Minnesota Currents|Online, Summer 2010

Summer is in full swing and so is Clean Water Action’s canvass recruitment program! We are currently hiring for part time and full time positions for our field and phone canvasses. Learn valuable skills, work with fun and exciting people, chat with our members about important environmental issues and build your resume. Spend your summer with us by calling today to learn more about our exciting employment opportunities.

Here is what phone canvass manager, Terrance Noble, and field canvass manager, Anna Waugh, have to say about working for the Clean Water Action canvasses.

Terrance Noble has worked with Clean Water Action since 2001 when he began as a part time phone canvasser. Since then, he has had two promotions and is now a seasoned manager. Terrance joined the Clean Water Action team because of his interest in environmental and social issues.

Q: What is the most valuable skill you have learned working as a canvasser for Clean Water Action?

Terrance: This job has given me so many life skills and it’s been inspirational. This is something you can’t go to school for and it’s not about stuff you learn in a text book. I have learned so much about leadership and communication. Let’s say there is a problem—I can come at it with intent and I have learned to ask for what I want. This job has opened me up to other opportunities I never thought possible. The skills I learned during my time at Clean Water Action has helped me with my board position at EJAM (Environmental Justice Advocates of MN) in communicating with members and writing grants and it’s helped me on a personal level too with family and friends.

Q: What is the most important environmental issue to you?

Terrance: The most important issue that resonates with me is restoring Clean Water Act protections. When I did my research before coming to work here about all the disasters that happened in the ‘60s and ‘70s I realized how it all came back to water. I was so sad to find out the Bush administration had weakened all of the laws around the Clean Water Act and the impact it had on communities, states and towns. I now know how connected water is to everything else since I started working here.

Q: Are you politically active outside of work?

Terrance: Yes, I’m involved with Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota (EJAM). It’s been around since 2002 and was started by citizens concerned about the Riverside coal plant when they successfully petitioned to get it retrofitted. Now we’re focusing on green jobs, removing toxins from homes and a lot more. It’s a really good fit for me because of the work I do here at Clean Water Action. My role at EJAM is to write grants, fundraise and I’m also on the communication team which works on getting newsletters out, the financial plan and membership development. I helped with the first membership drive.

Q: Would you be with EJAM without having worked at Clean Water Action?

Terrance: Probably not. I have always cared about the environment, but this gave me a different sense of purpose and urgency and now I feel like I could go to any organization and apply my skills.

Q: How did you get involved with EJAM?

Terrance: They were applying for board members and I came and in, told them what skills and experience I had to offer from being with Clean Water Action and they were like “oh you’re with Clean Water?” and that was all it took!

Anna Waugh joined the Clean Water Action Field Canvass in 2008 after moving from Rhode Island to Minnesota to attend college. She is our latest and greatest field canvass manager and is excited to teach lots of new people how to canvass this summer.

Q: Why do you come to work at Clean Water Action every day?

Anna: I come to work to eat Mary Brady’s cookies! No, really it is for the 8-16 people I talk to each night who get involved with Clean Water Action to create stronger laws that will protect our shared environmental resources like clean water and clean air.

Q: What is the most important environmental issue to you?

Anna: We use too many chemicals, create too much waste and rely too heavily on non-renewable resources. It would be overwhelming to tackle alone the multitude of environmental threats that we have created. It’s easier if you look to your own health first and work on the larger problems together.

Q: What is the most valuable skill you have learned working as a canvasser for Clean Water Action?

Anna: I have learned to work in a team, maintain good eye contact with strangers, stay up-to-date on political issues and take concise and relevant positions on broad unwieldy topics! I have also gained confidence in my personal ability to lead discussions, learn from constructive criticism and be more solution oriented. I know that we will need strong environmental leaders to face climate change, toxic water-borne pollutants that threaten our health and water privatization. The skills I have learned in canvassing help me to do my part.

Q: Are you politically active outside of work?

Anna: Outside of work I have interned at other environmental nonprofits in the Twin Cities like Eureka Recycling, Mississippi River Fund and Voyageurs National Park Association. A healthy environment is in everyone’s best interest no matter which way the political wind is blowing. We have to fight hard to protect it.

For more information about the exciting and rewarding positions we have to offer, give us a call today! Please contact: Teresa Clark, Field Canvass Director, at 612-627-1508 or Emily Tate, Phone Canvass Director, at 612-627-1525. You may also email your resume to mnjobs@cleanwater.org.