text: On a recent rainy Thursday morning, a crew of Corpsmembers working at MLK Jr. Regional Shoreline Park welcomed a special visitor. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf stopped by! She chatted with East Bay Regional Park District staff, Civicorps Supervisors and Corpsmembers, observed their project site, and imparted a little wisdom.
  The famously Oakland-born-and-raised Mayor asked questions about our work (fuel load reduction and brush clearing), commented on the importance of wildfire mitigation (last week marked the 30th anniversary of the Oakland Hills Fire, which destroyed 3,400 homes including her father’s) and welcomed questions in turn. One Corpsmember asked her how she got her start in politics (through volunteering and community service, said the former Girl Scout and AmeriCorps Project YES alum). Another asked her a surprising (albeit very important) personal question: does she get enough sleep? The answer: no, but the Mayor took the opportunity posed by this query to discuss the virtues of self-care.
  Women Who Wield Chainsaws
  We were proud to introduce the Mayor to our fabulous Conservation Supervisors Jeff Chilcott and Ryan Waters, and to our amazing Corpsmembers: Crew Leader Anthony Silva, Dennis Turner, Erica Bradley and Josiah Crochet. Mayor Schaaf was especially impressed with the women on the crew, Crew Leader Martha Alva Velasquez and Nicole Smith, both of whom flexxed their chainsaw skills (the Mayor wanted to be sure she stood next to a chainsaw-wielding woman in the group photo!) And we were very happy to demonstrate the conservation work we do to keep Oakland safe and beautiful. In fact, we work around the greater East Bay to engage young people through paid job training on critical conservation projects.
  Mayor Schaaf, we welcome you to visit any of our projects anytime (though we can’t let you use a chainsaw without proper training and PPE.) See you at the next project site!
  Want to continue reading about what our Corpsmembers are up to? We’ll be thrilled to share. Add your name to our list here.
  Filed under: Blog, NewsTagged with: Americorps, city of oakland, conservation corps, oakland
  Building a Climate Army: an Interview with Bob Doyle
  Posted on November 17, 2020
  By Rachel Eisner
  Robert E. Doyle is a 43+ year veteran of the parks and natural resources field, currently serving as General Manager of the East Bay Regional Park District. Doyle has received numerous awards and recognition for his many decades of leadership in conservation, park policy advocacy, public health and public lands, climate action initiatives and industry innovations.
  He also has the distinction of having served as a founding Board member of the East Bay Conservation Corps (now Civicorps). In honor of his impending retirement from EBRPD, and to celebrate his role getting the East Bay Conservation Corps (EBCC) off the ground 37 years ago, we reached out to Bob. We talked about the early days of EBCC, the important role of the Conservation Corps movement, and his insistence that to combat climate change, we need a climate army. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.
  Learning about the early days
  Tell us about your role in the founding of the East Bay Conservation Corps.
  Bob Doyle: At the time, I was in charge of administration and growth of the trail system at East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD), including building trails with trial crews and new property clean-up. I met (EBCC founder and CEO) Joanna Lennon through another local conservation corps, she told me she was creating a new one to serve West Contra Costa County and Oakland. She had such a dynamic personality and she was very driven; she pulled together a powerful Board of practitioners and professionals. At first, the Corps’ focus was on service projects and there wasn’t an educational component. Towards the end of my tenure on the Board, Joanna’s focus became adding a GED program for people of color and from low income communities. My role was on the contract side helping to connect with other organizations to hire Corpsmembers for projects at EBRPD. As I moved up the ranks at EBRPD, I would always encourage others to keep the contract with EBCC.
  What was the composition of the original Board? What was your focus?
  BD: The founding Board was a powerful group of people including Walnut Creek State Senator John Nejedly, Robbie Yohai (editor’s note: Robbie remains on the Board to this day), some lawyers, and notably, the National Park Director William Penn Mott. He would fly home from DC to attend EBCC meetings, and my job was to pick him up at the Oakland Airport. I was a sponge during those drives, and I learned so much about the national parks under the Reagan Administration; I was like a kid in a candy store listening to his stories! Bill Mott had such generosity of spirit, like a lot of parks people who are committed to service and youth. It was exciting and altruistic to give our time to serve on the Board, as evidenced by Bill Mott’s attendance.
  Everything that’s happening now in our discussions around environmental justice and equity was happening then with that Board and staff. I enjoyed coming into the [EBCC] building to meet Corpsmembers and hear their stories about bringing home their first paychecks to their mom, meeting those who came from single parent households or had kids of their own. Their stories were so emotionally compelling. I was always extremely pleased to see young people of color having a positive experience at the Corps and then getting jobs at EBRPD. We’ve had many over the years. In my field, we are always looking at diversifying parks jobs so we can encourage a diversity of park goers who see themselves reflected in the staff. In order to do that, there has to be a portal, and that’s what EBCC did and what Civicorps does. All the local Corps are not only providing jobs, but opportunities for training, education and betterment for Corpsmembers as well as their families and community.
  There is billions of dollars of work to be done in the state park system. State parkland hasn’t had the investment it needs, for which Corps type work is perfectly suited.
  Civicorps has enjoyed a longtime partnership with EBRPD for our land conservation job training work. How did the partnership come to be?
  BD: Recycling was uncommon in parks back then [early-to-mid 80’s]. Our early efforts were to work with the waste management companies to navigate how to do more recycling in parks. EBCC developed some of the first efforts and provided recycling in the parks. We started engaging the Corps in three pilot projects in the big heavy use parks, and then that spread to the Corps getting the contracts in other areas. For example, the City of Hayward, the East Bay Municipal Utility District as well as CalTrans then took on EBCC for contract work. The recycling program became a whole separate department and ultimately became almost equal to the land contracts department.
  We are all keenly aware of the importance of fuels management. Tell us about the work Corpsmembers do and how it fits into EBRPD’s planning for wildfire mitigation and prevention.
  BD: Investment in land stewardship, fuels management and jobs are critical. We need an army of young people! Both the State of the California and the Federal government need to provide much more funding if we’re going to make a dent in wildfire mitigation. In California, we have 100 years of the well-intentioned forest management philosophy “woodsman spare that tree,” and now we’re paying the price. It is not sustainable to have an ever-growing fire season with only thinning and controlled burns for the forests. We should be investing in people working in forestry, folks who can work a huge variety of jobs on public lands. The volume of land is overwhelming and the urban interface — cities encroaching on the forests — is only growing. We need the education, the training and a variety of skills to get people working in forestry in addition to firefighting skills.
  Governor Newsom just came out with a plan to invest more deeply in conservation – I applaud the plan, but it’s got to come with money to invest in people to do the work. There is money for restoration and land acquisition but often not enough money for hiring. There is billions of dollars of work to be done in the state park system. State parkland hasn’t had the investment it needs, for which Corps type work is perfectly suited. If we’re going to get serious about climate change we need a climate army and the California local conservation corps are perfectly positioned to step in.
  Looking ahead to the future
  If you were to design the ideal conservation career pathway for Corpsmembers with EBPRD and beyond, what would it look like?
  BD: The National Park Service has a great program at the UC Merced campus where they secure summer jobs for students at parks like Yosemite and Sequoia. It’s almost like a union journeyman-apprenticeship pathway. To be successful, the students have to be interested and motivated, and have to see people like themselves onsite already so they feel welcome. There are lots of jobs and it’s a priority for the parks that their workforce reflects the communities they serve.
  What Civicorps is doing in terms of interviewing skills should help Corpsmembers get comfortable talking to people from all different backgrounds. It’s important to have the ability to open up a dialogue with all folks, as is true in the world at large right now. Employees have to have excellent communication skills to interact with many different types of people. Civicorps is giving its participants a real boost by offering hard job training skills, and should continue to focus on teaching soft professional skills, too.
  We understand you’re retiring from EBRPD in the near future. Congratulations!! How will you spend your time in the next phase of life?
  BD: I’m retiring at the end of this year! Unfortunately, I may not be able to have a big in-person party.
  I’m planning to spend my time hiking and camping; it’s time for me to enjoy the fruits of my labor and spend time with my family. I’ll do some consulting too – and I’ll always engage in advocacy.
  Speaking of advocacy, what parting words of advice would you like to share?
  If we truly are committed to environmental justice and attracting more people of color to parks, we need to provide well maintained, safe and accessible parks. Civicorps can be a big part of that.
  Now is the time to really push for funding and jobs to combat climate change. We have the tools to do that on public lands but we need to scale up dramatically and provide the training and education as part of that.
  Civicorps is a great example of successful community based environmental justice. There will always be challenges both environmental, social and economic, but the path Civicorps is on is the right one for a brighter, more equitable future.
  Filed under: Blog, NewsTagged with: #EBRPD, conservation corps, corpsmembers
  Harris named Corpsmember of the Year!
  Posted on December 16, 2014
  By Shannon Bowen
  Corpsmember of the Year
  Congrats to Harris Cox for being named one of the five national Corpsmembers of the Year!
  Harris’ story is truly an inspiration.
  At age six, through an act of deliberate violence, Harris suffered severe burns throughout his body and spent six years in a coma. When he awoke from the coma, he had no family or home stability so he struggled in school, dropped out, and ended up in jail.
  Then, Harris found Civicorps.
  “Not only did I find my family at Civicorps, but I also found my calling in life. Each class begins with a mindfulness lesson to help us learn how to deal with the emotional effects of trauma and to keep ourselves focused. I excelled at this training because I soon discovered that I had intuitively been practicing mindfulness to heal my body and soul after I awoke from the coma. “
  After graduating, Civicorps helped Harris obtain an internship that could fuel his passion for mindfulness. This internship led to a paid position at an Oakland elementary school teaching mindfulness to students. Through Harris’ work, he is teaching young kids skills to overcome trauma and to remain focused even when they are in crisis.
  We are thrilled to see Harris’ incredibly journey be honored through this national award!
  Read more about Harris’ story and check out the Huffington Post article about the award.
  Civicorps is proud to have had so many of our students honored through this highly-competitive national award. Check our list of past winners!
  2009 – Tatiana Moore
  2010 – Shanice Long
  2013 – Brandon Penny
  2014 – Candace Washington
  2015 – Harris Cox
  Filed under: Student SpotlightTagged with: conservation corps, corps network, corpsmember of the year, oakland, youth leaders