thinkLaw’s vision is a world where critical thinking is taught by all teachers and to all students, leveling the playing field for 21st century success. To that end, thinkLaw seeks an Expert Trainer to dramatically increase thinkLaw’s access and impact to help educators make this vision a reality. 

thinkLaw exists to create a world where critical thinking is no longer a luxury good. We help educators teach critical thinking to all students, not just the highest achieving ones at the most exclusive schools. Rote memorization and spoon-fed learning will not prepare young people for the rapidly changing workforce that awaits them. This is why thinkLaw increases educational equity by giving all students access to critical thinking. We do this through our award-winning curriculum that uses real-life legal cases in upper grades and fairy tales and nursery rhymes in lower grades as a hook to unleash the critical thinking potential of all students and powerful professional development that helps educators apply rigorous inquiry strategies that help them transform from asking “what” and “how to” to “why” and “what if.”

thinkLaw has partnered with over 500 school systems and organizations in 40 states in since launching in June 2015 and has thousands of opportunities for new partnerships due to our tremendous exposure through national and regional education conferences, social media and email marketing efforts, district-wide approvals in hundreds of schools districts, and the success of our founder’s books, Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students and Tangible Equity: A Guide to Leveraging Student Identity, Culture, and Power to Unlock Excellence In and Beyond the Classroom. 

At thinkLaw, the expert trainer’s aim is to initiate new training and professional development (PD) opportunities, customize and expertly deliver engaging content, and work closely with the team to elevate and expand thinkLaw’s work. Success will require the Expert Trainer to bring a passion for thinkLaw’s mission, the ability to develop and skillfully deliver content, and experience in leading adult learners in the K-12 sphere. And, because of your success, you will help thinkLaw to continue to interrupt inequities in education across the country.

Can you help our small but mighty startup team expand the reach and impact of our professional development to transform the instructional practices of educators in over 40 states? 

Responsibilities 

Develop

The Expert Trainer will cultivate training opportunities and customize content to make equity real at the classroom level based on our partners’ specific contexts and challenges. Specifically, in this role, you will:

• Research professional development opportunities and design training proposals in order to provide support for educators in order to interrupt inequities in education across the country.
• Develop, customize, and finalize new and current training sessions that are catered toward adult learners, strategically spotlighting issues and integrating practices related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) into all existing and new professional development content.
• Understand the unique differences between conference sessions, professional development workshops, and self-hosted online webinars, creating, remixing and utilizing content and materials to meet the needs of any given setting.  
• Execute the mining, curation, and remixing of present content from past and present programs and initiatives, further bolstering the offerings as it fits into the strategic map of content and resources.

Deliver 

How the Expert Trainer conducts training sessions will convey that they are indeed a skilled speaker who can thoughtfully and clearly address participants’ needs, matching a solution to a problem, and thereby building trust and credibility with each participant. Specifically, in this role, you will:

• Facilitate clear and engaging professional learning opportunities for groups as small as 3 to larger than 5,000, for both in-person and in remote/virtual settings.
• Orate easy-to-understand, powerful, but practical concepts with a dynamic delivery, story-telling, and stage presence such that the message resonates in the hearts, minds, and day-to-day actions of our partners.
• Provide such a compelling experience that teachers and other K-12 adult learners feel as though taking next steps from their session with you will actually make a difference in their classroom rather than adding “just one more thing.”      

Communicate 

The Expert Trainer will be curious about participant feedback and eager to implement helpful improvements that further support learners and thinkLaw’s work to support more educators. Specifically, in this role, you will:

• Use survey data to ensure ability to meet all performance targets including high satisfaction rates among participants and strong rates of expansion due to professional learning initiatives.     
• Facilitate cross-organizational collaboration with the Director of Partner Success and Chief Learning Officer, keeping the larger picture in mind and leveraging learnings from the past and present program efforts.
• Provide participant insight to the curriculum development team on what innovation and continuous improvement is needed for continued success.
• With the leadership and curriculum team, lead the development and refinement of the bigger-picture, strategic map of internally-generated content and from this codify the “formula” for thinkLaw’s programmatic content.       

Expert Trainer Profile 

We encourage candidates to apply who may not have every single quality of this profile, yet have significant, relevant capabilities and experience that would allow them to succeed in this role.

Attributes 

• An expert-level prioritizer, able to manage time skillfully and tackle tasks, both large and small, with efficiency and effectiveness. 
• An independent and innovative self-starter, with strong cross-group collaboration skills and relentlessly persistent follow-up.
• Goals- and results-oriented, proactive about dismantling roadblocks and adapting quickly to change.
• Eager for feedback to support your own continual development and to support the positive outcomes for the organization.
• As passionate about education equity as you are about doing the unsexy tasks necessary to move important work forward, with an ongoing dedication to DEIB, developing your cultural competence, and embodying anti-racist leadership and inclusiveness.
• An approachable, precise communicator, capable of speaking with intention from an authentic position without being cliche or relying on buzzwords. 
• Principled, with an impeccable reputation for honesty and integrity.

Knowledge and Expertise

The Expert Trainer will have a/n:

• Deep understanding of how Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) issues impact classrooms across the country and the “how” of equipping teachers, leaders, students, and families with practical tools to make equity a reality. 
• Strong sense of empathy for the realities of classroom educators, school leaders, and school system leaders. Ability to build credibility and trust by understanding and addressing participant requirements and programming needs. 
• Ability to translate theoretical concepts and frameworks into practical actions that are easily understood and implemented by any education stakeholder from a novice teacher to a veteran school system leader.
• Toolkit for creating learning experiences that are engaging, meaningful, intentional, and solutions-focused.

Education and Experience 

The Expert Trainer will have education and experience in the following areas:

• Bachelor’s degree with seven years of experience in related positions required. Masters (or higher) preferred.
• At least 5 years experience teaching and coaching, developing curriculum or content, facilitating professional development, and/or supporting educators and administrators in a K-12 setting is required.  
• Additional preferred experience:
  
  • Experience teaching or developing content for gifted education students. 
  • Influencing key stakeholders (senior/executive administrators) and decision-makers in K-12 education.
  • Writing proposals to be able to speak at conferences or professional development sessions.
  • Leadership positions with demonstrated success in managing projects and teams.

Benefits

• Autonomy and independence within a flexible work environment (work-from-home) and family-friendly business practices.
• Salary:  $75,000 annually   
• Competitive benefits, including healthcare and dental coverage reimbursements.
• The opportunity to work for a mission-based, social enterprise that is revolutionizing education.

Commitment to Equity 

thinkLaw and the Bee Project are equal opportunity, affirmative action employers and are committed to addressing issues of racism and inequity.  We are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace where every staff member feels heard, supported, valued, and can share their authentic brilliance to move the mission forward. Applicants who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, parents, women, people with disabilities, queer, trans, non-binary, immigrants, and anyone who has experienced systemic oppression and/or gender-based violence are encouraged to apply. 

Location
thinkLaw is a national organization and the Expert Trainer can be located anywhere. 

Schedule
The Expert Trainer will have a flexible schedule, and will be expected to manage evening presentations Monday through Thursday, as well as some Saturdays, when needed. 

Travel
Some training sessions are virtual while others are in person. The Expert Trainer can expect 50% travel in busier months. 

Apply Now!

If you have a passion for the K-12 ecosystem, amazing rapport with educators and families, and possess a desire to deeply understand and elevate the effectiveness of thinkLaw’s content, programming, and products to serve them, we want to hear from you!  Please review the job description details and apply using the Application Guidance below as soon as possible to have your candidacy considered for this amazing role! 

OneTeacher is conducting the executive search for thinkLaw’s Expert Trainer. At OneTeacher we care deeply about education equity and connect individuals and organizations that will advance this cause. We partner with like-minded organizations like thinkLaw to support them in making a match with professionals who will make their vision and mission a reality. 

Application Guidance

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis with priority given to those who apply by March 28, 2022.  

Please submit all application components in a single email to erin.tobin@oneteacheraz.com. Applications should include the components listed below:

1) A resume.

2)  A link to a video library or a clip of you when you have recently trained/presented at a conference, via a webinar, or during a professional development session. 

3) A thoughtful and compelling cover letter that addresses:

• Why are you interested in working with thinkLaw? Please share what about thinkLaw inspires you and why.
• What relevant qualifications and experience do you bring to this role? 
• Brief description of the clip you’re sending that shows your recent professional development/training facilitation (audience, date, objective of the training, and your reflection on your presentation.) If there are multiple people leading the training, please signify who you are in the presentation.

4) A list of three references* that includes names, affiliation, relationship to you while you worked together, email addresses and phone numbers.
*References will not be contacted until the final stage of the search and candidates will be given an opportunity to notify their references in advance.

 ** Priority Application Deadline: March 28th, 2022 **