Careers

Students completing the Sustainable Community Development major are well qualified for positions with non-profit organizations, community development agencies, municipalities, and private firms specializing in site, municipal and regional level work. Our students learn to facilitate and lead change in communities. Whether you want to reduce climate change, bring permaculture into communities, plan regional greenways, get better resources to impoverished communities, research green energy adoption, or work with diverse stakeholders and publics, you can do it here.

Types of employers of Sustainable Community Development graduates:

• Municipalities
• Regional planning agencies
• Community-based non-profit organizations
• Social justice organizations
• Research & advocacy groups
• Political campaigns
• Sustainable energy firms
• Engineering firms
• Construction companies
• Design firms
• Real estate developers
• Consulting firms
• State and federal agencies

Sustainable Community Development majors have worked or interned with:

• City of Boston – Bluebikes
• City of Bridgeport (Conn.)
• City of Danbury (Conn.)
• City of Newton (Mass.)
• City of Northampton (Mass.) Office of Planning & Sustainability
• City of Springfield (Mass.)
• New York City Council
• Town of Amherst (Mass.)
• Town of Littleton (Mass.) Electric Light and Water Department
• Environmental League of Massachusetts
• Franklin Regional Council of Governments
• Cape Cod Commission
• Old Colony Planning Council
• Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
• Greater Providence Board of Realtors
• Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
• Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
• Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
• Northeast Sustainable Energy Association
• ReGreen Springfield
• The Nature Conservancy
• Trustees of Reservations
• Global Village (Beijing)
• UMass Clean Energy Extension
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Commission