To Mt. Diablo State Park..and beyond! 🌲

To Mt. Diablo State Park..and beyond! 🌲
September 5, 2024 Olivia Taylor

As fall approaches and children go back to school, they’re not the only ones enjoying new learning experiences. Civicorps is launching multiple new opportunities for our youth to lean into conservation careers.

Thanks to a first-time grant from the California State Parks Foundation, we’ve created a new internship and training curriculum at Mt. Diablo State Park. These opportunities will provide robust exposure and create a bridge for Corpsmembers to career pathways at our State Parks and public lands.

Tommy Kauffman
Inaugural intern Tommy is the first to benefit from the Career Pathways grant, which will help expand training pathways to careers in parks and public lands.

Crew Leader II Tommy Kauffman began his internship at Mt. Diablo State Park after Labor Day. Tommy started his tenure at Civicorps over 2 years ago and quickly earned several promotions; he ultimately helped lead a crew at our Pittsburg site. Tommy has accomplished a lot at the Corps, and his final month is ending with great flair.  A couple weeks ago he helped welcome Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10) to a project site at Waterbird Preserve in Martinez!

Ultimately, we share a fundamental goal with Parks California: to ensure that our parks are welcoming, inclusive and climate-resilient spaces where all people can truly feel at home.  We hate to say goodbye to Tommy, but love to see him assert his natural leadership skills and move on to a burgeoning career in conservation.