Women for Women International

Chair

Brief

WELCOME FROM THE CO-CHAIRS

Thank you for your interest in the role of Chair of Women for Women International-UK.

We are an ambitious and successful organisation, part of the global family of Women for Women International, with an expert, committed staff team and a supportive, dedicated Board of Trustees.

As our 2021 Annual Report says, our vision is to create a world in which all women determine the course of their lives and reach their full potential. Women have the power to transform their lives, but when women are undervalued and oppressed, this power is undermined. Conflict and war deepen this injustice. Many women survivors in conflict-ridden and war-torn societies are uprooted from their homes and suffer tragic losses of husbands, parents, other family members, even their own children. Some are raped or abused in unspeakable ways. Even after the conflict has ended, the impacts of sexual violence, poverty, widowhood, discrimination, gender inequality, or continued insecurity often persist, leading to isolation and destitution.

Despite the impact of the effects of conflict and war on women, there is an unmistakable resiliency and sense of hope in those who survive, especially as they struggle to keep families and communities together. At Women for Women International (WfWI), we invest in women who are forgotten—those facing the greatest inequalities in areas of conflict— and support them in developing the social and economic skills and networks they need to rebuild their lives.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis has affected people all over the world, but for the vulnerable women we work with this has been particularly devastating on top of everything else they have to cope with and overcome. The role WfWI has played in responding to this crisis has been central to helping them survive by teaching them how to protect themselves, their families and in turn their communities.

Tragically, recent events have further underlined the importance of our grassroots work with women survivors of conflict and of the solidarity provided to these women by our supporters. Thanks to the generous ongoing support of donors and partners, showing the respect in which WfWI is widely held, women in most of the countries in which we serve have now been able again to be enrolled in the year-long programmes.

Responding to these challenges, WfWI-UK has continued to deliver its commitments to the global organisation. We are seeing our income grow and with that our contribution to global programmes in key areas.

It is an exciting time to join us. We are moving forward into a new phase - shifting power closer to the women we serve and streamlining our governance globally - and our future Chair will represent us on the new global board to be established in 2023.

We are united by our mission to help women survivors of war and empower them to rebuild their lives and to change the world - one woman at a time. We believe that promoting women’s rights and gender equality is about ensuring equal access to opportunities and women’s ability to live their lives with dignity, no matter the circumstances. We are committed to feminist values and leadership and to working with others and challenging ourselves to address racism whether internally or in the wider sector.

We are seeking a new Chair with the passion, profile and commitment to support our ambitious plans and to lead a diverse and energetic UK Board, working in partnership with our Executive team, and embodying our values.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Alex Duncan and Penny Holmes Co-Chairs (interim), Women for Women International-UK

Our Vision

US

Our Mission

Our Values

EMPOWERMENT

We believe every woman is unique and powerful in her own right. Our people are our greatest strength and we will support them to achieve our aims by providing them with the information, rewards and power they need to take the initiative and make decisions to solve problems and improve our delivery and performance. As a learning organisation we encourage our people to take risks and make mistakes - this is how we learn, grow and get better, stronger and smarter.

RESPECT

We believe every woman has the right to be treated with fairness and dignity. We trust each other implicitly, confident in the knowledge that we are all working towards the same goals. Equally, we hold each other responsible and accountable at all levels of the organisation for the outcomes of our actions. We will be bold, clear and kind in our communication with our colleagues across the organisation and not allow disrespectful behaviour to go unchallenged.

INTEGRITY

We will never communicate in any way that exploits or demeans the women we exist to serve. We will deliver a programme of training that maximises the impact for the women we serve to bring them the biggest benefits and facilitate the greatest long-term positive change in their lives. We do what we say we are going to do, when we say we’re going to do it. We act as good stewards of the organisation’s resources.

RESILIENCE

We see every day the strength of women survivors of war and their ability to never lose hope despite having faced the greatest atrocities and horrors of conflict. They inspire us to stay strong, hopeful, focused and committed to our global purpose. We support each other to do the same.

To create a world in which all women determine the course of their lives and reach their full potential.

NANBAM

Nanbam is 40 years old. She lives in Pushit, Nigeria with her husband and five children. Nanbam joined the Stronger Women, Stronger Nations programme in 2016, after hearing about it through her church. Before joining the programme, Nanbam sold second-hand clothes which earned a small amount of money.

During the programme, Nanbam chose piggery as her vocational skill. She saved up her stipend to purchase two pigs, which now live in a small pen in her yard.

I want to help other women the way I have been helped. This was the essence of what I learnt at Women for Women International. They taught us to help others.”

“

OUR STRATEGY

In 2019, the Global and UK Boards of Women for Women International (WfWI) agreed to align to a single global strategy for the organisation. In response to the profound impacts of the global pandemic from the first quarter of 2020, this strategy has adjusted following a strategic planning and budgeting process at the global level.

10 Year Vision

Women for Women International will be recognised as a partner of choice for gender equality and poverty eradication in Fragile and Conflict Affected States, improving a million women’s lives directly or through partnering with and influencing others.

6 Year Strategy: 2021-2025

Women for Women International will go deeper in impact through further improvements to and positioning of our Stronger Women, Stronger Nations programme model, and wider, expanding our reach through community building, partnerships, and influencing. Global revenue will grow by refreshing our brand and marketing and significantly growing our grants and major donors.

3 Year Strategic Plan: 2021-23

• We will continue to improve and scale our Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Programme model.

• We will directly serve at least 30,000 women and have developed a model of community level impact and of scaling through partnership, advocacy, and innovation.

• Given the economic downturn and uncertainly, our aim is to retain and strengthen donor engagement (particularly online) rather than significantly grow our individual donors.

• Our growth focus will be on expanding and diversifying our institutional donors.

• A major focus is to continue to strengthen our organisation for the future: ‘streamline globally, power locally’ to include continuous strengthening of country power, capacity and leadership, moving away from a UScentric headquarters to a diverse global team working from multiple locations, enabled by improved systems and culture.

EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT

Diversity and inclusion have been a priority for Women for Women International (UK) for some time and we know that we have not yet done enough to achieve our ambitions in this area.

Women for Women International is committed to creating a world in which all women determine the course of their lives and reach their full potential. Within our programmes, we know that our approach to building women’s power must be nuanced and intersectional.

Within our own organisation, we recognise that we will never achieve our vital mission without broad and varied perspectives shaping our strategy and delivering our objectives and so we have directed resources to an internal diversity, equity and inclusion project from 2020 to accelerate our journey to becoming a truly diverse and inclusive workplace. This project progressed in 2021 with an equity, diversity and inclusion audit which began with an externally facilitated listening exercise involving all staff in small, focused group conversations.

In the coming months, we will work with our staff team, alongside external consultants, to develop and embed our equity, diversity and inclusion commitments for the future.

Since 2020 we have committed to targets for increasing the diversity of our Board. Thanks to support through the Getting On Board Transform programme, we successfully recruited four new Trustees to our Board in 2021, moving us towards fulfilling these commitments. We also recently engaged the Getting on Board to deliver an inclusive governance training session for our entire Board of Trustees.

We welcome internal and external feedback to challenge us and hold us accountable to progress towards diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplace. As we listen and learn, we will continually evaluate our commitments, our progress towards them, and how we need to evolve. We believe change happens one woman at a time – and that includes investing in the power of the people within our organisation.

OUR IMPACT

Women earn and save money

On average, women report daily personal earnings of $2.12 at graduation, compared to $0.81 at enrolment.

Women develop health and wellbeing

84% of women at graduation report that they are involved in household family planning decision making, compared to 47% at enrolment.

Women are decision-makers

81% of women at graduation report participating in household financial decision making, compared to 52% at enrolment.

Women have social networks and safety nets

47% of women report being a member of a savings group upon graduation, compared to 15% at enrolment.

Data was provided by 5,439 participants who graduated from Women for Women International’s core programme between January and December 2018.

FINANCES

WFWI-UK is a well-established, financially stable organisation with ambitions for significant growth in income and impact in the coming years. In 2021 we raised £4.8million from a diverse range of funding sources, including almost £3million from grants.

Of each £1 spent in 2021, 87p was spent on our charitable activities with the other 13p being

invested in our fundraising. Of the £4million spent on our charitable activities, a total of £2.4million was spent in our programme countries with the balance covering our programme support and advocacy work in the UK.

The organisation’s reserve policy is to cover six months of operating expenditure. The current free reserve held of £995k is in line with this reserve target.

Brief | 2022

ROLE DESCRIPTION

Role title: Chair of the Board of Trustees

Direct reports: Senior member of paid staff (currently Co-Managing Directors)

Remuneration: The role of the Chair is a voluntary duty not accompanied by any financial remuneration. Reasonable expenses such as travel or childcare may be claimed, together with the costs of attending relevant events and the like.

Location: London offices and virtual Time commitment: Four days per month

WfWI UK is seeking to find a passionate, committed and inclusive Chair who will work in partnership with the Board and Executive Team to lead the organisation through an exciting time of growth and transformation. The Chair plays a crucial role in driving the charity to achieve its mission: supporting the most marginalised women in countries affected by conflict to earn and save money; improve health and wellbeing; influence decisions at home and in the community; and connect to networks for support.

Role summary

The role of the Chair is to provide leadership and direction to the Board of Trustees. The Chair’s aim is to enable the Board to fulfil their responsibilities for the overall governance and strategic direction of the organisation.

The Chair will ensure that the organisation complies with the governing document of Women for Women International UK (WFWI-UK) as well as Charity law, Company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations and to make sure that the organisation pursues its objectives as defined in its governing document (Articles of Association).

The Chair and the Vice Chair along with the Chairs of all committees form a core group (of Officers) who lead on tasks between Trustees’ meetings. The Vice Chair will play a key role in convening this group and supporting the smooth running of the annual Board Committee cycle while the Chair will work closely with the Executive team in setting the agenda for each Board meeting and reviewing papers ahead of their circulation to the full Board.

The Chair’s role is also to work in partnership with the executive and senior paid staff members and support the employees, helping them achieve the aims of the organisation; and to optimise the relationship between the Board of Trustees and the staff.

Main responsibilities of the Chair

In addition to the general responsibilities of a Trustee, the Chair has a number of tasks specific to that role:

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Leading WfWI-UK, in partnership with the WfWI-UK Executive and International CEO

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Along with the International CEO, line manage the Executive of WfWI-UK

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Effectively Chairing and facilitating Board meetings in a manner aligned with the values of WfWI-UK

• Being a member of and attending Board committees or working groups, when appropriate in the role of Chair

•

Providing leadership for the Board of Trustees in its role of setting and developing the strategy and policy of the organisation in line with those of the global organisation

• Ensuring that the risks faced by the organisation are well-understood by the Board and effectively mitigated by the Executive

• Representing WfWI-UK on WFWI’s International Board; representing, or otherwise ensuring that WfWI-UK is represented, on committees of the International Board

Personal qualities and behaviours

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Strong personal commitment to the organisation’s mission, vision, and values of Empowerment, Respect, Integrity and Resilience

• Knowledge of the type of work undertaken by the organisation

• Readiness to devote the necessary time and effort to their duties as Chair and Trustee

•

Comfortable representing the organisation externally and able to be an impactful, authentic and inspiring spokesperson for the charity

• Ability to take decisions for the good of the organisation with integrity

• Good communication skills with the ability to provide clarity, inspire “big-picture” thinking and handle contentious issues

• Willingness to listen to the views of others and to express views with tact and diplomacy

• Ability to work effectively and collaboratively as a member of a team

• Understanding of the legal responsibilities and liabilities of a Trustee

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Willingness and ability to use personal connections and networks to advance the organisation

• Prior experience of committee/trustee work

• Prior involvement with the voluntary sector

TIME COMMITMENT

• The time commitment for the Chair will vary but is expected to be roughly four days per month, on average, with the exception of the months of July and August when fewer hours are typically required. These are estimates only, and on occasion, more or less time may be required.

• The Board meets at least four times per year

• The Board Chair will be welcome to attend the Board committees, listed below, which have their own additional time commitments:

• Finance & Audit Committee

• Fundraising & Marketing Committee

• People & Culture Committee

• Nominations Committee

• It is important that the Chair is able to visit the organisation’s office(s) when necessary and to be available to the Executive on a regular basis.

• The Chair will also represent WfWI-UK on WfWI’s International Board which meets at least four times per year

• The Chair will be directly supported by the Vice-Chair who will:

• act on behalf of the Chair when they are not available

• act as a sounding board for the Chair, providing support and advice when needed

• ensure WfWI-UK’s full representation on committees and working groups of the International Board

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for the role of Chair with Women for Women International UK, please upload the following documents via the Prospectus website:

• Your CV

• Your answers to the following 3 questions:

1. Why are you interested in becoming Chair of WfWI-UK at this time and how does the opportunity fit into the bigger picture for you, personally and professionally?

2. What do you perceive as the key challenges and opportunities facing WfWI-UK and its agenda?

3. With reference to the skills we are looking for and the Role Description, and drawing on your skills, experience and expertise, how would you discharge your role as Chair of WfWI-UK?

Please respond with 300-400 words per question to demonstrate how you would contribute as Chair of WfWI-UK, delivering for the diverse communities it serves.

We ask that you complete the equal opportunities information online when you submit your application. The information collected will be treated as confidential, used for statistical purposes only, and will not be treated as part of your application. Finally, please ensure that you have included your contact number and email address, as well as any dates when you will not be available or might have difficulty with the indicative timetable.

Applications should be made via the Prospectus website at: https://jobs.prospect-us.co.uk/jobs/details/HQ00181274

Queries

If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information or would like to have an informal discussion, please contact Camille Revuelta or Emily Hayman at Prospectus via email:

camille.revuelta@prospect-us.co.uk emily.hayman@prospect-us.co.uk

If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact Prospectus on 020 7691 1920 or email: executive.admin@prospect-us.co.uk