February 2021 Social Impact News Roundup: Building Resilient Communities

In February, we were inspired by the ways that social change organizations have invested in building more resilient communities to drive systemic change from the grassroots level up. 

In its new Recovery 2021 series, NextBillion is spotlighting how the social impact sector is helping communities and businesses recover from the pandemic’s lingering effects, while building their ability to navigate future threats. 

We also saw new social enterprise support organizations emerge to help build back better from this crisis and foster resilience in the future. Resonance, the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), and a global network of business, government, and civil society leaders launched the Circular Economy Action Agenda, a rallying call to accelerate the transition to a circular economy to achieve a better future for people and nature. In addition, Agora Partnerships joined forces with other leading social impact support organizations to launch The Task Force for Economic, Social and Environmental Recovery in Latin America, “Red de Impacto,” a new backbone structure for the social impact ecosystem in the region that will stand the test of time.

Agora Partnerships also released its 15th anniversary report last month highlighting (among other things) resilience-focused support in challenging contexts, and the impact of its holistic model that addresses the individual and ecosystem levels through a combination of knowledge, networks, and capital. Mercy Corps Social Ventures also released its annual report, which shares more tips on social enterprise resiliency.

At the individual social enterprise level, we saw more great examples of pivoting to build resilience. The recent three-part series by Khushi Kantha (“Happy Blanket”) about how it is regenerating the Bengali kantha tradition to create opportunities for mothers in Bangladesh by incorporating new techniques that meet the circular principles of ‘reclaim-repurpose-reuse’ and brings the cultural heritage of Bangladesh to a new audience. In addition, Phoenix Space launched its first Advanced Track lecture series to democratize access to STEM education while also raising awareness about educational challenges faced by refugees in the Middle East, and Legacy International also highlighted impact stories from young women in STEM from around the globe who are using STEM to do amazing work to improve their communities. HYCF (Helping You Community Forum) also shared a new video about how its work is transforming societies into a better place to live in through community development.

Find the latest social impact job opportunities and upcoming events below to help you take action to drive positive change from the community level:

Social impact job opportunities

• Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is looking to fill the following positions: 
  • West Africa Program Associate (based in Lagos, Nigeria)
  • Managing Director (based in Washington, D.C.) 
  • Advocacy Manager (based in Washington, D.C.) 
• Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) is looking to fill a number of roles, based in the Washington, D.C. area with remote flexibility:
  • Innovation Program Director
  • Project Manager
  • Enterprise Architect/Project Manager
  • Research Associate
  • Community Engagement Manager
• Thomson Reuters Foundation is currently recruiting for a Director, Social Impact Institute based in the US. 
• Impact Network LATAM is recruiting for a Content and Community Manager to join its Latin America team.
• Change.org is currently hiring for a number of positions, including:
  • Senior Software Engineers to join its Foundation team – Multiple positions (one position is remote, one position is based in Victoria, B.C.)
  • Senior Machine Learning Engineer to join its AI/ML team (based in San Francisco)
  • Software Engineering Managers – Multiple Positions (one position based in San Francisco, one position based in Victoria, B.C.) 
  • Staff Software Engineers – Multiple positions (this position and this position are based in San Francisco, along with this position based in Victoria, B.C.)
• Seattle Against Slavery is currently recruiting for an Executive Director (based in Seattle)
• Starbucks Global Coffee team is recruiting for a Global Responsibility Program Manager – Traceability (based in Seattle)
• The Conservation Alliance is looking to fill two positions, based in Bend, Oregon or Remote:
  • Communications Director
  • Government Affairs & Advocacy Director. 
• Mercy Corps is looking for an experienced Director of Corporate Partnerships to join the team in Portland, Oregon or remotely.
• Gates Ventures is hiring a Women’s Health Topic Lead to join the team in Kirkland, Washington
• Twilio is looking for an Impact Program Manager based in London or Dublin to help expand its programs beyond the US
• Proof of Impact is recruiting for a Marketing Manager to join its global team 
• The Beeck Center for Social Impact at Georgetown University is recruiting for a Director of Communications & Marketing to join its team in Washington,D.C. or remotely. Apply before March 14th!
• Global Distributors Collective is recruiting for a Communications and Project Officer to join its team in Rugby, Warwickshire. Apply by March 19th!
• The Tides Foundation is looking for a Director of Information Technology to join its team in San Francisco.
• Duke University is currently recruiting for an Area Director – Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions to join its team in Durham, North Carolina.
• Acumen is currently recruiting for a Community Fundraising Manager to join its team in New York.
• Imperative is looking to fill a number of positions based in Seattle, including:
  • Customer Success Manager
  • Enterprise Account Manager
  • Principal Full Stack Developer
  • Senior UX Designer – Contract
  • Technical Product Manager
  • Senior Enterprise Account Executive (remote)
• Legacy International is seeking to fill multiple positions related to its TechGirls program (available positions here) and its Global Youth Village program (available positions here)

Upcoming events & new programs

• March 10th: MovingWorlds S-GRID is hosting a “Using Partnerships to Identify New Growth Opportunities” webinar panel featuring B Lab, Good Market, and the Social Enterprise World Forum. Register here.
• March 16th: MovingWorlds S-GRID is hosting a “Resiliency & Strategy Tools for Social Enterprises” webinar with special guest Jessie Coates, Global Impact Entrepreneurship Leader at EY. Register here. 
• March 16th: Resonance Global is hosting an Inclusive Innovation Exchange webinar about how to deploy strategic business models and cross-sector collaboration to expand access to non-communicable disease (NCD) treatment and deliver better patient care. Register here.
• March 24th: Conveners.org is hosting a Masterclass, “Why we need to Accelerate Angels a.k.a. A sustainable business model for a startup accelerator begins by training Angels.” Cost to participate is $20, and you can register here.
• March 31st: Deadline to apply to the MovingWorlds Institute Global Fellowship cohort launching in April! Learn more and apply here.
• April 1: In partnership with ANDE, Dr. Adam Richards, Director of Impact at Social Value International, is accepting applications for a GALI Accelerator Impact Measurement and Management Training.

Congratulations to….

• Eskwelabs for being selected from over 200 EdTech companies to join EduSpaze, an Enterprise-Singapore backed EdTech accelerator!
• MovingWorlds for earning the #2 spot on Escape the City’s Top 100 purpose-driven companies to escape to in 2021!
• S-GRID members for their work in partnering with the corporates sector to make it more responsible, sustainable, and equitable, including: 
  • Desolenator’s partnership with Carlsberg (featured by the World Economic Forum) 
  • Cropsticks scaling in partnership with Cost Plus World Market
  • Seabin Project presenting at IBM’s annual conference.

A final bit of inspiration