What are the responsibilities and job description for the Framework Change and Communications Leader, Ashoka North America position at Ashoka?
Position at Ashoka
North America, Leadership Group Member
Framework Change: Building and Communicating an “Everyone a Changemaker” World
North America, Leadership Group Member
Framework Change: Building and Communicating an “Everyone a Changemaker” World
About Ashoka
Ashoka is the world’s largest community of leading social entrepreneurs and pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship more than 40 years ago. We find, select, and support a robust network of more than 4,000 Ashoka Fellows in 90 countries who have successfully implemented systems-changing solutions to human and environmental problems globally. By learning from and collaborating with our Fellows and other social entrepreneurs, Ashoka identifies patterns and key levers to help society gain a new framework for living in the world as a changemaker. Ashoka’s work therefore started with the Fellows, building and spreading the construct of social entrepreneurship, which has led to our current work – the ‘Everyone a Changemaker’ movement.
“Everyone a Changemaker” stems from our belief that everyone is a “giver”, and that everyone must recognize both their potential and responsibility to make positive change in an everchanging world. Central to this movement is breaking down silos and replacing them with new networks (and new networks of networks) that together fundamentally change how people of all ages identify and act as changemakers.
The Opportunity
Ashoka is seeking an individual with a track record of entrepreneurialism, innovation and changemaking to lead the “Everyone a Changemaker” movement in the region. As a Framework Change Leader, they will create partnerships with leading media outlets, publishers, unions, educational institutions, and corporate entities to activate networks that together create a world where everyone – children, young people, and adults of all ages - masters what Ashoka has identified as core changemaking skills: empathy, initiative to act for impact (i.e., changemaking), teamwork, and leadership.
Key Achievements Will Include
- Movement Storytelling: Develop a regional storytelling framework that encourages the sharing of stories that show, not just tell the shift toward youth and citizen agency, and an "autonomy respecting" systems approach to developing solutions to shared challenges.
- Movement Marketing: Lead Ashoka efforts to build cohesive and leveraged approaches with partners to advance framework change initiatives such as Lead Young and Everyone a Changemaker. Ensure that Ashoka’s narrative leads with the “Everyone a Changemaker” vision and empowers our internal teams and external partners across the region.
- Media partnerships: Launch, nurture, and guide media strategy aligned with Ashoka’s organisational strategy. Cultivate key influencers, media, and publishers.
- Other Strategic Partnerships: Search out, nurture, and solidify partnerships with funders, corporations, foundations, unions, educators, and other entities.
- Movement Messaging: Lead a social media campaign in the region that utilizes various online platforms to reach everyone with the “Everyone a Changemaker” message.
- Movement Building: Increase the number of young people, parents, educators, partners, and citizens that identify as changemakers so that “Changemaking” becomes the new norm.
Qualifications
Given that this role is in Ashoka’s Leadership Group and involves international influencing and impact, the right candidate will have the skills and 15-20 years of related experience to effectively execute deliverables. They will have already:
- Identified a shared problem and created an innovative solution with system- or sector-wide impact.
- Founded their own social impact organization to scale their innovation, advanced a mission/cause through an innovation that has since changed a sector or system, or launched a movement driven in part by innovative approaches with measurable systemic impact; this work may have started as early as one’s student years.
- Created partnerships with key actors to advance an innovation and its social impact.
- Elevated the profile of an organization, cause or mission.
- Built knowledge about and experience with social media platforms and campaigns to multiply and advance impact.
- Created a strategic movement’s marketing communications architecture including social media, writing, storytelling, and speaking events.
- Supported the building of marketing and communications capacity and needs across teams to advance a mission through fundraising efforts. Or, raised substantial funding to support their own organization and mission.
The right candidate also
- Has an ability to adapt and thrive in an entrepreneurial, fluid, team of teams environment in which needs, strategy and short- / long-term goals may change to adapt to shifts in the ecosystem or social impact landscape.
- Has an ability to balance creative strategy design with day-to-day execution based on current needs.
- Is skilled at leading and managing a team that has autonomy and independence to further cultivate Ashoka’s emphasis on creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.
- Understands and exhibits empathy, teamwork, leadership and changemaking in their lived experience and has the ability to enable or share these capacities with others.
Ashoka's Core Hiring Criteria
ENTREPRENEURSHIP/INTRAPRENEURSHIP: Demonstrates a track record of taking creative initiative and ownership (e.g., founding an organization or company, starting a movement, or re-shaping the work of an existing organization). For Leadership Group Member roles specifically, an entrepreneurial track record is crucial.
UNDERSTANDING & BELIEF IN THE VISION OF AN EVERYONE A CHANGEMAKER FUTURE: Understands and embraces Ashoka’s vision; has a broad and inquisitive intellect and a thinking pattern that connects the dots between historical trends and the current social context.
EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE: Has the ability to work efficiently and respectfully in teams.
ETHICAL FIBER: Possess exceptionally strong ethical behavior.
SELF DEFINITION: Assumes that changing the world in big ways is what they will do in life.
Compensation for this role is US$149,000 bonus.
Ashoka is an equal opportunity employer and invites applications from candidates regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or religion.
This position is based in Arlington, Virginia.
