July: Claire Miziolek

GTECH STRATEGIES
Sustainable Community Fellow

Summary: July was a busy month for me and for GTECH. I spent the first few days out of town in Alaska on a family vacation. After that it was back to the grindstone with meetings, educating, coordinating, and events. I also took a 4-day weekend to visit family and friends in Boston. With all of that travel behind me, I was ready to work hard to help fulfill the common missions of the SCA and GTECH Strategies.

Maintenance:

-Summertime is maintenance time at GTECH and I helped go to sites to assist with the weeding process. I went to Braddock on the 9th and 13th to work with 15 UPMC Summer Youth program teenagers.
-I also helped put up signs at many of out sites throughout Allegheny County. This way, on-lookers can see who we are, who our partners are, and be able to contact us for information.

Education/outreach

-I spoke with two groups of youth with the Braddock Youth Program about biofuels, environmental sustainability, and how to connect with the green economy.
-I also helped table for GTECH at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival on July 25th

Meetings

I helped coordinate and take notes for the following meetings:

-Board meeting on 7/15
-Green Jobs Advisory Board on 7/15
-Reclamation meetings on 7/6 and 7/26
-Weekly staff meetings

Newsletter

I have taken over GTECH Newsletter coordination duties. As such, to send out our August Newsletter on the 4th, I was responsible for:

-Soliciting and collecting submissions from staff about current initiatives
-Composing the articles and arranging the picture content.
-Soliciting edits and feedback from colleagues and implementing changes
-Sending out the final version to over 1000 people.

Community Day

--For the SCA community day, I have taken on the role of the logistical coordinator for the day.

--On 7/15, I sent out an email to all of the Green Cities fellows to check base and assign various responsibilities and followed up with them individually.

--On 7/28, the fellows all met and I helped facilitate a conversation to further ensure that each person knows what they’re doing and has the necessary resources to do it.

--I also helped coordinate the next 3 meetings of this group before the project is implemented on August 21st.

Green Jobs: Exploring the opportunities

--On July 28th, the Green Jobs Advisory Board, a group that GTECH convenes, hosted an event, Green Jobs: Exploring the Opportunities. This event brought a panel of 4 individuals working in green collar jobs to speak about their experiences and how they ended up where they are now. We also brought together 12 organizations that provider green job training or services to network.

--For this event, I was responsible for engaging and preparing both the speakers and the organizational representatives.

--I also was responsible for lining up the space and all the equipment.

--I was also responsible for publicizing the event and recruiting attendees.

--The event was really inspiring and enjoyable and we will hopefully be able to repeat a similar event in the future.

Heinz Youth Philanthropy Grants

--GTECH chose to apply for a grant with the Heinz Youth Philanthropy interns regarding storm water management as well as partner with a grant regarding reclaiming vacancy in Wilkinsburg.

--Once we as an organization brainstormed ideas that we would like to pursue I was responsible for setting up meetings with different partners as well as writing a large portion of the content with the help of my colleagues.

--I was also responsible for submitting the proposal. It was due August 2nd and it was sent in on time!