Joe Schmidt

Joe Schmidt joined the Bill of Rights Institute in 2022 after spending seventeen years working in social studies and civics education. In his role as Director of Programs he designs, manages, and leads educational programs for teachers and students across the country.

Joe has served in the classroom as a high school teacher and college professor for elementary pre-service teachers. He has also held roles in district and state-level leadership in support of both rural and urban schools. Throughout his career, Joe has served in a variety of leadership positions with numerous social studies related organizations across the United States including the National Council for the Social Studies, iCivics, Learning for Justice, the National Council for Geographic Education, and ThinkerAnalytix.

Joe is always looking to support educators in providing inspiring and impactful civic instruction in their classrooms. He has a B.A. in Secondary Social Studies Education from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and an M.A. in Education from Viterbo University. His first book, Civil Discourse: Classroom Conversations for Stronger Communities is available from Corwin.

Contact Joe at jjschmidt@mybri.org.