Website MADRE
MADRE is an international women’s human rights organization and feminist fund that partners with community-based women’s groups in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East who face war and humanitarian disasters. MADRE works towards a world in which all people enjoy the fullest range of individual and collective human rights; resources are shared equitably and sustainably; women participate effectively in all aspects of society, and people have a meaningful say in decisions that affect their lives.
MADRE offers a comprehensive model of support to our grassroots partners using three interconnected strategies—grantmaking, capacity bridging, and legal and policy advocacy—to meet urgent needs and create opportunities for women and girls in marginalized communities to assert their agency and voice.
Using these strategies, MADRE provides long-term and flexible financial and direct service support to community-based women’s and girls’ groups that have been historically marginalized. Many of them are largely under the radar of traditional philanthropy and/or where conflict or disaster have rendered them difficult to fund and challenging to reach. We work at the intersection of three program areas—Ending Gender Violence, Advancing Climate Justice, and Building a Just Peace—and across five priority communities that have been historically marginalized and continue to face exclusion: young women and girls, Indigenous women, Afro-descendant women, LGBTIQ+ people, and persons with disabilities. We have been privileged to be the first grantmaker to hundreds of under-resourced organizations that frequently cannot access traditional funding sources. In MADRE’s nearly 40-year history, we have disbursed over $58 million in grants and in-kind support to organizations across the globe that are at varying stages of organizational development.
The Position
Reporting to the Senior Director of Grantmaking and Partnerships, the Associate Director of Grantmaking will be part of the Grantmaking and Partnerships team. It will lead all aspects of our long-term intersectional feminist grant-making by supporting existing partners, identifying new partners, recommending strategy and grant amounts, and collaborating with other members of the Grantmaking and Partnerships team to incorporate an intentional decolonizing philanthropic lens across all our work. They will create, manage and oversee all operational grantmaking protocols, including vetting partners, conducting due diligence/compliance, disbursing grants, and tracking expenses, and will supervise the Grants Coordinator and Grants Associate. The Associate Director of Grantmaking will work collaboratively with colleagues across the Grantmaking and Partnerships team and the organization to raise the visibility of our grantee partners and their work, amplify their voices in MADRE’s ongoing advocacy and communications initiatives and disseminate their learning and best practices. This position will also support MADRE’s learning and evaluation efforts by gathering partner data, analyzing program strategies, evaluating MADRE’s impact, reporting to key stakeholders, and raising MADRE’s profile in relevant external intersectional feminist philanthropic spaces.
The ideal candidate will be a highly collaborative, empathetic team leader with a demonstrable commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI); highly organized and deadline-oriented project manager with strong attention to detail and outstanding time management skills; exhibit a high level of, discretion; demonstrate excellent written and oral/interpersonal communication skills, including being adept at supporting partners across cultures and geographies; and have the flexibility to adapt quickly and effectively to rapidly changing external challenges. A strong commitment to gender justice, racial justice, intersectionality, human rights, and decolonizing philanthropic practice is essential.
Scope of Work under this Position:
Grantmaking
● Develop and implement grantmaking priorities and strategies for long-term movement building that center intersectionality from the very outset. MADRE’s areas of program focus include: Ending Gender Violence, Peace Building, and Climate Justice.
● Develop and manage a discrete portfolio of grants that advances MADRE’s organizational priorities in close collaboration with the Senior Director of Grantmaking and Partnerships and other relevant team leads.
● Lead the grantmaking cycle for long-term grantee partners by developing systems and procedures, including preparing relevant documents, conducting due diligence, writing and preparing grant recommendations, and ensuring that all compliance requirements are met.
● Lead and foster close collaborations between the grantmaking and advocacy teams to more fully align strategies and priorities with a specific focus on Indigenous, racial and ethnic minority communities, LGBTIQ+, women with disabilities, informal workers including domestic workers, and women migrants.
● Provide thought-leadership on programming, leadership, and movement building that centers intersectional feminist values (including disability justice, racial justice, and queer justice) and integrates a decolonizing philanthropic approach to grantmaking.
● Professionally manage extensive correspondence with potential and actual program beneficiaries, references, trusted partners, and other related contacts
using digitally-secure means of communication as relevant.
● Work closely with the Finance team to ensure all aspects of financial compliance for all long-term grants.
● Conduct mapping and needs assessment of existing and potential partners.
● Create and manage the annual budget associated with the long-term grantee partner portfolio.
● Lead special projects, and generate reports on context and strategic issues for internal and external audiences, including peer feminist philanthropic funds, donors, and other stakeholders.
● Cultivate and forge strong relationships with existing and potential grantee partners.
Networking and Coordination
● Provide thought partnership and strategic support to grantees through ongoing site visits and interactions at convenings and forums.
● Liaise with key stakeholders (women’s funds, community-based and grassroots organizations, private and public funds and donors, and other international partners) focused on supporting historically marginalized women.
● Manage working relationships with peer organizations and funding partners in women’s and girls’ rights communities and stay abreast of emerging strategies, potential partners, and global funding trends.
● Engage with the international community of donors, philanthropic actors, and NGOs working to advance women’s and girls’ rights.
● Represent MADRE at philanthropic and programmatic public events/fora.
● Support grantee partners to participate in communities of practice and advocacy spaces and amplify their voices in multilateral fora and international convenings.
● Contribute to annual program planning and developing the organizational strategy, goals, and objectives.
● Contribute to MADRE publications and write website content, press releases, briefings, policy papers, etc. Knowledge Management and Sharing
● Work closely with program staff overseeing MADRE’s learning and assessment process to identify outcomes and impact of the long-term movement-building grantmaking work.
● Develop and contribute substantially to concept notes, project documents, proposals, and research documents.
● Create presentations and materials to communicate the impact of our intersectional feminist grantmaking strategy to various audiences and stakeholders.
● Work closely and proactively with the Senior Director of Grantmaking and Partnerships and the Development team to create a fundraising strategy for programmatic funding.
● Provide thought leadership on how MADRE’s long-term movement-building work intersects with broader global trends, including rising authoritarianism and the erosion of democracy and human rights. People Management and Leadership
● Work closely with the Senior Director of Grantmaking and Partnerships to provide thought leadership and foster a culture of rigor that centers on mental wellness and joy deeply aligned with feminist, anti-racist values.
● Model strong JEDI leadership principles and provide empathetic supervision to the Grants Coordinator and Grants Associate that centers mental wellness and work-life balance; Lead, manage, and mentor teams with empathy, humility, compassion, and trust.
● Cultivate strong relationships with other team leaders across programs and foster team collaboration.
● Engage in effective delegation and oversight while providing staff the space to be creative and innovative in developing new approaches to this work.
● Support and mentor staff, provide regular feedback on performance, and conduct annual performance reviews.
● Proactively seek opportunities to support the ongoing professional development and mental wellness of staff
Key Qualifications:
● Committed to MADRE’s mission with a demonstrable commitment to advancing grant-making centered on intersectionality and decolonizing philanthropic practice.
● Collaborative team player with excellent interpersonal skills and intercultural communication skills with the ability to forge and cultivate strong relationships with partners and colleagues across the grantmaking team and the organization.
● Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience
● Minimum of 3 years experience in grants administration, procedures, and grantmaking databases; experience with participatory grantmaking a strong asset.
● Strong commitment to rigorous values-based grantmaking, evidence of excellent judgment, and demonstrable personal integrity.
● Ability to prioritize tasks and delegate effectively, manage own and team’s timelines, and recalibrate effectively; attention to detail and follow-through; proactive work style with an ability to take initiative as needed.
● Creative strategic thinker with the ability to proactively develop new ideas and innovative systems and approaches to grant-making, cultivate buy-in with other team members and manage implementation and assessment.
● Excellent interpersonal skills with demonstrated ability to work effectively and build relationships with internal and external constituencies, including colleagues, current and prospective partners, and donors.
● Ability to be flexible and gracefully adapt to rapidly changing external challenges and opportunities while also maintaining balance, perspective, and equanimity.
● Minimum of 5 years of development/fundraising experience with a proven track record of fundraising from institutional, bilateral, and private donors.
● Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
● Professional working fluency in a second language required, with a strong preference for Arabic orSpanish
● Ability to travel as needed (approximately 15-20%).
Position Location: REMOTE Based. While this job may be remote anywhere inside the United States, it will require occasional in-person meetings at MADRE’s headquarters in New York City. Must provide proof of authorization to work in the United States. International and domestic travel may be required when the Pandemic subsides.
Union Representation
This is not a union-represented role.
Compensation Package:
● Salary: $105,000
● Benefits: Comprehensive benefits package offered that is robust, inclusive, and progressive.
Application Process: To apply, please send a cover letter, CV/Resume, and two references to: [email protected]. Please note applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Email Subject Line: Associate Director, Grantmaking.
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MADRE is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Black, Indigenous, People of Color, recent immigrants, persons with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people, and other historically marginalized people from under-represented backgrounds are highly encouraged to apply. We take pride in our pluralistic community and continue to seek excellence by integrating an intersectional justice lens into all our recruitment efforts.
Studies have shown that people from historically marginalized groups are less likely to apply for specific positions unless they believe they meet every single one of the qualifications listed in a job description. MADRE values lived experience and are highly committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization that centers on intersectional justice. We actively seek to reach candidates from directly impacted communities.