Seeking a Network Lead for the +1 Global Fund

[Gurpreet Singh]

The Roddenberry Foundation and its funding partners are seeking an Africa-based Network Lead to connect and support +1 Global Fund Awardees and contributors. Please apply by completing this brief form by end-of-day Friday, February 10, 2023.

Context

The Roddenberry Foundation makes catalytic investments in original ideas and extraordinary people who can change the world. One of the Roddenberry Foundation’s core programs is the +1 Global Fund, which is designed to discover, strengthen, connect, and amplify locally-led change. There are multiple +1 Global Funds, each dedicated to a specific issue and/or region and supported by multiple funding partners—such as the Sall Family Foundation, Shockwave Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Tarsadia Foundation, Vitol Foundation, and Valerian Fund. Each +1 Fund taps existing networks to discover and support proximate, earlier-stage, and under-the-radar organizations through a cascading series of nominations. Please see this Guide for a more detailed description of the program.

Just over 2 years old, the +1 Global Fund is already yielding dozens of Awardees (earlier-stage social enterprises and grassroots organizations selected for financial and non-financial support), and other program contributors. While they are making significant progress in their respective domains, there remains untapped potential in connecting them together, towards enabling greater exchange, mutual support, and/or coordination. We are looking for an Africa-based Network Lead who can help build a vibrant, highly-engaged community of +1 Awardees and realize the full potential of the nascent +1 network.

Role Summary

Across multiple +1 Funds—currently WASH, Food Security, and Health, all in Sub-Saharan Africa—the Network Lead will facilitate new relationships, nurture those connections, and attend to the needs of the “whole” and those of individual +1 Awardees and contributors. The ideal Network Lead is a relationship-driven innovator who will listen closely, unearth opportunities, steward those opportunities to fruition, and iterate over time. We are looking for someone who has exceptional interpersonal skills; shows up with humility, empathy, and curiosity; and finds joy in problem-solving as well as in connecting and mobilizing people.

Please note that this is a new role that will likely evolve over time. We are looking forward to the Network Lead shaping the role based on what they think is best for achieving the +1 Global Fund’s goals. Once hired, the Network Lead’s first task will be to draft a detailed, 6-month work plan in collaboration with the +1  team. The key responsibilities noted below just reflect the +1 team’s early thinking.

Key Responsibilities

Discover and Synthesize

• Regularly check-in with +1 Awardees and contributors, to understand and document their projects, pivots, challenges, needs, etc.
• Understand and document the relationships between +1 Awardees, their Nominators, associated Network Partners, and key stakeholders within the broader field, towards identifying new opportunities for additional support, connection, and exchange
• Track available capacity strengthening, fundraising, promotion, and other opportunities that can provide value to +1 Awardees and contributors
• Gather and respond to feedback from +1 Awardees and contributors
• Synthesize knowledge gathered over time, for internal use and public communication

Connect and Facilitate

• Connect +1 Awardees and contributors with capacity strengthening, fundraising, promotion, and other opportunities and services
• Facilitate one-to-one connections among +1 Awardees and contributors
• Create space for and facilitate many-to-many conversations, exchanges, and shared experiences among +1 Awardees and contributors (e.g. problem solving sessions), virtually and/or in-person
• Experiment with and implement digital tools to enable further dissemination, connection, and exchange (e.g. periodic newsletter, Google Groups, WhatsApp Communities)
• Facilitate any emerging coordination/collaboration possibilities, and generally react to Awardees’ and contributors’ needs as they arise

Liaise and Champion

• Communicate +1 Awardees’ and contributors’ needs, organizational updates, impact highlights, etc., as well as field-level insights, with +1 funding partners
• Promote +1 Awardees’ and contributors’ initiatives to, and integrate them further within, the broader field
• Among +1 Awardees and contributors, generally serve as a representative of the +1 Global Fund, +1 funding partners, and the Roddenberry Foundation
• Within the broader field, generally serve as a champion for +1 Awardees and contributors and their shared goals
• Coordinate with the Roddenberry Foundation staff on designing and implementing your work, tracking progress and making course-corrections, resolving any operational or logistical issues, etc.

Desired Qualities

Required:

• Significant experience in nurturing and strengthening communities, networks, and/or coalitions that include a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds
• Comfort with navigating a wide range of customs, personalities, and contexts
• Comfort with the messiness and ambiguity of networks as well as the detail-oriented, multi-faceted nature of weaving them
• A well-honed instinct to proactively and creatively solve problems, as well as experience with self-starting new projects and iterating over time
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, a strong sense of generosity, and an instinct towards kindness
• Passion for building and nurturing relationships
• Strong self-awareness of your own explicit and implicit biases
• Strong planning and project management skills, with close attention to detail and timelines
• Comfort with working independently and remotely
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English
• Reliable access to high-speed internet and computer equipment
• Comfort with using Google Workspace and Slack, and willing to learn new digital tools
• Based within the African continent, and able to work at least 2 hours that overlap with the typical workday in Pacific Standard/Daylight Time (e.g. 5-7pm WAT, 7-9pm EAT)

Preferred:

• Significant experience in supporting social entrepreneurs/innovators, especially those leading grassroots organizations
• Experience in designing and implementing shared experiences for cohorts or communities (e.g. workshops, convenings, retreats)
• Strong group facilitation and presentation skills
• Experience in coaching or advising social impact leaders or teams
• Experience in using feedback loops to inform and guide the work
• Experience in and/or knowledge of WASH, food, and/or health systems, and the African development sector generally
• Familiarity with the global development sector, including U.S. philanthropy
• Familiarity with systems and network theories
• Fluency in another language widely spoken on the continent (e.g. Arabic, French, Swahili)

Role Structure

• Location: Remote, based anywhere in Africa
• Legal Arrangement: ****Contractor for the Roddenberry Foundation (based in the U.S.)
• Term: Provisional 1-year term, with the possibility of extension for multiple years
• Hours: ~40 hours per week
• Compensation: Hourly rate that is commensurate with the higher end of local compensation ranges; paid monthly following receipt of invoice
• Travel: May be needed to meet the program's goals, but frequency and destinations will depend on how the Network Lead shapes the role and which activities emerge

How to Apply

Qualified applicants should complete this brief form, which will ask you for your contact details, resume/CV, why you believe you are uniquely suited for the role and, optionally, a work sample and anything else you’d like to share. Please submit the form by the deadline, but note that applications will be reviewed as they are received, so you are encouraged to submit as soon as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns before applying, please email 1glob...@roddenberryfoundation.org.