What’s more fun than a playground? Nothing. That’s why you should work for KaBOOM! – a non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in the USA. Darell Hammond started KaBOOM! in 1995 with its first community playground build after he read about two children who suffocated while playing in an abandoned car in Washington, D.C. He wanted to make sure that a tragedy like that would never happen again. Today KaBOOM! is building hundreds of play places every year and giving children – especially those in low-income, urban neighborhoods – safe places to have fun.

KaBOOM! has been so successful because of the partnerships they have built with community members, corporations, and public entities. They’ve partnered with Home Depot, NASCAR, and Build-A-Bear Workshops. KaBOOM! even got their own Ben & Jerry’s flavor with proceeds from the purchases going to building playgrounds. Beyond these partnerships, the real key to KaBOOM’s (we didn’t think an apostrophe after an exclamation point was proper) success is their ability to rally community support. Whether they are building playgrounds in your backyard or in areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, they always seem to have an amazing amount of volunteer participation.

So do you want to work at a place where it’s completely normal to have toys on your desk? KaBOOM! is currently hiring for three entry-level positions, all of which appear to be based out of their Washington, D.C. headquarters. The first position, Associate Project Manager, would require significant travel with you working in the trenches most days. This is a hands on job for someone who has the experience (just because you haven’t had a full-time job doesn’t mean you don’t have experience) to plan and manage the building of playgrounds. The other two positions, Online Content Manager and Computer Support Specialist, are both office positions, but are essential to the continued growth and success of KaBOOM!. In these positions you will be helping them leverage technology to make more playgrounds accessible to kids. We’d like to think they’ll occasionally let you out for “recess” too.

KaBOOM’s job descriptions are pretty in-depth, but they seem a little dry for an organization devoted to play. Head over to their Careers page and start poking around. If you get distracted, come back here and try to win a Wii. It’s your last chance!

Note: On April 26th we revisited entry-level jobs at KaBOOM!.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• The KaBOOM! Home Page
• Careers at Kaboom!
• The KaBOOM! Story
• What KaBOOM! Does
• KaBOOM! Photo Galleries
• KaBOOM! Staff Blog
• The KaBOOM! Team
• KaBOOM! FAQ
• Find or Rate a Playground
• KaBOOM! Wins a 2005 Fast Company Social Capitalist Award

Ok, we lied. A Nintendo Wii is definitely more fun than a playground. That’s why we’re giving one away. If you disagree and think playgrounds are better, leave a comment.

We've identified KaBOOM! as having career opportunities in the following categories:

• all employers
• California
• Georgia
• Illinois
• information technology
• non-profit
• project management
• Washington DC

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