Public Legal Education Manager (two-year contract)
Who We Are
The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the equality rights of women, girls, trans, and non-binary people in Canada through litigation, law reform, and public legal education. For more than 35 years, LEAF’s work has influenced the evolution of constitutional equality principles in Canada and made an important difference in the daily lives of women, girls, and people who experience gender-based discrimination across the country.
LEAF’s national office is located in downtown Toronto, or Tkarón:to, which is a Mohawk word that means “the place in the water where trees are standing.” This land is governed by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, a nation-to-nation peace agreement between the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, the Wendat, and other allied nations.
LEAF also has eleven volunteer-run member branches across the country. LEAF branches run public education programs for youth, hold events on gender equality in their communities, and engage in law reform initiatives at the local level.
Who You Are
You are passionate about feminist advocacy and public legal education. You have experience delivering public education, ideally on legal issues, and working with high school and post-secondary-aged youth. You are energized by working as part of a team and in collaboration with volunteers from across Canada committed to gender equity. You bring an intersectional feminist lens to your work – including your analysis, collaborations, and communication style.
Primary Job Responsibilities
The Public Legal Education (PLE) Manager is a new position. The PLE Manager will design, manage, evaluate, and participate in facilitating LEAF’s PLE programs, and provide important support to LEAF’s broader PLE work.
More specifically, the PLE Manager will be responsible for the following:
PLE Program Design, Management, and Evaluation
- Working with the Executive Director & General Counsel to develop annual Public Legal Education (PLE) plans
- Managing LEAF’s PLE programs and branch executive members who assist in the delivery of LEAF PLE programs
- Updating and maintaining existing curriculum and materials for all educational programs, in consultation with volunteer branches, youth-focused organizations, youth, and LEAF’s Education Committee
- Creating new curriculum and materials as required by project grants
- Consulting with members of LEAF’s Legal Team to ensure accuracy and timeliness of legal information in educational programming
- Developing digital-delivery workshop formats for LEAF PLE programs
- Assisting branches in training education program facilitators, particularly in providing content for the training and providing facilitators with necessary information and materials
- Facilitating public legal education sessions, as needed
- Working with the Office and Branch Relations Coordinator to develop and implement a volunteer database of LEAF branch members, workshop facilitators, and other volunteers
- Assisting with development and implementation of PLE program evaluation
- Reporting results of evaluation to the Executive Director & General Counsel and other staff and board as required
Broader PLE Support
- Supporting and coordinating LEAF staff who are doing public speaking engagements, as needed
- Working with LEAF staff to organize PLE panels and webinars, as needed
- Speaking as needed on topics related to LEAF’s PLE work
- Working with the Communications and Advocacy Manager to ensure PLE information and materials are accessible online, including through LEAF’s website, email list-serv, and social media feeds
- Manage library resources with Office and Branch Relations Coordinator and volunteers to ensure resources are accessible and up to date
Essential Qualifications
- A post-secondary degree or equivalent experience in education, social sciences, humanities, and/or a related field
- Expertise in plain language communication
- Experience designing and/or facilitating public legal education workshops
- Experience designing and/or facilitating educational workshops for youth (high school and college/university)
- Experience working with volunteers
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Able to work independently and also as part of a team
- Experience with project management, ideally with multiple projects at the same time
- Demonstrated commitment to intersectional feminism and/or social justice, including experience within social justice movements and/or organizations
The ideal candidate will also have:
- An LLB, BCL, JD, and/or LLM degree
- A B.Ed. or M.Ed.
- Experience in designing and/or facilitating virtual public legal education workshops
- Experience in developing and delivering “train the trainer” models
- Proficiency in French
Personal qualities
- Exercises sound judgment, accepts responsibility, and treats others with respect
- Approaches learning with curiosity and humility
- Comfortable with giving and taking direction in a collaborative environment
- Shows initiative and collegiality; motivates and encourages others
- Demonstrates flexibility, perspective-taking, and reliability
- Has a passion for gender equality and social justice
Compensation and benefits
The salary range for this position is $72,000 to $77,000, depending on experience. The PLE Manager will also be enrolled in LEAF’s comprehensive health and dental benefits plan, and will start with a 3-week vacation entitlement.
Location
The successful candidate will ideally work out of LEAF’s Toronto office at least two to three days a week.
Hiring process and timeline
Please submit the following in one combined PDF to [email protected]: a cover letter, your CV, and a list of three references (contact name, phone number, and email address). Please address your application to brea hutchinson, Director of Operations. Please use the reference “Public Legal Education Manager” and your name in the subject line.
Applications are due no later than Sunday, February 12, 2023, at 11:59pm ET. Interviews will take place the week of February 20, 2023. The successful candidate will be expected to start on April 3, 2023.
LEAF welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities for all available positions. Where possible, accommodations will be made available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.
LEAF encourages applications from candidates who reflect the diversity of our communities. We strongly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and racialized people, as well as from newcomers, gender-diverse people, and members of other equity-deserving groups. If you are comfortable, please indicate in your cover letter if you identify as a member of an equity-deserving group.
We have made adjustments to our hiring processes due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. At this time, the interview process will occur remotely. We acknowledge that COVID-19 has caused disruptions to many lives and people may require additional accommodations.
We thank all applicants for their interest, but only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
