Organizational Overview

To solve the world’s most pressing issues, we need to empower those closest to inequity to be drivers of liberatory innovation. trubel&co (pronounced "trouble and co") is a tech-justice nonprofit that mobilizes youth and communities to leverage local data to tackle the challenges that matter most. Bridging technical skills to civic action, we provide data civics curricula, workforce training, and digital learning platforms to drive socio-environmental advocacy. Democratizing access to data, design, and tech, our programs equip learners, educators, and nonprofits with mapping tools and spatial analysis skills to investigate local problems, craft data-driven stories, and spark good trouble. Whether modeling flood risk, mapping health disparities, or documenting food deserts, advocates make local problems visible and design community-driven interventions. See more.

In our approach to democratizing access to technical education, trubel&co grounds career technical education and experiential learning with liberatory design and abolitionist frameworks. Our STEM curricula and curated spaces of civic discourse center identity & place while mobilizing students as agents of change in their own communities, resulting in trubel&co diversifying the fields of STEM and innovation, building critical consciousness, and instilling self-efficacy as the next generation reimagines society for the better.

Our services fall under three core pillars: Learn, Build, and Connect.

• Learn: Accelerating technical capacity and civic discourse via learning environments integrating STEM & liberation, including youth programs like Mapping Justice and teacher training, enabling students to learn geospatial analytics, explore the intersection of Race, Power, and Technology, and create digital apps for social change

• Build: Filling the technical deficit within civic initiatives through service-learning, job placements, and advisory work, mobilizing students and staff to directly apply their skills in data, design, and technology to tackle societal and environmental challenges

• Connect: Extending the impact of our pedagogy & amplifying the capacity of alumni via programs on storytelling, upskilling, and networking around liberatory innovation, including public workshops, professional development, conference talks, and more!

trubel&co was founded in 2022, and currently operates at a $1M annual budget. This role is to help extend our pedagogy to new communities through our workshops, products, and capacity building. trubel&co has impacted 6000+ students and practitioners across the Gulf Coast, California, Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, and Colorado, with strong aspirations for scale. We are a team of ambitious, motivated, creative doers who have a strong passion in data civics, liberatory innovation, educational equity, and startup culture, supporting a growing community of diverse tech-enabled trubelmakers. trubel&co is backed by National Geographic, National Science Foundation, Echoing Green, Fast Forward, NewSchools Venture Fund, Walking Softer, Camelback Ventures, 4.0 Schools, CIV:Lab, Society for Science, and other institutional and individual donors.

Learn more about our mission through this pitch video. The team is 100% remote.

Learn more about our workshop offerings, Mapping Justice, and CivicScape.

Position

trubel&co is looking for a Development and Communications Fellow to help bring our grant writing, funder research, and storytelling to life. This role sits at the center of how we translate our work, using data, maps, and technology to advance resiliency, justice, and democracy, into language that resonates with a wide range of funders and audiences. You'll work closely with the Director of Growth and External Relations on our RFP pipeline and with the Executive Director on grant strategy and detailed language feedback. This is not a role that starts from scratch: we have a strong library of existing grant language to draw from, and much of the work is thoughtful tailoring, sharpening, and translation.

You'll receive clear assignments and deadlines from the Director, along with detailed feedback from the Executive Director on grant language as drafts move through review. Between check-ins, you'll work independently: researching funders, drafting and revising language, and managing your own time against submission deadlines. This role is a strong fit for someone who does their best work with a clear brief and space to execute and knows when to flag questions or ask for more context.

You'll also help run our social media presence alongside another team member, contributing copy and content ideas, and will take primary ownership of our new monthly newsletter: shaping the format, writing the content, and keeping it on a consistent schedule. As with many start-up organizations, there may be additional ad-hoc support needed across the organization, including partnership development, communications, and research.

What the First 6 Months Looks Like

By 3 months, you will have worked through a meaningful chunk of our existing grant language library, understanding the stories, data points, and examples we draw from most often, and you'll be comfortable tailoring that language for a new funder with minimal guidance. You will have a working rhythm with the Director on the RFP tracker and submission timeline, and with the Executive Director on incorporating detailed language feedback. You will have shipped your first newsletter and be contributing regularly to social media, developing a feel for trubel&co's voice across both.

By 6 months, you will be a trusted, independent writer on the grant pipeline: able to take a new RFP, do the funder research, and produce a strong first draft with less back-and-forth than when you started. You will have a newsletter format and cadence that runs smoothly month to month, and a clear sense of what resonates on social. You'll be someone the Director and Executive Director can hand a new funder or a new story idea to, trusting you to bring it to life without needing to specify every detail.

Responsibilities

Grant Writing and RFP Support (50%)

Turning our story and existing language into tailored, funder-ready proposals

• Partner with the Director of Growth and External Relations on the RFP tracker and submission timeline

• Draft, edit, and tailor grant language for a range of funders, working from our existing library of grant narratives, program descriptions, and impact stories rather than starting from scratch

• Shape language, tone, and specific examples (student stories, program data, outcomes) to fit each funder's priorities and communication style, avoiding jargon and buzzwords that don't carry real meaning

• Translate our work fluently across sectors, from workforce development to educational equity to climate action to democracy building, adjusting language and framing for each audience while keeping our voice consistent

• Incorporate detailed feedback from the Executive Director on grant strategy and language, refining drafts through multiple rounds

• Use AI tools as a review partner, not a default writing tool: running drafts against RFP criteria, past funder feedback, and our own language traps (jargon, vague claims, misalignment) to catch gaps before submission, while ensuring the original writing, voice, and storytelling remain your own

Funder Research and Prospecting (20%)

Using research, technology, and data to understand who we're writing for

• Research and identify grant opportunities and philanthropic partnerships aligned with trubel&co's mission and geographic areas of operation; gather deadlines, eligibility requirements, and RFP details to support proposal development.

• Use AI tools to support prospecting and research: reviewing funder websites, social media, and public materials to identify themes, priorities, and alignment with trubel&co's work

• Synthesize research into clear takeaways that inform how a grant or pitch should be framed for a specific funder

• Support the Director, Growth & External Relations with content formatting, file management, grant submission, and administrative process improvements; leverage AI tools to increase efficiency across all of the above

Communications and Social Media (30%)

Bringing our voice to life across social, newsletter, and other storytelling assets

• Help manage trubel&co's social media presence alongside another team member

• Stand up and produce a new monthly newsletter highlighting organizational wins, program impact, and team updates

• Bring trubel&co's brand voice and storytelling instincts to all public-facing content, making our impact and vision clear and vivid to a broad audience

This is a contracted position with an initial 6-month term. We're asking for a full commitment to that term, and upon mutual fit, performance, and organizational capacity, we expect this to convert to an ongoing role. 100% remote, with semi-regular travel required for key moments (conferences, partner meetings, flagship programs, team gatherings). Must be legally authorized to be a contractor in the US. This role will report directly to the Director, Growth and External Relations. The Director will communicate when priorities shift or new responsibilities are added. The candidate is encouraged to raise capacity or clarity concerns proactively and contribute input on scope decisions.

Our Startup Culture

trubel&co operates like a mission-driven startup: lean, fast-moving, and collaborative. We all pitch in across functions to get things done. Your role will have a primary focus, but expect to contribute to initiatives outside your core area when your skills can help advance organizational goals. Responsibilities evolve as we scale and as new opportunities emerge. If you're energized by pace, take ownership without waiting to be asked, and see bringing order to a growing organization as the job, let's talk.

What we’re looking for

In line with our commitment to equity, candidates do not need to have certain degrees or come from a specific background. What’s important is that you have/are:

• Storytelling and Writing Craft: You are a talented written storyteller who can make vivid, specific examples, real student stories, real data, real outcomes, come alive on the page. You know how to take existing language and sharpen it, and you have a sharp eye for cutting jargon and buzzwords that don't carry real meaning.

• Translation Across Audiences: You can move fluently from writing for a workforce development funder to an educational equity funder to a climate or democracy-focused funder, adjusting tone, framing, and emphasis for each while keeping trubel&co's voice consistent underneath.

• Research and AI Fluency: You're comfortable using AI tools to support prospecting and research, and as a review partner to catch gaps, jargon, or misalignment against RFP criteria. The actual writing and storytelling are yours.

• Curiosity and Depth: You bring genuine curiosity about trubel&co's work, our students, and what we believe is possible. You dig into our program materials, past grants, and impact stories deeply enough to write about them with real understanding.

• Independent Execution: You work well from a clear assignment and a deadline. You know when to ask a clarifying question, and you manage your own time across grant deadlines, social content, and a monthly newsletter.

• Reliability and Follow-Through: You meet deadlines consistently, especially around grant submission timelines where a missed date has real consequences, and you treat multiple rounds of revision as part of the craft.

Department Structure

Reports to the Director of Growth and External Relations. Works closely with the Executive Director on grant strategy and language feedback, and alongside another communications team member on social media execution.

How to Apply

Please submit an application here along with writing samples that show your range, cover letters, blog posts, past grant applications, campaign copy, brand storytelling, whatever best reflects your voice and craft. If you have grant writing experience, please include a sample and speak to that experience directly in your application. Please reach out if you have any questions; we want to set you up for success. Send a note to hiring@trubel.co with the subject line: "Development and Communications Fellow Application.”