Lawyer

$100 per hour

Year 1: Up to $25,000 / approximately 250 hours

Year 2: Subject to funding and program needs, up to $50,000 / approximately 500 hours

Potential two-year value: Up to $75,000

The BC Community Alliance (BCCA) is seeking an experienced British Columbia lawyer to help develop and deliver the Safe Schools Legal Access Hub, a community-based initiative improving access to justice for Black students and families navigating racism, discrimination, and other challenges within education systems.

ABOUT BCCA

Founded in 2019 and incorporated as a nonprofit in 2020, BC Community Alliance is a Black-led organization advancing equity, safety, well-being, and economic mobility for Black, African, and Caribbean communities across British Columbia.

We combine community-rooted supports, youth leadership and entrepreneurship programs, creative storytelling, and evidence-based policy and research to translate community needs into healing, empowerment, accountability, and systemic change.

BCCA is developing a hybrid, in-person and online legal-access model combining:

• Culturally responsive public legal education
• Direct legal advice and case consultation
• Trained legal navigation
• Intake, triage, and referral pathways
• Practical tools for students, parents, and caregivers
• Evidence-informed systemic advocacy

Families experiencing racism within education systems often need more than general legal information. They need clear, practical guidance to understand their rights, assess their options, document what happened, and determine an appropriate next step.

The lawyer will support individual access to justice while helping BCCA build a responsible, ethical, and sustainable service.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Legal advice and case support

• Provide practical legal advice concerning racism, discrimination, and human rights issues affecting students and families in education settings.
• Review appropriate matters referred through BCCA’s hubs.
• Help families understand available rights, remedies, complaint processes, and review mechanisms.
• Advise on discrimination, school discipline, suspensions, exclusions, accommodations, and related education concerns.
• Guide families through school-district procedures, human rights complaints, administrative processes, and other appropriate pathways.
• Guide BCCA staff and legal navigators on legal options, service boundaries, and referral pathways.
• Refer matters to external counsel or specialized legal services when representation or expertise falls outside the Hub’s scope.

Public legal education

• Develop and review plain-language legal resources for students, parents, caregivers, and community members.
• Create guides, templates, and checklists addressing human rights, discrimination, discipline, accommodations, complaints, evidence, and family advocacy.
• Deliver or participate in webinars, workshops, community clinics, and information sessions.
• Ensure BCCA’s legal information is accurate, accessible, culturally responsive, and useful to people without legal training.

Human rights, policy, and systemic advocacy

• Advise BCCA on the human rights and anti-discrimination frameworks affecting students.
• Identify recurring or systemic legal issues emerging from individual matters while protecting confidentiality and privilege.
• Review policy recommendations, advocacy materials, and public legal information where appropriate.
• Translate appropriate patterns into responsible education and policy advocacy.
• Support stronger institutional responses to racism and discrimination within education systems.

Program and legal-infrastructure development

• Help establish the Hub’s legal-service model, scope, and professional boundaries.
• Develop intake, triage, conflict-checking, consent, referral, documentation, and escalation procedures.
• Help determine which matters require legal information, navigation, summary advice, external counsel, representation, or other community supports.
• Collaborate with participating lawyers, legal navigators, BCCA staff, and community partners.
• Develop protocols for sensitive matters and participate in periodic planning and case-review meetings.
• Identify service gaps and recommend improvements as the Hub develops.

Privacy, ethics, and risk

• Advise on confidentiality, privilege, informed consent, conflicts, and the appropriate handling of client information.
• Establish protocols governing interactions among lawyers, legal navigators, BCCA staff, students, and families.
• Advise on privacy requi