Program Officer - Early Childhood Development and Education, East Africa
Echidna GivingAbout the Role:
Echidna Giving is seeking a Program Officer to join the Echidna Giving team and take ownership of our Early Childhood Development and Education strategy in East Africa. The Program Officer will be part of a broader team working on ECDE in multiple regions, whose work is coordinated by a team lead. The Program Officer will also engage with other colleagues working in the same region on different thematic focus areas (namely foundational learning and adolescent life skills). They will be responsible for shaping, with approval from the board, our Early Childhood Development and Education grantmaking strategy in East Africa, identifying grantees that align with this strategy, and supporting and overseeing the grant portfolio. The role will entail broader work in service of accelerating progress for grantees and the wider field. By staying current in ECDE research and maintaining awareness of country dynamics, the Program Officer will identify opportunities to accelerate locally-led systems change, offer input to other funders looking to support ECDE in the region, and serve as a global resource on ECDE best practices. S/he will help grantees to expand their impact by offering connections, visibility, and broader support. The Program Officer will oversee an initial grantee portfolio of approximately 15 organizations that they will grow to 20-30 organizations over time.
We are flexible on where the Program Officer is geographically based, but candidates based in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, or Tanzania) will have the easiest time staying current in their networks, understanding the context, and supporting a grant portfolio without extensive travel. The Program Officer will spend several months in the first year in the Bay Area and travel internationally with the team as part of onboarding. On an ongoing basis, they should expect to spend 4-6 weeks annually in the Bay Area and 8-12 weeks in the countries where our grantees work, adding up to 20-40% travel, depending on whether or not the staff member is based in one of our target geographies.
We are seeking candidates with expertise in at least two of the following three areas:
Experience or expertise in gender or girl rights would be a significant added benefit.
Responsibilities:
Develop and Execute Grantmaking Strategy (70%):
External Relationship-building and Leadership (30%):
Qualifications:
About Echidna Giving
Echidna Giving is a private funder with one sole aim: getting more girls into better schools to live better lives. Investing in girls pays dividends for us all: what she learns in school can transform her life, her family, her community, and her nation for generations to come. That's why we're committed to supporting quality, gender-responsive education in lower-income countries. Because when all kids learn equally, our world becomes more equal.
Echidna is one of the largest private funders in the international education space, and we are in significant growth mode. Currently, we have a small but senior team of nine and are looking to double in size in the next 5-7 years. We will grow from our current $30M annual grant budget to $100M in annual granting over that period. (Learn more at www.echidnagiving.org)
Echidna has a strong track record with exceptionally high scores on the Grantee Perception Report, an anonymous survey conducted by the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP). We believe these exceptional scores come from our principles and approach, which is trust-based, respects the importance of context, provides longer-term flexible support, and is service and relationship-oriented. We take pride in putting our principles into practice. In particular, we strive to enact our strong commitment to funding leaders and organizations embedded in the countries in which they work.
Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) is one of our key areas of grantmaking to advance girls’ education. In this area of work we are focused on helping expand access to high-quality, gender-responsive early learning opportunities that lay a strong foundation for social, emotional, and academic success, as well as gender equity. You can find more details about our early childhood education strategy here.
It is a particularly exciting time to work at Echidna. Our reputation is strong albeit lower profile. Our work building the field of girls' education has had an impact. We now seek team members who can preserve what is outstanding about our culture and approach while furthering our impact: identifying opportunities for further building the field, driving system change, and enabling the growth in influence of local leaders and organizations.