Forest Corps Team Leader, May 2025 - April 2026, AmeriCorps NCCC

✅What is AmeriCorps NCCC?

AmeriCorps NCCC (the National Civilian Community Corps) provides you with valuable life experience and skill development while you lead a team of 18–26-year-olds, earn money for college, travel the U.S., and help communities! 

The mission of AmeriCorps NCCC is to strengthen communities and develop leaders through team-based national and community service. Serving with Forest Corps is a great way to gain experience by direct, hands-on service on public lands in the areas of wildfire risk mitigation, reforestation, environmental conservation, and resource management. You’ll undergo intensive training with the United States Forest Service to prepare you and take on leadership roles and specialized assignments along the way. Learn and grow with a team of your peers and get a foot in the door to work environmental conservation as a career.

✅Position Overview:

Forest Corps work is field based and rigorous. You must be prepared to handle hiking long distances while carrying a heavy pack, and navigating uneven terrain, carrying tools, and be able to complete trail work, surveys, prescribed fire burns, planting seedlings, and other labor-intensive outdoors projects. This may include hiking up and down mountainous terrain, at elevation, on and off formal trail systems. Click here to view Work Conditions in National Forests.

Service will be full-time for 11 months, which includes 1 month leadership training that will start May 2025 followed by 10 months of leading an 8–12-person team of young adults while traveling across the country. You and your team will be deployed to 4-6 projects across the country serving on National Forest lands. Training for our Summer 2025 Forest Corps will be held at our Pacific Region campus in Sacramento, CA. You will return to the Pacific Region campus between project rounds.

Note: All incoming Forest Corps members must pass the arduous pack test to serve, which is a 3-mile hike with a 45-pound pack in 45 mins. This test will be strictly administered to the standards of the National Wildland Coordinating Group (NWCG), and incoming members should plan to only have one opportunity to complete this test. As potential applicants, you should plan to follow a fitness regimen prior to arrival on campus. This level of test is required to receive the certifications necessary to be qualified for the work of the program.  

✅Eligibility Requirements:

• To serve as a Team Leader, you must be 18 or older (no upper age limit).
• Must be a U.S. Citizen of the U.S.
• Must pass an initial drug screening test upon arrival to the program. A positive test on a drug screen for any substance (including marijuana) at any time during service could result in dismissal from the program.
• Team Leaders must have a valid driver’s license, as they will be expected to drive the team vehicle.
• Must be available for 11 months of full-time service consisting of extensive travel.
• Note: Prior service experience is not required, however, we highly encourage prior leadership experience.

✅Team Leader Duties: 

• Lead a team through direct, hands-on service in the areas of natural and other disasters.
• As a Team Leader, you will be crucial to your team’s success. You’ll be responsible for directing, motivating, and mentoring, a diverse team of young people.
• Partner organizations and NCCC staff will look to you for coordination of project logistics.
• Gain invaluable supervisory experience, challenge yourself, and build lasting connections.

✅During Service, You Will Receive:

• Basic expenses, including communal housing, meals, and a limited health benefit
• All program-related travel, including to your training location, projects, and back home after your service term
• A modest living allowance for your personal expenses
• Valuable training in leadership, technical skills, teamwork, and more
• Forbearance for federally backed student loans; after you successfully complete your term of service, you are eligible to have the interest incurred during service paid in full

✅After Service, You Will Receive:

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $7,395 to use on future educational expenses or to pay back qualified student loans
• Competitive job edge in your job search, including access to a network of over 700 Employers of National Service
• Opportunities to make your education more affordable through scholarships, application fee waivers, and other benefits for AmeriCorps alums provided by hundreds of Schools of National Service

✅How to Apply:

1. Review Position Details - Go to the my.AmeriCorps.gov portal to review the position listing linked here to ensure it is the position you want to apply to. For other open positions, visit here.
    
2. Create Your Profile – You’ll need to register by creating your profile before applying. Input the required information, and then get started on your application.
    
3. Start Your Application – Tell us about your motivations, skills, and experience. You’ll also need to provide two professional references.
    
4. Submit Your Application – After completing your application, submit it to the specific service opportunities you want to pursue, which can be more than one.

✔ Be sure to use the visual guide to walk you step-by-step through the process and consider signing up for one of our application and selection webinars.