Colorado Nonprofit Association

Writing Instructor – Frames Comic Program

ABOUT BRINK

Vision: 

Brink believes in a world in which every person has the passion, purpose, and power to write a bright future for themselves and their communities. 

Mission: 

Brink utilizes the power of storytelling to foster a love of literature, increase literacy rates, and empower underserved populations. By combining innovative education programs with community involvement, Brink creates pathways for underrepresented, diverse, and emerging voices. 

Our Unique Approach: 

Harnessing the power of stories, our programming seeks to tackle the internal and external barriers our students face through three stages. 

  1. Intervention: Engaging with students at pivotal turning points, we create holistic learning spaces to tackle personal barriers with mental health, mindfulness, and purpose-finding tools.
  2. Transformation: Through the act of telling their stories, students strengthen resilience and self worth, build future pathways, and gain essential education and career skills needed to achieve their goals. 
  3. Empowerment: Channeling their transformation outward, students learn to advocate for themselves and their communities, sharing their experiences to heal and inspire those around them

ABOUT FRAMES COMIC PROGRAM

Started in 2017, Brink runs this innovative educational program in women’s prisons in the U.S. and UK. Using comics as a way to court low-literacy and reluctant readers, we help students distill a single turning point in their lives into a short graphic memoir. This process works to tackle personal trauma, increase self-sufficiency, and help students gain the tools they need to get out, and stay out, of prison. We now work with reintegration organizations to bring this work to formerly incarcerated adults as part of a reintegration support system. We also work closely with teenagers and young adults in order to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and decrease rates of youth recidivism.

THE MISSION FOR THIS POSITION

Frames Instructors will facilitate classes for our largest educational programs: Frames Comic Program.

Frames instructors will work with our education team to implement our established curricula. In addition to implementing current curriculum onsite with our established community partners, instructors will also work with our Education Program Manager to create education networks and expand our programs into Colorado communities where need has been identified.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

This position is ideal for someone who:

Candidates for this position should have stellar communication skills and an enthusiasm for connecting authentically with and learning from people from diverse backgrounds. 

They will have some degree of experience in storytelling, arts/creative expression, classroom management, mindfulness/mental health, or community facilitation. 

This is also the ideal position for somebody who has firsthand experiences within justice-impacted communities and advocacy spaces.

Preferred Skills:

Brink is not a degree-based employer. We hire based on skills and mindset, not traditional experience. With that said, competitive candidates for this position will possess the following skills:

  1. An acumen for developing great stories
  2. An ability to guide students towards learning and engaging on their own terms
  3. An extremely high level of organization, communication, and logistical follow-through  
  4. Strong interpersonal skills for building student trust and community ties.
  5. Understanding of the current educational landscape (including the ability to navigate what you’ve seen work and fail as an educator OR as a student, so we can pivot to improve the systems we work in, instead of adding to the problem.).
  6. Be a deeply engaged member of the justice-impacted or low-opportunity communities we serve in Colorado, specifically in the Denver Metro Area or Colorado Springs. 

INTERVIEW PROCESS

Step 1: Informational Interview. Learn more about the role and elaborate on your experience (30 minutes)

Step 2: Mock Classroom Interview. You’ll be given a few comics and will choose one to teach to the “class” of Brink staffers on a Zoom call; interview with several Brink staffers (1 hour + your individual prep time) 

Step 3: Final Interview (30 minutes)

Step 4: Reference Checks

Candidates who receive an offer will undergo a background check.

POSITION OVERVIEW

If you are hired into this instructor position, you will spend most of your time split between  

five primary types of work:  

  1. Classroom Instruction: lead and facilitate classes according to Brink’s Frames curriculum.
  2. Out-of-Class Student Support: engage thoroughly with the output and values of your students to guide them toward their personal and storytelling goals
  3. Content Revision: Aid Brink’s Education team in improving our curriculum according to instructor and student feedback, as well as community need. 
  4. Classroom Data Analysis: Collaborate on the gathering, organization, and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data points to improve programing and support program growth. (No prior experience required).
  5. Community and Business Cultivation: Maintain and grow our community of students, teachers, education directors, grant funders, and nonprofit partners to increase impact. 

Your Starting Point

The Frames Comic Program has been tested in a variety of forms, incorporating the latest research in student-centered, equitable pedagogy. To start, you will join our lead instructors to work as an on-site instructor with new and established partnership organizations. You will learn to implement our current systems; critically evaluate, adjust, and revise the program according to community and student needs; and identify new ways to reach our target communities in Colorado.

Although much of this role will require strong classroom management skills, ability to work intimately with student narratives, and authentic emotional connections with student experiences, you’ll be supported by your supervisor, colleagues, and partners, and will be provided with thorough teacher training and continuous resources.

Results:

Results this position will be responsible for achieving:

  1. You have completed the instruction and facilitation of various Frames courses with our community partners.
  2. You have worked with the education team and students in order to critically assess the efficacy of the curriculum within the communities we engage.
  3. You have guided the expansion of Frames into new community areas where need has been identified.
  4. You established ties with educators, communities, and partners with whom Brink can pursue future programming endeavors.

Responsibilities:

A slightly “lower altitude” view of major responsibilities of this role:  

  1. Create a welcoming and holistic classroom space in which your students can learn and express themselves with authenticity, confidence, and compassion.
    1. Provide those students with rigorous instruction that both meets them where they are at and encourages them to grow and aspire as storytellers. 
    2. Handle nonfiction student work with care, complexity, and respect. 
    3. Maintain organized classroom practices for student progress data and record keeping.
  2. Work with our Education team, students, community members, and youth advisors to critically evaluate the ongoing efficacy of the curricula and help our team revise it for future use, according to both instructor and student experiences. 
  3. Community Program Development
    1. Identify new spaces into which we can expand our work.
    2. Build ties with communities, educators, and potential partners 

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

Brink’s mission centers on inclusion, empathy, and humility. Thus, both the working environment and the materials we teach are centered on championing and embracing diversity in all its forms including, though not limited to: race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, religion, and disability. We do not expect all our staff to personally identify with the diverse community we serve, but a deep respect for differences and a commitment to approaching difficult topics with humility and respect is essential to our work. 

Working with marginalized communities requires an enormous amount of empathy and diverse perspectives. Thus, someone who is not only comfortable but excited to engage with these populations is essential to any role with Brink.