Volunteer with CALIE

Volunteering with CALIE is one of the best ways to deepen your engagement and grow your professional network.

Your time and talents help build a stronger community for educators, and there are many ways to get involved, from a couple of hours at an event to a seat on a committee that meets year-round. Find the one that fits and apply today.

Every CALIE volunteer is recognized at Spring Forward and featured on the CALIE website and conference app.

Committees

CALIE committees are a great place to start. You pick an area where your passion and experience can do real good, then you help steer that part of CALIE’s work across the program year. Members who serve build leadership skills, connect with educators across the state, and have a direct hand in decisions that shape the organization.

Spring Forward Planning Committee

August 2026 to June 2027

We’re assembling the first group to shape the vision, content, and experience of our annual Spring Forward conference, and we’re looking for members who want to partner with the CALIE Board of Directors to do it.

Because this is the founding group, one of your first jobs is helping decide how the committee runs: what the subgroups are, how staff and member roles work, and how often you meet. From there, you’ll bring a participant’s perspective to the conference so it keeps getting better every year. You’ll:

  • Give feedback on the conference experience from a participant point of view
  • Help plan and run engagement activities like welcome sessions and community-building experiences
  • Offer input on new ideas to improve attendee engagement and accessibility
  • Find ways to better support first-time attendees and member connection
  • Share feedback after the conference to shape future planning
  • Welcome participants into the community as an ambassador

Time commitment: Plan for at least one one-hour virtual meeting and one to three hours of asynchronous work per month to start. The committee will set its own final cadence once the group forms. As a Spring Forward planning committee member, you will have a hand in what educators experience at our biggest event of the year. This role gives you an early look at incoming ideas and influence in how the program comes together.

It’s a flexible commitment during the review and planning window.

Membership Committee

July 2026 to June 2027

As a member of the CALIE Membership Committee, you’ll play an important role in ensuring our membership reflects the evolving needs of educators across California.

This committee serves as a thought partner to CALIE staff, providing insight into what educators value most and helping us create meaningful opportunities for connection, learning, and belonging. Whether you’re passionate about welcoming new educators, strengthening member engagement, or expanding our reach, your perspective will help guide the future of the CALIE community.

As a committee member, you will:

  • Provide insight into the needs, challenges, and experiences of current and prospective members.
  • Connect CALIE with newer educators and non-members to gather feedback and broaden perspectives.
  • Review and provide input on membership benefits, programs, communications, and outreach strategies.
  • Identify opportunities to grow membership through local networks, partnerships, and professional relationships.
  • Serve as an authentic ambassador for CALIE by sharing the value of membership within your educational community.
  • Advise on ways to enhance the member experience across CALIE events, professional learning, and year-round programming.
  • Help identify emerging trends and opportunities that will strengthen and grow our educator community.

Time commitment: Plan for at least quarterly one-hour virtual meetings and one hour of asynchronous work per month to start. The committee can set its own final cadence once the group forms.

Workgroups

CALIE workgroups take on focused, time-bound projects.

Effective Technology Guidelines Workgroup

September to May

Provide guidance, advocacy, and field-based insight to promote the Effective Technology Guidelines and support their adoption to improve teaching and learning. You’ll:

  • Promote awareness and understanding of the Effective Technology Guidelines
  • Identify opportunities to share and expand use of the Guidelines across schools and districts
  • Provide practitioner feedback to strengthen tools, messaging, and supports
  • Advise on strategies to recruit and engage pilot schools and educators
  • Serve as ambassadors who connect members and partners to this work

Certified Educator Capstone Review Workgroup

September to May

Ensure fair, consistent, and high-quality evaluation of Certified Educator capstone projects while providing insight to strengthen the rigor and impact of the program. You’ll:

  • Calibrate as a committee to ensure consistent and fair scoring of capstone projects
  • Review and score capstone submissions using the established rubric
  • Provide feedback on the quality, rigor, and clarity of capstone expectations
  • Identify trends in participant strengths and areas for program improvement
  • Recommend refinements to the capstone rubric and review process
  • Help maintain the credibility and integrity of the Certified Educator recognition

Additional Opportunities

Spring Forward Session Scoring

Help shape the conference program. Reviewers score submitted session proposals so the strongest, most relevant sessions make it to the stage. This is a short, flexible commitment you can do on your own schedule during the review window.

Session reviewers earn complimentary, non-transferable registration for Spring Forward 2027. To qualify, you must complete all assigned sessions within the designated review window. No exceptions.

Volunteer On-Site at Spring Forward

Your time and talents help make Spring Forward a success. On-site volunteers welcome attendees, support sessions, and keep the day running. Along the way you’ll:

  • Feel connected as part of the team that drives the conference
  • Pick up new skills you can take back to your school or add to your resume
  • Meet educators you’ll stay in touch with long after your shift ends

Complimentary, non-transferable registration is provided to volunteers who meet the minimum number of service hours.

Run for the Board

Ready to help lead CALIE? Board of Directors nominations open every January. Serving on the board is the most direct way to guide the organization’s direction and to represent educators across California.

Have another idea?

Maybe the role you want to play at CALIE isn’t listed here. If you have an idea for how you’d like to contribute, we want to hear it. Tell us what you’re thinking, and we’ll find a way to plug you in.