Lawyer, Human Rights & Education
Status: Contract,
Part-time Location: Vancouver, BC
HybridRate: $100/hour
Year 1 Budget: Up to $25,000 / approximately 250 hours
Year 2 Budget: Up to $50,000 / approximately 500 hours
Potential Two-Year Contract Value: Up to $75,000
Who we are
The BC Community Alliance (BCCA) is a local Black-led, community-based organization formed in 2019 and registered as a nonprofit in 2020. BCCA is dedicated to addressing structural inequities created by racism, particularly anti-Black racism, within British Columbia’s education system.
BCCA was formed in response to a crisis involving violent, hate-fuelled threats and anti-Black racism at Lord Byng Secondary School in Vancouver. While that incident was foundational to our creation, BCCA is more broadly a response to the racism, discrimination and structural barriers experienced by Black and racialized students and families throughout the education system.
Through advocacy, community education, direct support and initiatives such as the Safe Schools Hub, BCCA works alongside students, families, schools and community partners to strengthen accountability, improve access to support and advance safer and more equitable learning environments.
BCCA is now developing the Safe Schools Legal Access Hub, a hybrid in-person and online initiative designed to improve access to justice for Black students and families navigating challenges within the education system. The Hub combines culturally responsive public legal education with direct legal advice and navigation support.
Who we’re looking for
BC Community Alliance is seeking an experienced Lawyer, Human Rights & Education to provide legal expertise to BCCA and support the development and delivery of the Safe Schools Legal Access Hub.
The successful lawyer will provide practical, culturally responsive legal guidance to students and families dealing with racism, discrimination and other challenges within education systems.
This role will also help BCCA build the legal infrastructure of the Safe Schools Legal Access Hub, including its resources, legal pathways, intake processes, referral systems and community legal education.
We are looking for someone who understands that families navigating racism within education systems often need more than general legal information. They need clear guidance that helps them understand their rights, assess their options and determine appropriate next steps.
What you’ll do
Legal Advice & Case Support
- Provide legal advice related to racism, discrimination and human rights concerns affecting students and families within education settings.
- Review appropriate matters submitted or referred through the Safe Schools Hub and Safe Schools Legal Access Hub.
- Help students and families understand their legal rights, available remedies and complaint or review processes.
- Advise on matters involving discrimination, school discipline, suspensions, exclusions, accommodations and other education-related concerns.
- Provide strategic guidance regarding school district processes, human rights complaints, administrative proceedings and other appropriate legal pathways.
- Support BCCA staff and legal navigators in understanding legal options and referral pathways.
- Refer matters to external counsel or specialized legal services where appropriate.
The Safe Schools Legal Access Hub is designed to provide free legal advice through lawyers and other legal professionals alongside trained legal navigators who support families with documentation, forms and institutional processes.
Public Legal Education & Information
- Develop and review plain-language legal resources for students, parents, caregivers and community members.
- Create legal guides, templates, checklists and other practical tools for the Safe Schools Legal Access Hub.
- Support resources addressing:
- human rights in schools;
- racism and discrimination;
- discipline and suspensions;
- navigating complaints;
- student and parent rights;
- accommodations;
- documentation and evidence; and
- advocating for children within education systems.
- Deliver or participate in webinars, workshops, information sessions and community legal education.
- Ensure BCCA’s legal information is accurate, practical, culturally responsive and accessible to people without legal training.
BCCA’s current project plan includes workshops, printed toolkits, digital resources and plain-language legal education addressing human rights, discipline, complaints and advocacy within education systems.
Human Rights, Policy & Systemic Advocacy
- Advise BCCA on human rights and anti-discrimination frameworks affecting students.
- Identify recurring or systemic legal issues emerging through Safe Schools Hub cases.
- Support BCCA’s policy advocacy relating to racism, discrimination, accountability and school-system responses.
- Provide legal review of policy recommendations and advocacy materials where appropriate.
- Help BCCA understand how patterns emerging from individual cases may inform broader systemic advocacy.
- Support the development of stronger institutional responses to racism within education systems while maintaining appropriate confidentiality.
Program & Legal Infrastructure Development
- Help establish the legal-service model for the Safe Schools Legal Access Hub.
- Develop appropriate intake, triage, referral and escalation procedures.
- Help determine which matters require legal advice, legal navigation, external representation or other community supports.
- Collaborate with legal navigators, program staff and other participating lawyers.
- Develop internal protocols for handling sensitive legal matters.
- Help establish appropriate boundaries between legal advice, legal information, advocacy and navigation services.
- Participate in periodic program planning and case-review meetings.
- Identify service gaps and recommend improvements to the Hub’s legal-support model.
Privacy, Ethics & Risk
- Advise on confidentiality, privilege, informed consent and appropriate handling of client information.
- Support development of protocols governing interactions between lawyers, legal navigators, BCCA staff and families.
- Advise on privacy requirements connected to collecting, storing and using information through the Safe Schools Legal Access Hub.
- Identify professional, ethical and legal risks associated with program delivery.
- Help ensure that BCCA’s legal-service model operates consistently with applicable professional obligations and standards.
What you bring
- Membership in good standing with the Law Society of British Columbia, or appropriate authorization to practise law in British Columbia.
- Experience in one or more of:
- human rights law;
- education law;
- administrative law;
- discrimination matters;
- public-interest law;
- civil liberties; or
- community legal advocacy.
- Strong understanding of human rights and anti-discrimination frameworks.
- Excellent legal research, analysis and writing skills.
- Ability to provide practical and proportionate legal advice.
- Ability to translate complex legal concepts into accessible, plain-language information.
- Experience working with nonprofits, legal clinics, community organizations, government bodies, school districts or public institutions is an asset.
- Experience developing legal education materials or delivering workshops is an asset.
- Excellent professional judgment, discretion and attention to confidentiality.
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to work independently within a flexible professional-services arrangement.
- A culturally responsive and trauma-informed approach when working with individuals who may have experienced racism, discrimination or institutional harm.
BCCA’s project recognizes that Black students and families can face barriers to affordable and culturally relevant legal support, while experiences of racism and systemic bias can contribute to mistrust of formal institutions.
Contract Structure
This is a professional legal-services contract compensated at $100 per hour.
Year 1
BCCA anticipates allocating up to:
250 hours at $100/hour
for a maximum annual contract value of:
$25,000
The first year will place significant emphasis on establishing the legal infrastructure of the Safe Schools Legal Access Hub, developing resources and protocols, supporting initial cases and helping BCCA build a strong community-based legal support model.
Year 2
Subject to continued funding, program needs and satisfactory performance, BCCA anticipates expanding the engagement to up to:
500 hours at $100/hour
for a maximum annual contract value of:
$50,000
As the Hub grows, the second year is expected to include increased direct legal support, clinic activity, public legal education, case consultation and ongoing development of BCCA’s legal services.
The anticipated engagement therefore represents a potential:
750 professional hours and $75,000 in legal fees over two years.
Hours will be scheduled collaboratively based on program and client needs. Work may include direct legal advice, consultations, legal research, resource development, workshops, program planning and case review.
What we offer
- $100/hour professional contract rate.
- Up to $25,000 in Year 1.
- Anticipated growth to up to $50,000 in Year 2.
- Flexible hybrid scheduling.
- The opportunity to help build a community-based legal access initiative from its early stages.
- Meaningful direct work supporting Black students and families navigating education and human-rights systems.
- Opportunities to shape BCCA’s legal education, legal navigation and community-based access-to-justice model.
- Collaboration with BCCA staff, legal navigators, community partners and other legal professionals.
- The opportunity to contribute both to individual access to justice and broader systemic change.
Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility
BCCA is strengthened by diversity. We are committed to creating a workplace and network of professionals that is equitable, inclusive and representative of the communities we serve.
As a Black-led and founded organization, we intentionally work to strengthen representation and leadership from Canada’s diverse Black population while welcoming qualified applicants from diverse and equity-deserving backgrounds who share our commitment to equity and justice.
BCCA is committed to providing an accessible and barrier-free recruitment and selection process.
If you require accommodations when completing an application, interviewing or otherwise participating in our hiring process, please contact .
Application Process
Don’t meet every preferred qualification but believe your legal background and experience would allow you to make a meaningful contribution? We encourage you to apply.
We recognize that expertise can develop through different areas of legal practice, advocacy and community engagement.
Special Note: To ensure a fair and efficient review process, applicants are asked not to contact BCCA’s Co-founders, Steering Committee, staff, volunteers or vendors directly via email, LinkedIn or other channels regarding this opportunity.
All applications will be reviewed following the application deadline, and qualified candidates will be contacted directly by our team.
Exception: If you have already been communicating with a BCCA team member regarding this opportunity, you may continue through your existing email thread.
Job Types: Part-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 3 months
Pay: $100.00 per hour
Expected hours: No more than 125.0 per week
Benefits:
- Company events
- Work from home
Flexible language requirement:
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Vancouver, BC V5P 3V6: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (preferred)
Application question(s):
- Are you legally entitled to work in Canada? (Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident)
Education:
- Bachelor's Degree (required)
Experience:
- Civil Rights Law: 3 years (required)
- Education Law: 3 years (required)
- Human Rights Law: 3 years (required)
Licence/Certification:
- LSBC Member Number (required)
- Criminal Record / Vulnerable Sector Check (required)
Willingness to travel:
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Vancouver, BC V5P 3V6
