Northern Virginia Families For Safe Streets (“NoVA FSS”) is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization focused on pedestrian safety in Fairfax and all Northern Virginia. NoVA FSS has chapters in Fairfax (Ffx FSS), Arlington (Arl FSS) and Alexandria (AFSS). NoVA FSS created a “Near Miss” app for people to report a Near Miss or Dangerous Location on our website. The Near Miss Dashboard is a real time visualization of crowdsourced reports submitted by people who walk, bike and/or drive on Northern Virginia streets and sidewalks. The dashboard also shows the State of Virginia’s TREDS data where pedestrians & cyclists have been killed or seriously injured. By displaying our forward indicator of Near Miss reports that may be predictive in nature on top of the TREDS history of where people have been killed or seriously injured, we can educate community members about the risk of dangerous locations on our streets. We conduct pedestrian street safety educational programs for middle school students in our chapter jurisdictions. We also advocate with transportation authorities and policymakers about implementing road safety designs and/or changing traffic regulations to improve safety on our streets. Today we have over 2,000 Near Miss reports on our web site. To see the dashboard click Near Miss Dashboard (arcgis.com)
NoVA FSS has internship opportunities available (in person or virtual) for the summer and/or fall semester of 2024. This is an unpaid internship. Below is a list of projects we need help with executing.
- Local outreach campaigns by helping staff NoVA FSS tables at Farmers Markets, County Fairs, and other community events. NoVA FSS volunteers hand out 3-way blinkers for people to use as they walk at night crossing streets plus we distribute the Near Miss QR code 2×3 cards for people to submit NM entries.
- Data analyst – Use NoVA FSS Near Miss and Dangerous Locations and Virginia DMV’s TREDS data to conduct analyses that support actions to remediate high risk streets and roadways. We are experimenting with ChatGPT and other AI applications to advance our ability to summarize the data in a format easy for the public, the police, the street engineers and the politicians to understand and take action on to improve safety on our streets.
- Pedestrian safety policy analyst to research and review state legislation addressing pedestrian safety. Analyze legislation, explain opportunities for advocacy and support and develop positions for NoVA FSS.
- Grants research and writing – Research opportunities for grants to fund NoVA FSS education and advocacy and support writing of the grants.
- Website development – WordPress developer who can work with NoVA FSS board members to develop means to plan and implement enhancements that enable greater community engagement and participation in advocacy efforts.
- Digital marketing & communications – strong writer and graphics designer to support social media, email communications, web site content development; knowledge of Canva is a plus. We are also developing a pedestrian / cyclist educational program for High School students so knowledge of gamification apps would be helpful.
- Fundraising – developing fund raising campaigns to be fulfilled via email, social media, and website.
This is a great opportunity for students who have an interest in community advocacy, local and state level transportation policy, data analytics based on GIS (geographic information systems), grants research and writing, marketing of a public service advocacy organization, digital communications, content development, website development and graphics design.
Skills:
- Good writing skills
- Posting skills in all social media platforms
- Data analytical skills
- Familiarity with ChatGPT
- Ability to write AI algorithms is a plus.
- Knowledge of developing gamification app is a big plus.
Time: Starting in May or early June through the beginning of August
Hours: ~ 20 to 30 hours per week with flexible schedule
Contact: Mike Doyle, Founder
Email: mike@novafss.org
Phone: (703) 946-8401
Northern Virginia Families For Safe Streets
1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 600
Alexandria, VA 22314