KALW Public Media, Inc. Uncuffed California Institution for Women (CIW) Teacher Remote · Part time Company website

Apply for Uncuffed California Institution for Women (CIW) Teacher

Alongside a growing music discovery program, KALW delivers clear, engaging, and informative audio-first journalism and cultural programming. The people here are deeply committed to the work and the heartbeat of the place is strong. The staff truly believes in a mission of feeding minds, filling hearts, keeping community members informed, and building an engaged and informed Bay Area. A critical part of the national public media ecosystem, KALW serves as an incubator for next- generation talent and stories and we are responsible for seeding producers and reporters in public media and audio journalism across the country.

About Uncuffed

Uncuffed empowers people in prison to tell their own stories. In our training programs, participants express their humanity, develop job skills, and inspire change.

We are a program of KALW Public Media, which began working in prisons in 2012, when we set up the first radio studio at San Quentin State Prison. Today, we train people at San Quentin, Solano State Prison and California Institution for Women (CIW)  in audio storytelling, interviewing, podcasting, and DJing.

In our Audio Storytelling programs, participants learn to record and edit interviews with other incarcerated people. They share their stories and conversations on the podcast Uncuffed, KALW radio, and in-prison tablets, promoting transformation inside and outside the walls. Many former participants have gone on to careers in podcasting, media, communications, and advocacy.

Job Description: CIW Teacher

Join the award-winning Uncuffed audio storytelling training program at California Institution for Women in Chino, California.

• Coordinate with institutional staff to  facilitate the operation of the program
• Ensure that KALW complies with CIW rules and practices and maintains a positive relationship with staff
• Ensure teaching staff, and guests, volunteers, and members of the media are approved to enter CIW
• Maintain an inventory of classroom equipment and supplies
• Provide feedback on student work
• Prepare and co-teach lessons in interviewing, personal storytelling, and writing for radio, based on the existing Uncuffed curriculum
• Maintain an inclusive, respectful, supportive, and boundaried learning environment for students
• Consulting with the Lead Teacher, work to resolve student behavior issues, interpersonal issues, or disengagement.
• Support Uncuffed Storytelling production as needed

Lesson prep, admin, team meetings, and training will mostly be remote, with occasional team meetings and site visits in the Bay Area. Our team uses Pro Tools, Google Suite, Slack, Zoom, and Airtable for daily work. Past experience with those applications is not required, but the candidate must be able to quickly learn how to navigate new digital platforms and software.

This is a job for someone who is creative, organized, persistent, works well with a team, and is enthusiastic about amplifying the voices of incarcerated people and offering them opportunities to grow personally and professionally.

Time Commitment

The typical time commitment is 24 hours per week. Actual hours will fluctuate depending on class cycles, production schedules, and prison closures.

Commitment includes teaching classes twice weekly at CIW in Chino for about 40 weeks out of the year. Teaching days are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1pm - 3:30pm.  Substitute teachers can be found in the event of travel or other absences for up to 6 weeks out of the year.

Virtual meetings with the Uncuffed team are generally condensed on Mondays.

A typical week might include 5 hours of teaching, 7 hours of admin, meetings, lesson prep, and production, and 6 hours of travel (depending on how close you are to the institution).

Compensation

This is a benefited employee position, with 24 hours expected in a typical week. The employee  will be paid for hours completed at a rate ranging from $40-$50 an hour, commensurate with experience. Travel time is compensated. We compensate for transportation costs at the federal mileage rate (72.5 cents per mile in 2026).

Required Qualifications

• Able to travel to the California Institution for Women in Chino, California.
• Able to enter a California state prison as a program provider
• Experience in spoken audio production (radio/podcasts)
• Experience with audio editing software, preferably Pro Tools
• Formal or informal experience as an educator, trainer, or mentor
• Strong organizational and administrative skills
• Strong computer skills
• Enthusiasm for amplifying the voices of incarcerated people
• Can navigate the intersections of race, class, gender, and other identity markers in the pursuit of equity, inclusion, and racial justice
• Can work collaboratively and communicate effectively with a remote team
• Authorization to work in the United States

Preferred But Not Required

• Personal or professional experience in prisons or similar settings
• Comfortable navigating relevant platforms and software (including, but not limited to Google Suite, Slack, Zoom, and Airtable)
• Able to work from home 

A Note for System-Impacted People

We strongly encourage people who have experienced incarceration or been impacted by the carceral system to apply. According to our contract with the state, people on parole or probation must be “one year free of any illegal activity” in order to teach in prisons, and written approval from the warden or designee is required. For those on parole, the written approval of the Regional Parole Administrator is also required. Our team includes formerly incarcerated staff members, and an advisory board of five formerly incarcerated people.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit a cover letter, resume, work samples, and references using this form: https://airtable.com/app2gBHgmUygAPUQs/pagGHSbQ2xu9dcDCo/form. 

The application deadline is 11:59 PM on Wednesday, June 17.

We encourage individuals with experience in the carceral system, indigenous and people of color, women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people to apply. We do not discriminate based on age, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or physical ability. 

For any questions or accessibility needs, please email [email protected]. And for those who don't quite fit what's on the page here, but think they might be a strong candidate for the job, please reach out as well.

Thank you for applying to be a part of our team!