Every 3-4 years, AWID organizes an International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development. The largest recurring event of its kind, the AWID Forum brings together close to 2,000 women's rights leaders and activists from around the world to strategize, network, celebrate, and learn in a highly charged atmosphere that fosters deep discussions and sustained personal and professional growth. The next AWID Forum will be in May 2016 in Salvador, Brazil.
Deadline: March 29, 2015
Location: Global
About AWID
The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) is an international feminist organization working to be a driving force within the global community of feminist and women’s rights activists, organizations and movements, strengthening our collective voice, influencing and transforming structures of power and decision-making and advancing human rights, gender justice and environmental sustainability worldwide.
About the AWID Forum
Every 3-4 years, AWID organizes an International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development. The largest recurring event of its kind, the AWID Forum brings together close to 2,000 women's rights leaders and activists from around the world to strategize, network, celebrate, and learn in a highly charged atmosphere that fosters deep discussions and sustained personal and professional growth. The next AWID Forum will be in May 2016 in Salvador, Brazil.
Overview of Position
The Forum Program Associate is a full time position and supports coherence and alignment between Forum programmatic and logistical priorities. As well, the Associate provides key supports for Forum resource mobilization, with special attention to the administration of the Forum Access Fund, which provides travel support to select participants.
The Forum Program Associate reports to the Manager, Feminist Movement-Building
Work location: work location of the position is flexible
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Forum Program and Process
- Coordinate the culling and selection process of approximately 1,000 Forum session proposals: liaising with staff “graders”, producing analyses of the shortlisted proposals and ensuring regular communication with the Program Committee of the IPC
- Ensure alignment of Forum programmatic needs with software capabilities through close coordination with the Forum Logistics Manager
- In coordination with logistics team, maintain relevant correspondence with session organizers to monitor session confirmations, provide supports as viable to ensure effective session organization, inform session organizers of allocated session time and supports, escalate concerns, as appropriate
- Contact relevant groups to organize sessions identified by the IPC as priority gap fillers and coordinate with other staff supporting organization of gap filler sessions
- Prepare regular Forum program updates for the AWID staff; and post relevant resources to the Forum section of the intranet
- Liaise with the Communications team to facilitate strategic Forum communications and dissemination
- Monitor progress and provide relevant supports to the arts & culture and resource mobilization committees of the IPC, coordinating with relevant staff
- Support the Forum logistics team to collect and organize applications for the Forum Campaigns corner, exhibition, and marketplace
Relationship-building and Mobilizing
- Support outreach efforts to expand and deepen AWID’s engagement and collaboration with priorities constituencies for the Forum by preparing relevant communications or responding to requests for information
Knowledge Building and Debate
- Provide back-stopping support for on-line Forum discussions and debates
- Provide feedback, proofreading and editing support for relevant documents
- Prepare inputs for relevant sections of the Forum website
- Coordinate broad dissemination of Forum knowledge products
- Support with note-taking of key Forum sessions
- Provide supports for AWID-organized sessions at the Forum and for assigned strategizing sessions and/or other Forum components.
Resource Mobilization
- Coordinate implementation of the Forum Access Fund (which covers travel expenses of select Forum speakers and participants), in close consultation with the Forum logistics team
- Conduct initial review of Access Fund applications to remove those that don’t meet the basic criteria
- Provide an initial rating of Access Fund applicants based on established criteria
- Draft response letters to Access Fund applicants and liaise with Forum logistics team on communications with applicants.
- Provide backstop support to Forum logistics team to resolve challenges as they arise with arrangements for Access Fund recipients
- Participate, as relevant, in meetings with resource mobilization and Forum logistics teams to promote good alignment in the allocation of recipients to funding sources.
- Support drafting of Forum fundraising proposals and reports, adapting the basic proposal for funders with particular regional/thematic interests
- Support launch and selection process for post Forum seed grants: updating application and selection criteria, coordinating with selection committee and communicating with seed grant applicants
Organizational Processes
- Assist in the development of regular status reports required for donor and M&E purposes
- Support dissemination and collation of the Forum evaluation survey
- Maintain collaborative relationships with staff across AWID as needed to ensure accountability and effective coordination of cross-team deliverables
QUALIFICATIONS:
Experience:
At least 3 years experience:
- With project planning and management; ideally related to large events
- With human rights or social justice work
- Working in a multi-cultural team
- Working with non-profit organizations based in the Global South or East
Academic Qualifications:
- University degree in related field: women’s studies, political science, international relations, economics, development, etc.
Expertise & Skills
- Strong organizational skills and an attention to detail;
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and to set and meet goals in fast-paced, high-stress environments and to prioritize accordingly;
- Ability to work with a diverse, multi-country virtual team, demonstrating team spirit and a collegial and respectful working style;
- Ability to develop, coordinate implementation, monitor and evaluate a project plan with multiple deliverables, stakeholders and deadlines
- Able to absorb new skills and information quickly
- Strong writing and editing skills, able to extract relevant analyses from a large volume of information
- Bilingual: fluent in English and one of the following: Spanish, French or Portuguese. Additional languages considered an asset
Knowledge & Other Requirements:
- Demonstrated commitment to advancing women's rights and gender equality
- Able to travel internationally
- Committed to the principles and values of feminism, anti-discrimination and anti-oppression
How to apply?
Please submit, in English- a cover letter and résumé in Word or PDF format, addressing how you meet the necessary qualifications and outlining why you want to work for AWID, to jobs@awid.org by Sunday,March 29, 2015. Please include “Forum Program Associate – [your name]” as the subject line of your email.
We thank all those who apply, but only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. No calls please. AWID encourages, promotes and support diversity in all aspects of its work. To learn more about AWID and our programs, please visit our website at www.awid.org.
