public participation, promote environmental justice and equity considerations in decision-making throughout the Department, support government-to-government consultation with tribes, and effectuate meaningful DEI reforms.
You will report to the Office Director within the Office of the Commissioner and work across the agency and with external environmental justice stakeholders.
Community Engagement & Educational Coordination
The Office of Equity and Environmental Justice (OEEJ) is looking for a full-time, 40-hour/week employee to serve as the Community Engagement and Education Coordinator. This position will work with the OEEJ team, the Commissioner’s Office, and bureaus to support the agency’s engagement and outreach work. This position will support other projects as needed.
Environmental justice (EJ) communities in Connecticut—urban neighborhoods and distressed rural areas—face heightened challenges such as air pollution, energy costs, limited green spaces, and climate vulnerabilities. DEEP’s commitment to addressing these inequities is embedded in its statutory mandates and supported by numerous programs, including urban forestry, energy efficiency, climate resilience, broadband access, open space/park programs and clean transportation initiatives. This position will connect residents in our state’s EJ communities to DEEP’s programs in order to ensure that economically distressed and environmentally impacted communities in rural and urban areas are able to learn about and receive these benefits on equal footing. Many DEEP programs already are mandated or encouraged to ensure that a certain percentage of funding or resources are distributed to these EJ communities.
DEEP has developed many partner relationships over the past decades and is looking to continue to nourish those existing relationships, while also cultivating new relationships. Some of these partners have historically included Neighborhood Revitalization Zones (NRZ), religious institutions, environmental advocacy organizations, schools, and other community and neighborhood groups. By empowering these groups through resources, technical assistance, and education, DEEP hopes to continue strengthening environmental stewardship in EJ communities.
In this position you may:
- Lead, direct, and expand community engagement, education, and outreach efforts to inform DEEP program design and policy development.
- Provide strategic leadership in statewide outreach to stakeholders and community organizations that increases programmatic accessibility.
- Develop and implement agency-wide equity initiatives, including programs that foster employee belonging and accessibility.
- Cultivate new partnerships and nourish existing partnerships across state and local levels, with schools, religious institutions, and community/neighborhood groups to strengthen DEEP’s programmatic impact.
- Lead efforts to provide technical assistance and resolution to community concerns, while empowering residents through capacity building and education.
This is a full-time position Monday-Friday. A hybrid schedule is available based on agency availability.
About Us
DEEP is charged with conserving, improving and protecting the natural resources and the environment of the state of Connecticut as well as making cheaper, cleaner and more reliable energy available for the people and businesses of the state. The agency is also committed to playing a positive role in rebuilding Connecticut’s economy and creating jobs – and to fostering a sustainable and prosperous economic future for the state.
Learn more about the Environmental Justice programs at the State by navigating to this link.
