Each fellow is placed in a host site organization where they work for 32 hours a week during their ten months with Life Together. Fellowship sites are selected based on their organizational culture (and commitment to social justice), a clear and engaging job description, and their potential for being a positive learning environment for fellows. Our host sites and fellow projects change each year and are determined by a competitive grant review process. Below is a list of the 2015-16 program year site placements. Click on the organization's name to visit their website, and view corresponding position titles and descriptions

2015-16 Program year Site Placements

Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE)| Development and Membership Fellow

ACE's mission is to build the power of communities of color and low-income communities to eradicate environmental racism and classism, create healthy, sustainable communities, and achieve environmental justice. ACE pursues its mission through three well-established programs: the Roxbury Environmental Empowerment Project (REEP) – a youth-led, adult-supported, program to develop and win campaigns for environmental justice; T Riders Union (TRU), which builds a united voice and movement for first class public transit in Greater Boston; and the Environmental Justice Legal Services (EJLS) program, which provides legal and technical assistance and capacity building support for community groups around the state. These programmatic activities help support a membership program that brings people together through ACE to identify problems in the community, learn about the causes and effects and propose solutions that grow into campaigns and even new programmatic areas. Currently our membership is in the process of exploring the growing concern of climate justice and the complicated issues surrounding development and displacement.

The Development and Membership Fellow helps ACE in its grassroots fundraising and with its membership activities. Responsibilities include: maintaining our organizing and donor database; assisting with donor communications; supporting the production of ACE’s Annual Appeal letter mailing and online giving programs; working with staff to promote our Toxic Tours of Dudley Square with area schools, universities and professional associations; capturing and communicating stories of success and victories from our members; helping develop communications and political education materials for our consitiuency; and assisting with logistics of monthly membership meetings and our Annual Member Assembly. Evening work is required. We strive to be a multilingual space and greatly appreciate any language skills that a fellow could contribute (particularly, but not limited to, Spanish).

City Mission Society | Program Coordinator, Boston Urban Outreach

City Mission Society is the second oldest multi service agency in the country. Based on the three principles of Education, Empowerment and Mutuality, CMS programs will now focus on homelessness prevention. We offer “A Lift Up” to serve the needs of single mothers who are facing the possibility of becoming homeless. Our Emergency Needs Network provides financial assistance to individuals and families to help keep them housed. Through our Faith and Community Engagement area, we offer several programs. Boston Urban Outreach offers meaningful service opportunities for groups to engage in projects that help prevent homelessness, including Public Voice—a program that trains formerly homeless and incarcerated people in public speaking and storytelling as tools for social justice. CMS engages in direct service, legislative advocacy, and public education around social justice. CMS prides itself on being an open and inclusive organization. Our fellows and student interns participate fully in staff meetings and decision making. 

The Coordinator of the Boston Urban Outreach Program is responsible for the operation and oversight of BUO. Boston Urban Outreach, a program of City Mission Society, offers hands on group service experiences for people of all ages. Day long, weekend, and extended stay opportunities are available for church groups, school groups, corporate groups and college groups. Responsibilities include: establishing and maintaining relationships with partner agencies and churches; planning service projects; booking community groups and serving as their primary liaison; providing logistical support, maintaining accurate bookkeeping and contracting with consultants, speakers, and other vendors to support the implementation of BUO activities; assisting with the creation and production of outreach materials to promote BUO and engaging in outreach/marketing efforts; ensuring the collection of ongoing evaluation data including both quantitative and anecdotal to be used in annual reports and maintain database.

Church of the Holy Spirit, Mattapan | Director of Youth Programs

Church of the Holy Spirit (CHS) was originally founded to transform the community by engaging the Gospel in concrete action. CHS continues this mission and retains its roots in surrounding urban neighborhoods, serving with Christ’s unconditional love and care for all people. A primary focus of CHS is to have a visible and robust presence in local communities with an emphasis on social, recreational, and educational support programs. Part of our mission is to help transform social injustices and inequalities in our communities in the context of peace and reconciliation. The culture of CHS is dynamic, multicultural, progressive, lay-driven, and is anchored in loving and caring relationships for each other. We also take seriously our calling to raise up new generations in faith and service, and view the Life Together fellow as helping us in this particular area by nurturing the spiritual gifts of our youth and young adults. Our goal is to build a “culture of generations” where our youth are trained to assume more leadership responsibility in both spiritual and programmatic aspects of the Church.  

The primary role of the Director of Youth Programs is to develop youth programs that include weekly youth group meetings and fun outings. Meetings will be a forum for youth to learn about God in a respectable, friendly way.  The fellow must be able to prepare messages, provide biblical instruction in accordance with Episcopal precepts, and establish strong relationships with youth. This might involve mentoring youth who are struggling with academic and/or behavioral challenges. The Director will also advocate for youth and educate the congregation about the hopes, concerns and needs of youth at CHS as well as the wider communities that CHS serves. The Director will create, mentor and lead two youth groups: middle school (5th, 6th, 7th) and upper grade levels (8th –12th).  This position will also engage youth in the Church’s Tutoring Program. The fellow is expected to appreciate how culture, gender, ethnicity, and class contribute to youth development within a spiritual context.

Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation | Youth Force Organizer

Dorchester Bay was founded to enhance housing, business, and leadership opportunities for the residents of Dorchester. Youth Force was founded in 2004 with the mission of developing teen leaders living in Dorchester, Roxbury and the surrounding neighborhoods of the city of Boston. The vast majority of teens involved in Youth Force are low-income people of color. The organizational culture of Youth Force is teen-led and focused on justice. Dorchester Bay Youth Force seeks to create a culture where teens feel welcomed, supported, and pushed to grow as leaders. Youth Force’s approach to social change is community organizing—defined as building relationships with people in your community in order to build power for the goal of creating concrete and long-lasting change.

The Life Together fellow works as a Membership Development Specialist. This role has two distinct components: 1) working with guidance counselors, teachers, parents, youth workers and others to recruit teens to join Youth Force, as well as 2) working directly with Youth Force’s current teen leaders to create change in their communities and develop new teen leaders. The core of this work is the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI), a three-week training program in which teens are recruited and trained to be leaders.  The fellow will assist with YLI recruitment, including developing and leading trainings and other logistical aspects of YLI. YLI grads automatically become Youth Force members who engage in Youth Force’s campaigns and who continue to develop as leaders after YLI is over.  Experience working with teenagers is preferred and commuting between different schools is required (note: commuting can happen on public transportation).

Episcopal City Mission | Public Policy Associate

Episcopal City Mission is a faith-based ministry which promotes social and economic justice. ECM works with congregations, community-based organizations and people within the Diocese of Massachusetts, with special emphasis on the urban poor and oppressed. Although ECM began as an institution directed toward charity and direct social work, its mission evolved in the 1960’s and afterwards into a focus on social structural change. Through its programs, ECM advocates, funds and partners with organizations and parishes who are working to alleviate injustice in our communities. ECM’s Anglican identity informs the way it approaches social change: “The mission is not ours; we are invited into God’s mission.”

The role of ECM’s Public Policy Associate is to deepen and expand upon ECM’s commitment to engage Episcopal parishes in organizing and advocacy to support systemic social change in Massachusetts. The Public Policy Associate, in partnership with the Associate Director of ECM, will lead ECM’s engagement with statewide initiatives by collaborating with ECM’s public policy partners like the Ecumenical Advocacy Coalition and grantees who are launching specific policy campaigns.  Some examples of the fellow’s tasks include: tracking current public policy initiatives to help identify areas where ECM will want to engage; planning and hosting policy-related events, rallies, legislative breakfasts/luncheons, or lobby days; informing and encouraging action by ECM’s public policy network; and supporting meetings of ECM’s Public Policy Committee to discuss strategies for action and decisions about what campaigns to engage with.

Esperanza Academy | Teaching Fellow

Founded in 2006, Esperanza Academy is an independent, tuition-free middle school where girls of modest means from Lawrence are welcomed into an empowering learning community. Esperanza offers its students a transformative education that integrates a rigorous academic curriculum with co-curricular programs in athletics, the arts, community service, cultural enrichment, social skills, and spirituality. This holistic educational approach fosters the formation of each girl's intellect, character, confidence, and social consciousness. All of our graduates remain on track to
graduate from high school in four years, compared to the 54% five-year graduation rate in Lawrence public schools. At Esperanza Academy, we believe that strong teaching is more than simply learning how to lesson plan and write curriculum.  It is more than classroom management basics and gimmicks.  Good teaching is a spiritual exercise, built on authentic relationships, and requiring inner emotional strength from the instructor. We believe that the Life Together @ Esperanza Academy is a cutting-edge answer to the very serious challenges facing urban education in the Commonwealth.

Esperanza offers four positions for fellows passionate about education. This is both a Life Together and an Americorps Fellowship experience. The responsibilities of a teaching fellow include teaching, coaching, and advising as well as performing other services for the school. The fellows will be co-teachers with a master teacher and work together to design lesson plans, grade, and manage the classroom. 

In addition to the normal opportunities available to all teachers for professional support and community development, Life Together fellows have additional moments to develop community and practice leadership including: a Life Together fellows-focused new faculty training week in July exploring mission and daily life at Esperanza Academy; opportunities during Esperanza Academy’s school worship calendar to reflect publicly upon their work and bring the message of a mission-centered life to the school community; and responsibility for co-leading our annual faculty spiritual retreat. It is our hope that through these opportunities, we form an authentic partnership amongst our faculty; one that is deepened and informed by our spiritual foundation as an Episcopal school, and one that mirrors the authentic and deeply spiritual relationship we nurture daily in our classrooms, hallways, and athletic fields.

Grace Episcopal Church, Medford | Urban Ministry Fellow

Grace Church is a dynamic and vibrant spiritual home to a diverse congregation of over 200 families with different racial, social, ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Some parishioners are lifelong Episcopalians; some were raised in other Protestant denominations or in the Roman Catholic Church; some are new to the Christian faith; some are not quite sure what they believe. Grace Church has seen significant growth in the last few years, and has grown by about 50% in the last five years. The church is growing in its advocacy efforts, especially for the environment, partnering with the Leadership Development Initiative.

The duties of this position will vary with the interest of the intern. The Intern will assist in organizing our Youth Education programs along with the Assistant Rector. Possible activities include co-teaching a class on Wednesday nights, serving as part of the Wednesdays at Grace leadership team, and community organizing for a parish program to be developed with the Leadership Development Initiative. Even more opportunities abound, including adult teaching (on Sundays and Wednesdays), participating in parish leadership, worship planning, occasional or regular preaching, pastoral care, leading young adult fellowship, or assisting with our outreach ministry to the local nursing home. The parish is also in a unique position with its growth and vitality so that an intern could have a significant impact on the life of the community.

Health Care for All | Community Organizer

For 30 years Health Care For All (HCFA) has worked to build a consumer-centered health care system that provides comprehensive, affordable, accessible, culturally competent, high quality care for all Massachusetts residents. Health Care For All works with all health care consumers in the state, with a special emphasis on reaching out to linguistic minorities and low-income populations, who lack access to mainstream educational efforts. HCFA bases its work on the fundamental principle that health care is a basic human right for everyone. Through our Help Line, we connect consumers both to health care and to our advocacy work, so that they can partner with us to improve the health care system for everyone. Through collaboration with partners, allies and consumers, HCFA builds strength, credibility and the consumer voice. Our organization’s approach to social change includes consumer outreach, enrollment and education, community organizing, and policy advocacy.

The Community Organizer is organizing low-income seniors, students, community leaders, HelpLine callers, and health advocates in targeted communities throughout the state to advocate for Health Care For All’s legislative agenda. Some of their responsibilities include: identifying consumer leaders in different cities throughout the state; following up with prospective leaders via telephone calls and one-to-one meetings, supporting trainings for leaders, and assisting leaders as they organize in-district meetings with their elected legislators. The organizer will also participate in statehouse and advocacy activities and will help the rest of the organizing team with rallies, hearings, and community events. The Fellow works up to 15 hours a week in the field with people in targeted communities with a particular focus on underserved populations. The position includes driving, working some evenings and weekends, and requires someone who is a self-starter and can keep their own schedule.

Irish International Immigrant Center | Communications Associate

The Irish International Immigrant Center (IIIC) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to assist immigrants from Ireland and from around the world as they integrate into American society. We are a vibrant, multi-service welcome center that provides legal, wellness and education services; advocates for systemic change; and facilitates cross-cultural community building. The IIIC provides a full range of free and low-cost services to low-income and underserved immigrant families from 120 nations around the world, including expert legal advice on immigration, mental health counseling, career advancement programs, and English for Speakers of Other Languages. Our Inclusion and Integration Coordinator advocates for systematic change and for the human rights of individuals to make Massachusetts a welcoming place for individuals and families from around the world. Our vision is of a shared society where all people are welcomed and valued and enjoy equal opportunities, protections, and respect. 

The Communications Associate will be a highly motivated individual that will work closely with our Executive Director and our Deputy Director to support our mission and fulfill the means of our strategic plan. The fellow will serve as a project manager for special assignments from the leadership team including research, advocacy, communications, and public relations. The fellow will work with our leadership team to promote our social media presence, our voice in local communities, and our influence in local policies. He/She will have a key role in broadening our outreach efforts to further our scope in local communities as well as researching potential opportunities. Responsibilities include: assisting our development team to organize and promote our events; coordinating with staff to determine relevant posts to promote IIIC’s social media outreach; assisting in the production of a monthly online newsletter; entering data and running reports to track agency visibility and outreach outcomes; and sharing event information via our social media outreach. The fellow will have a special interest in writing, research, and various social media platforms.

MANNA: Many Angels Needed Now and Always | Life Together Fellow

Rooted in the heart of the Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Boston, MANNA (Many Angels Needed Now and Always) is a ministry of and with the homeless community. Through MANNA we seek not only to welcome men and women across differences of class, wealth, culture, race, and mental ability, but also to empower all people to claim their place as essential members of our community. We all have gifts to give and to receive. We need each other. And this is why we gather each week to serve, to pray, and to create together. Social change, we believe, happens most deeply and meaningfully through the process of resurrection – both individual and corporate. Our most fundamental work as a community is to awaken each other to the beauty, essential nature and belovedness of each and every one of us.

The bulk of our work together, and for the Life Together Fellow, is the simple (though not always easy) work of making ourselves present and available to each other as we work, pray and serve together both within the community and in the city at large as well. Depending on the day, this includes taking a leadership role in the Cathedral’s Sunday Morning homeless gatherings and general worship; in various ways through our all-day Monday programming, where our fellow will be called on regularly to preach; as well as through our writers’ group and meditation on Tuesdays. Our fellow would also take a leadership role in the work of the BostonWarm interfaith advocacy coalition, acting as liaison (and often translator) between the BostonWarm and MANNA leadership teams, as well as facilitating and – to whatever degree they are interested and can interest others – dreaming up and implementing new ways for homeless men and women to serve as leaders not only of MANNA, but of the newly formed interfaith community as well. Also, in partnership with our Diocesan Mission Institute, our staff has begun to provide regular trainings for churches of all denominations who wish to expand and deepen their outreach ministries. Our fellow would be a welcome addition to our training team as we seek to spread what we have learned about the power of making community across difference to other faith communities and not-for-profits in the state. The work we do together can be very hard. (Very alive, and profoundly transformative, but also very hard.) The suffering and pain and brokenness of many in our community is real, and our life together is both a product of and, hopefully, an answer to that suffering. The fellow should have been in more than passing touch with their own innate (and natural, and human) need, and also have at least an introductory familiarity with their own paths to healing.

MCAN | Fund Development Associate

MCAN is a federation of interfaith community improvement organizations that uses community organizing principles to engage and improve the lives of Massachusetts residents. MCAN’s goals are to address the concerns of low to moderate income residents in areas of jobs, housing, education, crime prevention, health care, and immigrant concerns. In 2014 MCAN was a leader in the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition of community, labor, and faith based groups that successfully organized to support a higher state minimum wage law, to $11 an hour, and to provide sick time for all Massachusetts workers. Other issue coalitions organized and staffed by MCAN include: a Safe Teens/Safe Communities Coalition, a Youth Jobs Coalition, and a Coalition for Equal Access to Jobs. 

This position provides a valuable opportunity to develop fundraising skills through grant writing and individual donor work. The fellow researches potential grant foundations and shares our organizing stories and vision through writing grant proposals and reports. The fellow also provides support for individual donor efforts including mailings and online communications, tracking donations, and fundraising events, as well as managing the database of current and potential donors. Depending on interests and skills, this fellow may also be the primary staff person responsible for training and coaching affiliate programs on individual donor strategies. The position will support the work of MCAN in Boston and our affiliate, ECCO, in Lynn. MCAN is looking for someone with strong verbal and written communication skills. The fellow works occasional nights and weekends.

Mothers Out Front | Organizing Fellow 

Mothers Out Front is building a movement of mothers and grandmothers to provide the political will that we need to ensure a livable climate and bright future for all children in the face of catastrophic climate change. We use a narrative-based grassroots organizing strategy to develop leaders, build capacity, and foster continual learning. Mothers Out Front began with conversations in living rooms around the Boston area in 2013. These mothers gathered together out of a shared sense of concern and fear for their children’s future, and some hope for action. We have found that our collective voice and power has resonated with many mothers who feel impotent in the face of the real danger of climate change. Since 2013, we have hosted more than 170 “house parties” and through those house parties have meaningfully engaged more than 1,000 mothers, grandmothers, and allies in these conversations. We currently have community organizing teams statewide in Massachusetts; we launched in New York in November 2014, and plan to launch two more states in 2015. We are collaborative and inclusive in our approach, and intentionally working to address systemic racism, classism, sexism, and other oppressions in our society as part of our work on climate change. 

The Organizing Fellow works closely with our Massachusetts State Organizer, our Organizing Coordinator, and our Organizer for Community Outreach, as well as the volunteer leadership of Mothers Out Front to organize mothers and grandmothers in our existing and new communities through house parties, 1:1s, phone calls, workshops, and political actions, hearings, rallies, etc. The fellow would take responsibility for a number of different projects, depending on their interests and abilities: on-the-ground organizing in the Boston area; a video narrative project in order to highlight lived experiences of climate change in different communities; and working with staff to coordinate house parties and maintain the database of active volunteers. The position includes some night and weekend work, and language skills, particularly Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Spanish or Mandarin, are a plus.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Framingham | Cross-Cultural Youth Minister 

St. Andrew’s is a bridge community, located right on the line that divides rich and poor.  Founded as a worker’s church by wealthy mill owners, we pride ourselves on our working class roots.  The church was deeply involved in the Civil Rights movement, and we continue to seek ways to live in community with the new Framingham, now one-third Brazilian. We are organizing the people of St. Andrew’s to do God’s work in Framingham by engaging with the immigrant community to serve social needs. Our charism is hospitality, and we are steeped in community organizing principles as taught by the LDI.

The Cross-Cultural Youth Minister's primary areas of focus are enabling: cross-cultural work, mission, the arts, and worship. The fellow also has been given opportunities to teach and preach as well. Examples of responsibilities include supporting the board of the Metrowest Mission Hub, working at our Núcleo resourcing teachers, the coordinator, or the parent leadership council; engaging parish youth in direct service; refreshing our youth arts program through open mic nights, poetry slams, dance lessons, music workshops, or video projects; and organizing young people to participate in faith-based advocacy efforts.  The Cross-Cultural Youth Minister studies Portuguese and has supported the parish’s Núcleo Educacionista program teaching Portuguese as a heritage language.   

St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church, Quincy | Pastoral Assistant for Parish Life

We are a Christian community rooted in historic faith, formed by liturgical worship, and motivated to serve our neighborhood. In everything we do, we embrace the motto, “Show them Jesus.” St. C’s has a long history of outreach to the North Quincy and Wollaston neighborhoods, from our Mite Box Thrift Shop and our weekly Job Club, to our relationship with the Episcopal Quincy Chinese Center and the Interfaith Social Services Bureau. We are committed to justice, love, and mercy for all God’s people and we are working hard to make a difference in our community. The previous four years have seen a revitalization of parish life, with significant increases in attendance, giving, participation, and mission.

The Pastoral Assistant for Parish Life has the opportunity to play a significant part in this new phase of revitalization in our parish, through involvement in our ministry to children and families, liturgical services and parish administration, and our partnership with The Episcopal Quincy Chinese Center. Responsibilities include: teaching Sunday School in a rotation with others; scheduling and supervising our regular rotation of Sunday School volunteers; helping to recruit and train additional Sunday School teachers; serving in a regular rotation of Sunday liturgical ministry and two midweek worship services; regular midweek preaching, if desired; and tutoring grade school students who attend the Chinese After School program. The fellow will also explore opportunities for future partnerships and joint ventures with families and staff who support the After School program. 

St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Dorchester | St. Mary’s Fellow

Throughout its more than 100 years of existence St. Mary’s has been a neighborhood church where most of its members live in the neighborhood. St. Mary’s is a community centered very much around food. We have Eucharist services twice a week and after each service we gather for a full meal and important time of fellowship. We also operate a food pantry out of our parish hall, and as many of our members put it, St. Mary’s is a place where you’ll never leave hungry. Our purpose is to engage in our faith in ways that addresses the physical, emotional and spiritual hunger that exists in our immediate area. Our current membership is largely Afro-Caribbean, and we celebrate a “family” approach to worship, ministry and life together. We are a community that celebrates its youth, engaging them in the steel band, BSAFE youth programs, Church School, youth group and throughout our worship and service life. Situated in the heart of Upham’s Corner, we are in the midst of Dorchester’s most significant urban center with many local businesses, community organizations, schools and the Strand Theatre all within two blocks. It remains a residential neighborhood as well, with long-time and new homeowners sharing the neighborhood with renters and people in subsidized housing. 

The St. Mary’s Fellow will champion, guide, and support St. Mary’s growth as a church, as a source of God’s light to the neighborhood and as a place where people can practice proactive, thoughtful, and justice-driven citizenship. They will join/form teams working in the areas of outreach, social justice, community life, and community service. They will work at the cutting edge of new partnerships aimed at improving our positive impact while working to more firmly root us in our neighborhood. The fellow will join our worship community and help us identify, raise up and form new leaders. There would also be ample opportunity to take part in and assume leadership in our worship life as this fits the fellow’s skills and interests. This position is a great fit for any fellow interested in parish life and excited about supporting mission, outreach and justice work. A fellow excited about creating connections, community development, and promoting collaboration in an extremely diverse environment would also be a great fit at St. Mary’s.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brookline | Intern for Ministry Development, Community Engagement and Parish Life

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brookline is a thriving faith community whose mission it is to follow the two great commandments; loving God and loving one another. We find the greatest expression of loving God through our work of loving and serving one another, our neighbors, and those in need locally and around the globe. St. Paul’s enjoys strong lay leadership and is a place for experimentation and curiosity.  It is a place where new ideas and new ways of seeing and doing the work are encouraged and sought after. St. Paul’s is intentional in creating opportunities to engage in social change work at every level.  The Food Pantry, Monthly Mission Sundays, Common Cathedral, Mil Milagros, and BSAFE/BPEACE are some of the organizations/ministries in which St. Paul’s participates on a direct service level.  St. Paul’s also has a strong “Faith in Action” ministry that helps the congregation discern opportunities for advocacy and organizing work.

The Intern for Ministry Development, Community Engagement and Parish Life will provide the necessary structure and leadership to develop community engagement and parish life, with the eventual goal that they be lay-lead by members of the congregation. The intern will assist in developing and implementing ministries to deepen the connections newcomers have with St. Paul’s, and to develop their engagement within the life of the parish. We have multiple communication tools, but also need an overall ministry understanding for the interface between these tools and to develop the infrastructure and capacity to best utilize them; the intern will bring gifts and skills to this area. Finally, the intern would provide capacity and support to our active and varied Parish Life ministry. The fellow will work some evenings, as available, and should have strong skills in social media, communication, and website management.

The Crossing @ St. Paul’s Cathedral | Minister for Mission

The Crossing is a worshiping community rooted at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in downtown Boston. It started in 2006 when a small group of young adults – some churchy folks, some not – got together to pray, share stories, and dream of a new kind of church with porous edges, grounded spirituality, and a passionate yearning for God’s justice in the world. The Crossing is part of The Episcopal Church, and is a worshiping congregation of the cathedral, along with MANNA, the Episcopal Boston Chinese Ministry, and the Sunday morning congregation. The Crossing has a particular ministry to adults who find themselves in transitional moments – students, homeless, recently-released prisoners, young adults starting their first careers, older adults starting second careers, people of any age exploring a new gender identity, etc. Our core demographic, therefore, tends to be aged twenty-five to thirty-five, English-speaking and under-employed, with a wide range of educational backgrounds. Approximately half of our community identifies as marginalized in some manner, particularly as LGBTQ, homeless, ethnic minority, and on the Asperger’s spectrum. Being a community of people from the margins is central to The Crossing’s ethos and self-understanding.

As the Minister for Mission, the Life Together fellow will facilitate the various “sending” ministries issuing from The Crossing, and grow the congregation’s relationships with local justice organizations, the wider church, and beyond. These ministries include: recruiting and developing leaders in The Crossing community who have a passion for social justice; leading The Crossing’s presence at the Trans Day of Remembrance (Fall) and the Pride Parade (Spring); building The Crossing’s relationships with communities and organizations that share our values, such as Transcriptions, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, CityReach, Episcopal City Mission, and MANNA; forming new relationships with other LGBT justice and anti-poverty organizations; documenting the social justice work of The Crossing in ways that are conducive to social media, using Facebook, Vine, Twitter, etc. to build relationships and communicate The Crossing’s story; coordinating our welcoming ministry for new members, helping them interface with the community and get involved in the ministry areas that match their skills and interests.

Youth on Board, Boston Student Advisory Council | BSAC Project Coordinator

Since 1994 Youth on Board (YOB) has forged partnerships between youth and adults to create positive communities in which young people are valued, engaged, and heard, both nationally and locally. YOB’s overarching goal is to have youth engagement interwoven into the structure of schools, thus encouraging a cultural shift that creates respectful and mutually supportive learning communities both inside and outside the classroom.  YOB's main project is administering the Boston Student Advisory Council (BSAC), a citywide body of elected student leaders coming from a wide range of backgrounds and working to identify and address issues pertinent to students. Through BSAC, Boston public school students gain access to a political education – learning how to organize campaigns, sway public opinion, cultivate strategic alliances, build collective power, hold systems accountable and, ultimately, transform their communities.

The BSAC Project Coordinator helps organize young people, work and advocate on their behalf, and help facilitate meetings, working groups and community actions/events.  The Coordinator will work on several projects related to making student-directed education policy changes, including student rights and responsibilities, climate justice, and restorative justice. Specific responsibilities include: spearheading a campaign to hold the City accountable to its solar power goal of 1-2 megawatts by 2016; supporting efforts to retrofit BPS buildings; supporting BSAC representatives in developing relationships with related community organizations and coalitions; and helping recruit students to join the Boston Student Advisory Council. Work includes occasional evening and weekend commitments.