My Wisconsin Woods Coordinator

Organizational Overview

The mission of the Aldo Leopold Foundation is to foster the land ethic through the legacy of Aldo Leopold. Based in Baraboo, Wisconsin, we manage, interpret, and preserve the renowned Leopold Shack and Farm (a National Historic Landmark), which receives thousands of visitors each year. Our care of this special place continues the Leopold family tradition while demonstrating on-the-ground conservation relevance for the 21st Century. Offsite, too, we reach regional, domestic, and international audiences through a variety of education and land stewardship programs. We impart Leopold’s land ethic as described in A Sand County Almanac—the book for which Leopold is most widely known—actively engaging educators, citizens, natural resource professionals, and landowners to improve land health in their own communities.

The Aldo Leopold Foundation headquarters is in an idyllic setting surrounded by 600 acres of foundation-owned property and an additional 16,000 acres managed collaboratively among public and private landowners as an Important Bird Area (IBA). The Leopold Center, constructed in 2007, is a LEED Certified Platinum “green” building that is home to the foundation’s office space and visitor center.

My Wisconsin Woods

My Wisconsin Woods is a public-private partnership led by the Aldo Leopold Foundation in strong collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). My Wisconsin Woods began as a pilot project in 2010 with the aim to recruit new landowners to conservation and sustainable management. Our primary activities include marketing and on-going communications designed to attract and engage woodland owners across Wisconsin. We accomplish this through mass communications of direct-mail, digital marketing, social media, and email communications. Landowners participating in My Wisconsin Woods are introduced to public agencies and private organizations–our partners–able to serve them along their pathway toward active stewardship. My Wisconsin Woods is contributing significantly toward the five-year goal among forestry partners to procure 20,000 forester property visits. Future efforts would anticipate a subsequent goal to move these landowners the next step toward action. My Wisconsin Woods represents the largest network of woodland owners in Wisconsin and within private lands conservation at-large, an exemplary effort to intentionally attract and serve more people!

Position Impact Statement

The My Wisconsin Woods Coordinator is responsible for maintaining all day-to-day operations and activities for My Wisconsin Woods–the largest network of woodland owners in Wisconsin. This position is directly responsible for advancing program plans through the execution of all day-to-day activities, which tend to focus on one-to-many interactions typical of mass communications such as website, e-newsletters, direct-mail, and social media. Also, this position is responsible for the minor but steady one-on-one communications with landowners to address questions and inquiries. There is a lot of programmatic growth potential within My Wisconsin Woods, accessible through this position as time and planning allows. Successful activities through My Wisconsin Woods will maintain the interest and engagement of landowners while moving some of them toward action.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Communications

• Coordinate, lead, or assist in the procurement and execution of My Wisconsin Woods communications through all channels including e-newsletter, social media, website, and direct-mail.
• Maintain content grid based on communications calendar to ensure desired content placement and deadlines are met.
• Monitor and evaluate desired communication metrics to maintain and improve desired project outputs and outcomes.
• Work with teammates to execute additional email marketing, acquisition, and engagement strategies targeting subscribers for My Wisconsin Woods.
• Monitor, manage, and respond to comments and messages on social platforms.
• Work with Marketing and Communications Manager to execute and track paid social media campaigns. Act as point person with print houses and vendors for majority of print projects.
• Participate and contribute to annual program planning led by program and communications staff.
• Prepare and circulate updates that summarize achievement within and through My Wisconsin Woods for internal and external audiences, usually quarterly or annually.
• Nurture landowners’ inquiries and insecurities with the patience, time, and attention necessary to earn their trust and confidence in My Wisconsin Woods, partners, and fellow participants.
• Answer all phone calls (to the best of ability and circumstances) that come into My Wisconsin Woods; our partners and customers want to hear a live voice that is friendly, cheerful and genuine.
• Answer emails within 24-48 hours, weekends excluded.
• Design, create, and update visually compelling education and promotional materials within existing brand and style parameters.

Partnership

• Serve as the liaison between My Wisconsin Woods and our partners.
• Collaborate with critical conservation and forestry partners in Wisconsin, such as the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin Extension, Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association, among others.
• Cultivate current partnerships and develop new ones through mutually beneficial pursuits and relationship building.
• Collaborate on appropriate grant writing and implementation while managing program budgets to ensure the effective allocation and utilization of resources for partnership-driven initiatives.
• Solicit, compile, and maintain information for the partnership-driven landowner database from campaigns, programs, partners, and landowners. Prompting and tracking landowner engagement over time is a critical measure of project success.
• Assist with training of partners through My Wisconsin Woods and the landowner database. Providing continued support of partners as they use the database and request information from it. (Database training will be provided.)
• Apply excellent time management and organizational skills to all aspects of the job. Attention to detail is critical.
• Collaborate with partners to design and execute educational programs, workshops, and interventions. Coordinate logistics and outreach efforts for these events, ensuring smooth execution and maximizing participant engagement.
• Serve on steering committees alongside partners to provide input on conservation strategies, project planning, and decision-making processes. Facilitate effective communication and information-sharing between all stakeholders to enhance collaboration and project outcomes.

Content

• Collaborate and brainstorm with teammates on themes, strategies, and content for annual communications and marketing plan to reach, engage, and grow woodland owner interest and engagement.
• Provide insight and ideas for content themes and topics, authors, assignments, placements, and timelines.
• Assist with writing news articles and blog posts for the website, as well as other content specific to programs, projects, or other communications channels.
• Assist with editing of written content for all communications channels.

Qualifications

• The Aldo Leopold Foundation seeks a candidate with a degree in environmental education, natural resources/environmental studies, and/or communications with a strong interest in conservation and the environment.
• The ideal candidate will have excellent communication skills, the ability to work independently and to multitask, demonstrated leadership capabilities, and a proclivity for focusing on strategic outcomes.
• Applicants should be creative, professional, and eager to learn.

Required:

• Degree in environmental education, natural resources/environmental studies and/or communications with a strong interest in conservation and the environment.
• One to three years of environmental education and/or communications education, experience and/or training.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, writing, editing, and organizational abilities.
• Strong command of Microsoft Office and email marketing platforms. (MailChimp experience preferred.)
• Proficiency with WordPress, Adobe Creative Suite, and Microsoft Office.
• Demonstrated experience using social media platforms to grow and engage communities, as well as with management tools to curate content, pull metrics, and monitor audiences via social listening.
• Ability to work both independently with little supervision and in a team environment.
• Demonstrated respect and sensitivity for others; ability to inspire trust and work with integrity.
• Demonstrated understanding of the value of inclusiveness and diversity in all its forms: racial and cultural, political, age, gender, economic, and social.
• Versatility, flexibility, and a willingness to work within changing priorities.
• Ability to adapt to a rapid work pace with frequent deadlines.

Desired:

• Experience working with print houses on jobs requiring supervision and press check.
• Familiarity with the work of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and Aldo Leopold’s history and legacy.
• Familiarity with a wide range of current issues in natural resources and conservation.

Compensation and Benefits

Pay range:  $42,000-$45,000 annually depending on education and/or years of related work experience, with benefits including health, dental, vision, life/AD&D, and short-term disability insurance, retirement plan, Health Savings Account, and paid time off (vacation, floating holidays, and sick leave).

Hours and Schedule

• Full-time; Exempt
• M-F; Some Saturdays may be required

Position Reports to: Program Director

Application Instructions

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Position will remain open until filled.  

Please click "Apply" below to email a cover letter, resume and 3 professional references to Jen Anstett.  

Note: For the full position description, application instructions and to learn more about the Aldo Leopold Foundation, please visit our website:  https://www.aldoleopold.org/employment/

The Aldo Leopold Foundation provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. In addition to federal law requirements, ALF complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.  This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.