The Right Question Institute (RQI) is looking for an eager Program Associate to support the work of our Education team. This position offers a unique opportunity to be a part of a passionate, intellectually curious team, effect change in the field of education, and support educators in their work to transform thinking and learning in the classroom.
About us
Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts (with several staff now based outside of Massachusetts), RQI is a nonprofit organization that aims to make education and democracy work better. RQI offers a simple, powerful strategy that builds people’s skills to ask better questions, learn, participate more effectively in decisions that affect them, and advocate for themselves. RQI works across a variety of fields. In the field of education, our vision is that every student will learn to ask and pursue their own questions and, by building that skill, become engaged critical thinkers, curious lifelong learners, and active advocates for themselves and their communities.
The cornerstone of RQI’s Education program is the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), a powerful step-by-step protocol designed to teach students how to formulate, improve upon, and use their own questions. We support educators in using the strategy by developing free resources and powerful professional learning experiences. The Education Program Associate will work closely with RQI’s Director of Professional Learning and Education Program Coordinator to advance this vision by supporting key aspects of the education team’s work.
Your Role
The Education Program Associate is a crucial member of the Education team. The Associate will work as a meaningful thought-partner to colleagues, collaborate closely with senior staff, and help develop, manage, and drive projects, strategies, and opportunities.
As Education Program Associate, your responsibilities include the following:
- Phone & Email Communications with Educators:
You are the first point of contact with educators who reach out to us via our contact request form and phone line. You will answer teachers’ questions and respond to requests for professional development. You will eventually be reaching out and initiating your own conversations with educators as well as managing communications for other projects.
- Social Media & Website:
You will keep our online presence active, engaging, and user-friendly by routinely updating our website and posting to our social media channels.
- Online Courses:
You will play an essential role in delivering our online courses to teachers. You will learn the ins and outs of Canvas, our Learning Management System (LMS), and will eventually be able to set up and manage courses on your own.
- Events & Presentations:
You will support preparation and logistics for our virtual and in-person events and presentations. This may include developing powerpoints, creating flyers, setting up a conference booth, running tech on Zoom, and more.
- Impact:
You will be the keeper and presenter of our program’s impact data. This means you will find ways to collect quantitative and qualitative data about the teachers we are reaching (such as by sending out surveys or looking at Google Analytics) and create effective visuals that we can use in grant reports and other places.
This is an exciting time to join a fast-growing organization that is an emerging leader in the field of education. RQI is committed to supporting the professional growth of each employee, and we expect the responsibilities in this role will expand and deepen over time. In addition to the responsibilities above, in the past, people in this role have carved out areas of interest and taken leadership of independent projects such as:
- Writing or recruiting teachers to write new blogs and news posts
- Graphic design & user experience: updating the “look” of old resources, designing sleek visuals for the website or newsletter in Canva, re-working web pages that are difficult to navigate
- Moderating a community group or forum for educators in our network
- Conducting an analysis of diversity and representation across our network
- Building relationships with teachers who work in subjects, grade levels, geographic areas, etc. that are underrepresented in our network
- Spearheading logistics for an RQI-run conference
- Applying to write an article for an education journal or magazine
Remote work setting
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, RQI has shifted from working mostly in-person to almost 100% remote. While RQI employees work from home the majority of the time, RQI provides part-time access to office space in a co-working location for those who are local to Boston, Massachusetts and convenes in-person staff retreats 1-2 times a year. Staff will also occasionally travel together for conferences, presentations, or other events. While we are based in Massachusetts, you do not have to live in Massachusetts to apply. In fact, several members of our current staff work across states and time zones. However, you must be currently eligible to work in the US.
Qualifications
- You are a self-motivated worker who is able to independently make connections and push the work 2-3 steps beyond what is required. You work well when given a loose task and the space to run with it.
- Excellent written and verbal communication. You are equally comfortable writing emails in a professional setting and articulating and advocating for your point of view for external and internal audiences.
- You are deliberate, organized, and diligent. You can keep track of different projects simultaneously, and can work to a deadline.
- Reflective, receptive to feedback, and genuinely motivated by learning. You view writing as an evolving process and enjoy giving and receiving feedback. You thrive in an iterative environment where a presentation or piece of writing may go through multiple editors and multiple drafts.
- Familiarity and comfort with social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or a willingness to learn more and become an in-house expert.
- Fluency in Google suite platforms (docs, sheets, slides, forms, keep, calendar), Microsoft suite including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Live Meeting software including Zoom and Google Meet, and a readiness to learn additional apps. Additionally, it is helpful if you have experience and/or interest in learning educational technology used by teachers for virtual and hybrid learning. When senior staff wonder whether it is possible to design something new in this software, you will find a way to make it happen.
- You have some background in education or an unrelenting excitement to dive into the field and learn as much as you can.
- A commitment to advance RQI’s mission.
- B.A. required; M.A. welcome.
Starting salary $45,000
Why work for RQI?
You will work in a mission-driven, collaborative, and intellectually stimulating environment, with colleagues who are passionate about the work we do. A strong candidate will have numerous opportunities for professional growth, including participation in regional or national education events and conferences, frequent interactions with teachers, school principals, standards and curriculum writers, organizational directors, and other leaders in the field of education, and the freedom to propose and pursue independent projects as they align with the mission and vision of our work.
Compensation & Benefits
In addition to meaningful work and the opportunity to engage with a growing international community, RQI provides an excellent compensation and benefits package including medical, dental, a 401(k) program with a discretionary organizational contribution, and generous paid time off. This position also offers remote work flexibility.
To Apply
Why are you the right person to be doing this work?
Please submit the following to Katy Connolly, Education Program Coordinator, at jobs2@rightquestion.org.
1) A cover letter
2) Your CV/resume
Applications with no cover letter will not be considered. We encourage you to spend some time crafting a cover letter that tells your story and makes a clear connection to the work of the Right Question Institute. We prioritize reading every cover letter as we value the insight it gives into your writing style.
Deadline
Applications are due October 2, 2023. Candidates will be contacted after this deadline for phone interviews.
Start date: as soon as possible
The Right Question Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We are strongly committed to hiring a diverse and multicultural staff and encourage applications from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.