Advocacy Director

The Advocacy Director will lead the Fund’s advocacy work, with the goal of creating a campaign that brings increasing government and donor attention to girls’ education, and gives visibility to effective solutions.

Deadline:           Open until filled

Location:           New York, USA

Organization:    Malala Fund

About Malala Fund

The Malala Fund is the organization founded and inspired by the Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai. Malala campaigned in Pakistan for the right of all girls to go to school in the face of a ban on female education by the Taliban. She was shot by the Taliban for her campaign at the age of 15 on her way home from school, causing global outrage. Malala survived the attack and went on to become a world-renowned leader for peace and education, the youngest ever Nobel Prize nominee, and the most powerful advocate for girls’ rights of our time. 

Malala launched the Malala Fund launched in October 2013, along with co-founder Shiza Shahid and a group of advisors, with the goal of creating a world where every girl has access to an education that empowers her to recognize her potential. The Fund has a two-pronged approach to its mission. First it invests in local entrepreneurs: working in communities to develop education solutions that are grounded in the reality of the girl and teaching her skills that empower her to lift herself out of poverty. Second, it aims to take these solutions to scale by pushing governments and donor organizations to prioritize high quality girls learning programs for girls. Malala and the Fund direct attention to the current state of girls’ education, and the potential of girls as an unparalleled force of change and development. The Fund then spotlights high-impact solutions that can de adopted and scaled by governments and multilateral institutions.

The organization is a start-up in its early stages. It is run by Shiza Shahid, who is the CEO, and advised by a cross-functional group of committed and passionate advisors including a partner at McKisney and a VP at Google. The team and the board will be built over the course of 2014.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

The Advocacy Director will lead the Fund’s advocacy work, with the goal of creating a campaign that brings increasing government and donor attention to girls’ education, and gives visibility to effective solutions.

This includes:

• Work with CEO to develop advocacy strategy and implementation plan; 
• Keep informed about and engaged with relevant research, debates, innovations and policy changes in education
• Help prepare written materials, including policy analyses, innovation briefs, advocacy documents, and op-eds
• Co-develop papers with partner organizations with key policy recommendations
• Present policy recommendations to relevant groups, such as high-level government officials, international and regional institutions, media and general public;
• Develop and maintain core partnerships with NGOs, UN, World Bank, Governments and communities;
• Represent the Fund along with CEO, and sometimes Malala, at key international meetings at UN, World Bank
• Be part of the start-up team and willing to contribute to other areas of work as need arises

Profile

Required Skills & Qualifications 

• Experience in designing and implementing advocacy initiatives at the international, national land community level on gender/education/ related areas;
• Strong relationship building skills with UN/multilateral agencies, government, and civil society/communities
• Good analytical skills - ability to understand complex issues and present positions to governmental and intergovernmental bodies as well as to media and staff;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• Creative thinker – eager to explore out-of-the-box ideas rather than simply fit within the traditional framework
• Passion for start-ups, willing to play different roles as necessary, work in a small-team and get things done

To Apply

Mission Talent has been tasked by the Malala Fund to undertake this search. Therefore, all applications must be addressed to Mission Talent via email to applications@missiontalent.comstating MF-DA-NY/+your surname in the subject line.

To apply for this role, kindly attach your CV (in English) and motivational letter (of 350 words or less) which summarizes how your profile aligns with the key requirements, skills and abilities of this role. Kindly send these documents as word files to us.Thank you in advance for your interest in this position. Please note that only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted by Mission Talent for follow-up.