Cal Jordan Powers
WEAVER • WONDERER • WORDSMITH
Educator • Researcher • Leader • Advocate • Organizer
Global Education Management Portfolio
Cal has diverse experience in organization, project management, people and resource management, and managing change within systems. Cal has led various international teams of education professionals on various projects such as research manuscript preparation, development of online curricula, community benefit events, and professional development workshops. Throughout this work, Cal has volunteered innovations and adaptations to program administration and teacher supervision, as well as supporting the diverse and culturally rich education of students.
Cal’s Management Work
Through Professionall
Founder of
Professionall, Public Benefit Corporation
2020–Present • Remote
As a public benefit corporation, the specific purpose of Professionall is to advocate for the wellbeing of all educators in the world, to reduce teacher burnout and attrition, and to inspire and nourish the future generations of educational leaders. Through this work, Cal works with schools, educational companies, and educators to develop management strategies and tools for the betterment of the entire school system.
Social Professional Learning
The ultimate goal for Professionall is to build a social learning management platform for professional development. While the platform is being developed, Cal is publishing research on the education profession, teacher professional development, teacher wellbeing, and other topics relevant to educational leadership.
Professional Development Advising
Professionall takes a different approach to professional development, offering one-on-one advising for educators seeking to make the next step in their careers as well as offering PD planning and faculty advising for schools and departments, leading action research, or compiling case studies.
2021–Present • Remote
Alongside Dr. Kathleen Bailey, Cal has been working on an independent mixed-methods research project designed to fill a research gap on leadership in world language education. The project surveyed over 300 educators across the U.S. using an online questionnaire and follow-up interviews with 60 of the respondents. The publications sharing the findings of this project have implications for administrators and other program leaders.
Lead Author & Research Manager
The Leadership in World Language Education (LWLE) Project
LWLE Project Publications
Ouroboros of Professional Challenges in WLE
2025 • SLTE
Published in a special edition of the Second Language Teacher Education Journal, this report explores the professional challenges experienced by 60 teacher leaders in world language education. The interviewees provided rich accounts of these challenges, detailing how they were interlinked, complex, related, cumulative, and ouroboric in nature.
Within a textbook on language teacher leadership, this chapter defines a framework through which we can analyze the careers of leaders working in World Language Education (WLE), analyzing their experiences and beliefs throughout their careers. The framework introduced in this chapter presents a career as a pathway with six characteristics.
Presented at the University of New Mexico’s Mentoring Institute Conference, this report synthesizes our respondents’ remarks on mentorship, identifying seven shared sentiments on mentorship. The findings showed that almost 40% of our leaders reported a scarcity of and an urgent need for leadership mentoring opportunities.
Leaders’ Unsolicited Sentiments on Mentorship
2024 • Mentoring Institute
Diverse Pathways into Leadership in WLE
2023 • Springer International
Cal’s Management Work
Before Professionall
at Immerse, Virtual Reality Language Learning
Advocating for Teacher Wellbeing
Virtual Reality Teacher of
English as a Second Language
2023–2025 • Remote
Creating Administrative Innovations
While teaching at Immerse, Cal supported the launch of the program by developing program management systems and innovations such as building a scheduling tool, a bug reporting system, and creating quick-access dashboards to organize company resources, all which advocate for reduced workloads.
Cal advocated for teachers at Immerse by creating supplemental resources to improve curricula and student engagement as well as organizing lunch chats for teachers to decompress, encouraging social interaction in a virtual workplace, then relayed teacher concerns.
Cal advised international high school students located around the globe to develop leadership skills by developing strategic and scalable research projects to address novel problems as a strategy for getting accepted to the Top 20 universities in the United States. Cal collaborated with a global team of advising professionals and experts assigned to each student’s case to strategize the development of each student’s leadership skills and project planning.
at Crimson Education
Leadership Advisor to
Youth Community Benefit Projects
2022–2023 • Remote
Development of Leadership Skills
Research Project Management
Cal served as project management advisor to support the refinement process and help each student identify project goals, track milestones, and solve problems, reporting successes and areas of concern to parents and case managers. Cal supported young leaders in the ideation and design of their research projects, aiding in identifying a unique need in their communities, choosing methods, and strategizing on maximizing the impact of the project.
at Teacher’s Discovery
Curriculum Manager & Creative Director
2021–2022 • Remote
As Curriculum Developer, Cal produced two online Spanish textbooks of comprehensible-input stories to foster communicative proficiency for K-5th grade novice learners. To accomplish this, Cal built and managed a global team to develop a portfolio of captivating and authentic Spanish curricular materials and multimedia content that embrace the methods of comprehensible input language education. In this role, Cal ensured the needs and interests of the target audience were achieved, while making further efforts to innovate the company’s catalogue, to manage the cultural authenticity and inclusivity of resources, and ultimately to produce creatively rich and engaging curricula.
Curricular & Management Innovations
Cal created innovations in the company’s curricular content, contributing elements such as story videos, native-speaker interview series, pre-launch product commercials, and materials tailored to each sub-market. Cal developed innovations in the company’s content management processes, such as building project and update trackers, training other managers on Cal’s new project management processes, and supporting supervisors in task delegation. Cal supplied innovations in the company’s program management, aligning messaging with email templates, expanding sales leads with new marketing funnels, and building scaffolding to support the company's rapid growth.
Curricula Management & Comprehensible Input
Cal then built a diverse and international team to compile the necessary elements of the textbooks, recruiting, training, and supervising freelance voice-over artists, educators, and native Spanish speakers, providing feedback and motivating the team to reach the company’s goals and tight deadlines. Cal created custom administrative tools and trackers to simultaneously manage and budget for these complex curricular projects to ensure they meet both company standards but also ACTFL and state-specific alignments. Cal prepared the guiding materials for educators, such as the Scope and Sequence, Pacing Guide, and Can-Do Statements for each unit.
“Understanding Teacher Burnout”
2022 • IGI Global
Researcher & Author
Beginning as a class project Cal developed into a chapter, this research study analyzes the coping strategies of WLE to reduce the symptoms of teacher burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. These data indicate that teacher burnout should be a priority concern for teachers, administrators, and managers alike to prevent any further damage to our education systems.
Private French Tutoring
& Virtual Classroom Management
2020-2023 • Remote
Cal privately tutored adult learners of French, meeting virtually to identify language goals, practice communicability, and develop proficiency. Cal curated online learning management platforms for each student and developed custom digital activities to develop students’ abilities and grasp of French grammar and culture using technology to explore the globe.
Graduate School Work
Graduate Research Assistant
to the TFL/TESOL Department Chair
2019–2021 • MIIS, Remote
Teacher Education Management
Cal worked under Dr. Kathi Bailey, the Department Chair & Academic and Career Advisor for the WLE Programs, assisting with tasks related to departmental functions, faculty management, students interactions, and research responsibilities. In this role, Cal organized a series of Alumni Advice Panels, wrote and broadcast weekly bulletins of current events, and published the department’s annual report on recent news related to students, alumni, and faculty.
Program Management Assistance
Cal aided in organizing class scheduling; authoring weekly news bulletins; planning alumni advice panels; preparing course materials on Professional Presentations and the Teaching of Speaking & Listening; up-keeping departmental faculty supervision records and activity reports, penning meeting agendas, and contract renewals; processing graduate recommendation letters, and scheduled advising meetings for current students.
Alumni Advice Panels
2019-2021 • MIIS
While working as the Graduate Research Assistant to the Department Chair at MIIS, Cal organized a series of Alumni Advice Panels to connect students with professionals who want to share their expertise. Panel topics included job search and interview advice and lesser known pathways after graduation.
WLE Program Weekly Bulletin
2019-2021 • MIIS
While working as the Graduate Research Assistant to the Department Chair at MIIS, Cal organized and edited a weekly bulletin for the WLE Program at MIIS, sharing information on upcoming events and opportunities at the Institute and linking relevant events or resources from outside the program.
Editorial Assistant
& Project Manager
2020–2021 • MIIS, Routledge, TIRF, Bloomsbury
While working as Graduate Research Assistant at MIIS, Cal served as Editorial Assistant on two research volumes published with TIRF and Routledge explored critical and emerging research topics in WLE such as teaching in under-resourced contexts and working with internationally diverse students. Cal also worked on a teacher education textbook published with Bloomsbury that prepares educators for the planning and teaching of activities that promote the development of speaking and listening skills at all levels of target language proficiency, for teachers of any modern language. As Editorial Assistant, Cal performed tasks such as proofreading, indexing, key word compilation, fact-checking, and providing feedback throughout the publishing process to ensure that formatting met standards and content was understandable.
“Research on Teaching and Learning English in Under-Resourced Contexts”
2021 • Routledge
The eighth volume in the Global Research on Teaching and Learning English series, this book brings together the latest research on teaching English in under-resourced contexts across the world, offering a window into the complex challenges that these communities face. Recommendations from research and experience in well-resourced contexts are frequently not relevant or feasible in different circumstances. Cal served as Project Manager on this volume from conception through to publication.
“Chinese-Speaking Learners of English: Research, Theory, and Practice”
2019 • Routledge
A compendium of the latest developments in research regarding English language education for Chinese-speaking learners, this volume combines cutting-edge research from multiple internationally-known scholars. The chapters offer unique insights into some of the most salient issues related to this broad topic. Cal completed the indexing, key word compilation, and final proofreading for this volume of research.
“Teaching Listening and Speaking in Second and Foreign Language Contexts"
2020 • Bloomsbury
This book guides language teachers in planning and teaching activities that promote the development of speaking and listening skills at all levels of target language proficiency, for teachers of any modern language. Cal completed the indexing, key word compilation, and final proofreading for this volume of research. Cal also helped pilot the first graduate course taught at MIIS using this volume.
Discourse & Repartée
April 2020 Volume
2020 • MIIS
While working as the Graduate Research Assistant to the Department Chair at MIIS, Cal had the honor of serving as Editor of Discourse & Repartée, the department’s annual report on current events related to the program’s current students, alumni, and faculty. Cal used the role of Editor to update the marketing efforts of the report and to redesign the logo to reflect the mission of the publication and its role with the institute.
New Student Cohort Coordinator
2020-2021 • MIIS Student Services
Cal served as a student liaison to a cohort of 18 incoming graduate students to facilitate their entry into the MIIS community and to network with other students. Cal organized weekly social events, engaging a variety of virtual tools and spaces, and managed online communication via social media channels and WhatsApp chats to encourage engagement and to answer questions related to student life on campus.
WLE Program Ambassador
2020-2021 • MIIS Admissions
Cal campaigned for prospective and newly admitted graduate students of the WLE programs at Preview Day presentations and via email and phone to provide clarification to questions about the programs, sharing the student perspective at MIIS, life in Monterey, and discussing professional growth opportunities, organizing virtual social events to foster community building between returning and incoming students.
French Tutor & Guide
2020 • MIIS SILP
For MIIS’s Summer Intensive Language Program (SILP), Cal prepared course activities and materials, developing a creative program of engaging cultural and social activities to rapidly explore French language and cultures around the world. Despite Cal’s preparation of curricular materials and activities, the program was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cal’s Responsibilities as Chair
As Co-Chair, Cal had the responsibilities of building the organizing team, writing and disseminated the Call for Proposals, spearheading the proposal rating and inter-rater agreement processes, finding and negotiating contracts with keynote speakers, meeting with the Faculty Advisor and seeking feedback from program faculty, drafting team meeting agendas, setting up the registration processes and pricing, planning and leading the technical dress rehearsal, and building the website.
While studying at MIIS, Cal volunteered as Co-Chair for SOWLE 2020, the Symposium on World Language Education, a virtual student-led professional development conference for educators working in WLE.
Co-Chair of the Virtual Conference
2020 Symposium on World Language Education
2020 • Remote
From FLEDS to SOWLE, Looking Forward
Prior to 2020, the in-person conference was called the Foreign Language Education Symposium, or FLEDS and did not have an official or unique logo. While respecting tradition, Cal and Grace saw the need to look forward, and with the blessing of faculty, they changed the outdated term ‘foreign language,’ updated the logo, and organized the first virtual conference at MIIS. After, Cal organized the transfer of resources to the next generation of co-chairs by starting a Transfer of Power Doc.
Part of the specialization allowed Cal to take courses in Comparative International Education, Managing People and Resources in Cross-Cultural Contexts, International Marketing and Recruiting, learning valuable skills in the administrative and managerial responsibilities of running education programs that require intercultural competencies. While studying, Cal worked as the Program Ambassador in the Admissions office, talking with prospective and incoming graduate students to provide a student’s perspective.
Graduate School Coursework
Youth Experience
Stockroom Manager
& Replenishment Coordinator
2018 • Bed Bath & Beyond
While studying at UNT, Cal worked as Stockroom Manager spearheading the reorganization and cataloging of the store stockroom to create a new, reliable, and efficient merchandise storage system. As Replenishment Coordinator, Cal executed the daily restocking of showroom merchandise, keeping shelves full and facilitating sales. As a Customer Service representative, Cal was awarded Top Salesperson in customer loyalty and was called, “One of my best hires!” by the Supervising Manager.
File System Auditor
& English-French Translator
2016 • Intel Security
At Intel, Cal audited the Headquarters’ database of sales training materials during a transition to a new file management software, transferring files, identifying duplicates, and implementing an efficient and bespoke organization structure for the new file system. To prepare for an upcoming expansion of the Sales Department in France, Cal translated these sales materials and presentations from English into French to globalize the trainings, putting Cal’s study of French to practice.
Maintenance Team Leader
2014 • BHISD
Cal led the transfer of classroom furniture and teacher belongings cross-district to new campuses under tight deadlines, resolving issues by directing the flow of cargo, organizing the contents of the moving truck, and reporting to supervisors.
Founder, Babysitting Club
2009-2015 • BHISD
To support teachers like Cal’s mother, Cal founded a babysitting club for teacher’s kids to be supervised on half-days to allow parents to focus on professional development. Cal later collaborated with PALS to turn this into a volunteer program.
Cal’s Portfolios
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