The Right Question Institute (RQI) is seeking to hire a Program Associate for our Legal Empowerment Program. This position offers an unusual opportunity to work on promoting innovative methods for fostering agency and empowerment of people navigating the legal system and other institutions.

The Program Associate will work closely with the Legal Empowerment Program Director along with other senior staff at RQI to help legal professionals, advocates, and direct service providers working in low-income communities use an educational strategy to build the skills of their clients to ask their own questions and participate effectively in decisions.

This position will allow candidates to gain a deep understanding of non-profit organizational challenges and opportunities. It also provides a chance to work in and learn from a range of contexts in the legal profession and the world of service provision.

About RQI

The Right Question Institute (RQI) occupies a unique place in the landscape of nonprofit organizations. Over the past 30 years, RQI has created and continues to refine transformative educational methods that make it possible for all people, even those farthest from power, to learn to ask better questions and participate more effectively in decisions that affect them.

RQI’s methods are delivered through educational institutions, legal service organizations, public agencies, community-based organizations, and health care providers all over the country and across the world. RQI’s materials, trainings, web-based resources, and consulting services provide a cost-effective way for organizations to strengthen the ability of people they work with to make their voices heard and to advocate effectively for themselves, their families, and their communities.

RQI values its intentional and thoughtful organizational culture, which is characterized by collaboration, openness, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to innovative, iterative thinking centered on learning and continuous improvement. RQI strives to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

About the Legal Empowerment Program

RQI’s Legal Empowerment Program advances justice by helping legal professionals, direct service providers, and advocates serving low-income communities act as catalysts for client agency. We teach simple, powerful methods for people to learn to ask their own questions and participate in decisions– two skills that are critically important for agency. Legal advocates use these methods to help their clients feel greater self-efficacy and independence, partner more effectively with service providers, and advocate for themselves, in the legal system and beyond.

Our vision is a world in which all people are equipped with the skills to navigate systems, advocate for themselves and their communities, and achieve more just outcomes for all—which in turn strengthens a democratic society.

Your Role

As the Program Associate, you will support the director of RQI’s legal empowerment program with project management, delivery of trainings, marketing and outreach, building and maintaining partnerships, fundraising, and measuring and reporting effectiveness.

Strong candidates should demonstrate their ability to be self-driven, organized, and ready to learn quickly and multitask efficiently.

Key responsibilities include:

Coordinating the rollout and implementation of engagements with partner organizations
Managing the logistics and assisting with the delivery of online courses and in-person trainings
Corresponding with potential partners and other stakeholders in the field
Developing marketing materials and managing outreach campaigns
Supporting senior staff in the design and development of training materials and online resources
Supporting senior staff in writing and editing thought pieces
Supporting RQI’s fundraising efforts with law firms, foundations, and individual donors

Requirements and qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree required
Demonstrated skills communicating with multiple stakeholders
Strong creative, strategic, analytical, and organizational skills
Strong oral and written communication skills
Ability to drive projects forward independently
Willingness to take initiative
Experience working in legal-related fields or other direct services a plus

Salary and Benefits

$47,600-$54,825; salary commensurate with experience

RQI offers competitive benefits including health insurance, dental insurance, 401(k) contribution, and a generous PTO policy with an end-of-year break.

How to Apply

Please submit a one-page cover letter and your CV/resume to jobs@rightquestion.org. In your cover letter, tell us why you are interested in the work and why you are the right person for the job. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. We will start the interview process with outstanding applicants as soon as possible.

We will give preference to candidates who are able to work a few days a week in-person in the Cambridge/Boston area, although we will also consider fully remote applicants.

Start date: As soon as possible. We will also consider applicants graduating in the Spring of 2025.

The Right Question Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We are strongly committed to hiring a diverse staff and encourage applications from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.

Right Question Institute jobs

Program Associate, Legal Empowerment Program