SolarAid looking for new ED

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Michael MacHarg

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May 26, 2010, 3:47:54 PM5/26/10

to social-ente...@googlegroups.com, Francisco Noguera

May be of interest to the community -

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nick Sireau <ni...@solar-aid.org>
Date: Wed, May 26, 2010 at 6:20 PM
Subject: The search for a successor...
To: Nick Sireau <ni...@solar-aid.org>

Dear friends of SolarAid,

I’m very sad to say that I will be stepping down as Executive Director of SolarAid at the end of September in order to devote much more of my time to finding a cure for Alkaptonuria, the ultra rare disease affecting my two sons. As many of you know, I’ve been trying over the past seven years in my spare time to promote research into finding a cure for this disease before it starts seriously affecting the boys. It’s been hard work, but we’ve now got research partners in Liverpool, Cambridge, London, Spain, Italy and the USA working on a variety of scientific programmes.

Unfortunately, there have been a series of setbacks in clinical trials recently that have made me realise that I need to devote much more of my time to fundraising, scaling up the research networks, and driving forward the quest for a cure. There is potential for gene therapy, enzyme replacement and other treatments, but all this takes time and money, which few people are prepared to invest as it’s such a rare disease – unless I convince them otherwise!

Meanwhile, SolarAid has progressed tremendously since it was just me, working from a spare bedroom in my home, four years ago with a wonderful group of volunteers from Solarcentury. SolarAid keeps on going from strength to strength, having now raised $10m, with 35 people in six countries working on ground-breaking new models of solar for development and winning multiple awards. We have a superb board of trustees, a highly professional and dedicated team of staff and volunteers, and are well regarded in the NGO and social enterprise community.

I’m very pleased to announce that Prospectus, a leading recruitment agency, will be managing the search for my successor. Borge and Fiona of Prospectus, both with extensive experience of finding top senior executives, will be leading the process. Their email addresses are Fiona.wa...@prospect-us.co.uk and borge.an...@prospect-us.co.uk. Please do contact them if you know of any potential candidates. We are looking for world-class individuals with outstanding skills in leadership, international management, scaling up operations in Africa and a proven track record of success.

The board has asked me to remain involved in SolarAid on a part-time basis from October onwards, which I have been delighted to accept. I will be assisting with the fundraising and networking in order to provide continuity.

And if you’re interested in helping me find a cure for Alkaptonuria, which was the first genetic disease ever discovered (in 1901 in London), then please do give me a shout. Donations, advice, pro bono support and contacts are most welcome! To find out more, here’s our website: www.alkaptonuria.info.

Here’s to a bright future for solar and rare diseases!

All the very best,

Nick

PS: if you know of any excellent potential candidates, please do forward this email to them and ask them to contact Prospectus.

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SolarAid
Dr Nicolas Sireau
Executive Director
ni...@solar-aid.org
Alternative email: ni...@sireau.net
Unit 2, 3rd Floor, Pride Court
80-82 White Lion Street,
London N1 9PF, UK
Charity number 1115960. Company number 3867741
tel: +44 (0)20 7278 0400
fax: +44 (0)20 7278 8500
mobile: +44 (0)788 670 9633
www.solar-aid.org
Skype ID: nicksireau

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