Joy, Justice & Equity Specialist (3095)

The Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) is seeking a Joy, Justice & Equity Specialist to join our Joy & Justice in Schools team.

We are looking for an educator-facilitator who believes that schools can be places where every student experiences belonging, dignity, challenge, and connection. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable working with students and educators, facilitating dialogue, coaching teachers, designing engaging learning experiences, and supporting schools as they strengthen equitable and inclusive practices.

This role is primarily focused on teaching, learning, and student experience. Working as part of a collaborative consulting team, the Specialist will help translate the Joy & Justice framework into classroom practice, student leadership development, professional learning, and school culture initiatives.

The position includes direct work with students, teachers, school leaders, and community members across a variety of school districts and educational settings.

• Work with students. Design and facilitate leadership experiences, workshops, and dialogues that bring young people together across identity and perspective, and help schools elevate student voice in decisions that affect them.
• Coach teachers and support curriculum. Partner with educators through classroom coaching, observation, and feedback, and help them strengthen culturally responsive and sustaining practice in what and how they teach.
• Design and lead professional learning. Co-create and facilitate professional development, retreats, and professional learning communities for teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals on belonging, identity, equity, school climate, bias, and dialogue.
• Support schools through bias and harm. Help school teams prevent bias, respond when it happens, and repair relationships afterward, using the team's Joy & Justice in Schools Framework.
• Partner across districts. Join listening sessions, planning meetings, and implementation teams, and help build the tools and resources the Joy & Justice team uses across its work.
• Work closely with your team. Plan, facilitate, and reflect alongside the four-person Joy & Justice team, where the work shifts with each school and you rarely work on your own.

The strongest candidates will be educators who can move fluidly between classrooms, workshops, and community spaces.

They understand that belonging is shaped not only by relationships and school culture, but also by what and how students are taught. They are skilled facilitators and thoughtful educators who can build trust with students, support teacher growth, and help school communities engage across differences with curiosity, courage, and care.

They are reflective practitioners who value learning, collaboration, and continuous growth.

 You are likely a strong fit if:

• You value dialogue and depth. You do your best work in small groups, learning communities, and honest conversation - but you can also work a crowd with a mic.
• You stay grounded under pressure. You can meet conflict, resistance, and discomfort with steadiness and care.
• You understand how people learn. You design for both young people and adults, and you know how to keep a room engaged.
• You collaborate with flexibility and confidence. You communicate clearly, adjust as the work changes, and keep the team aligned on strategy and care.
• You are highly adaptive. You thrive in dynamic environments, possess exceptional problem-solving skills, and maintain a steady, professional presence under stress.
• Your background includes: a Master's degree in Social Justice Education (or a related field or equivalent experience) and current knowledge of equity research in education.

A Note on Qualifications: If you don't meet every single credential listed above but know your unique combination of background, lived experience, and practice has prepared you for this vital work, we strongly encourage you to apply and tell us your story.

Working Environment

• Requires working a flexible schedule to include scheduled evening meetings and other professional development events, as needed
• Ability to work productively with frequent interruptions and competing demands
• Requires frequent travel within Massachusetts

Terms of Employment

• Full-time, year-round position
• 35 hours/week, Monday - Friday
• Benefits: as outlined in the CES Personnel Policies
• Salary range: $61,600 to $92,400
  • We expect candidates hired into this position to begin in the $61,600 to $77,000 range.

The Joy & Justice in Schools team partners with schools and districts to cultivate learning environments rooted in belonging, dignity, accountability, and collective care.

Our work supports educational communities in strengthening relationships, responding thoughtfully to conflict and harm, fostering student leadership, building educator capacity, and creating conditions where all students can thrive. Much of this work is organized through our School Culture and Bias Response Framework, which offers schools a roadmap for prevention, immediate response, and long-term community repair. Our approach is deeply informed by the Social Justice Education frameworks at UMass Amherst and the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley.

We draw from a range of approaches, including:

• Social justice education and liberatory consciousness
• Culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies
• Healing-centered engagement
• Dialogue and conflict transformation
• Restorative and relational practices
• Youth–adult partnership
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• Equity-centered leadership and systems change

We work in rural, suburban, and urban communities and support educators navigating an increasingly complex educational and social landscape.

CES is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome candidates from all cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds. Candidates whose backgrounds are well suited to understanding and addressing the needs of the diverse student populations we serve are encouraged to apply.