at Mastercard Foundation (View all jobs)
Nairobi, Kenya
ABOUT MASTERCARD FOUNDATION
Mastercard Foundation seeks a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper. Through its Young Africa Works strategy and Canadian EleV program, the Foundation works with partners to ensure that millions of young people, especially young women, access quality education, financial services, and dignified work.
Mastercard Foundation was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company. The Foundation is independent with its own Board of Directors and CEO.
THE WORK AT THE FOUNDATION
We are currently in an exciting period at the Mastercard Foundation as we intensify the implementation of the Young Africa Works strategy, aiming to empower 30 million young people throughout Africa to access dignified and fulfilling employment.
To ensure the Foundation’s accessibility to our partners and program participants, we have established offices in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Uganda.
These offices provide strong in-country support for the implementation of Young Africa Works. We collaborate with governments, the private sector, educators, and other funders to enhance the quality of education and vocational training, equip young individuals with the necessary skills for the workforce, expand access to financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and facilitate connections between job seekers and meaningful employment opportunities.
Our values serve as our guiding principles, transcending and surpassing all other considerations. We wholeheartedly encourage you to bring your bold ideas, curiosity, and expertise to your work.
UNDERSTANDING CANADA PROGRAMS AT THE FOUNDATION
The Foundation has begun working within Canada in partnership with Indigenous communities and post-secondary institutions to listen, learn, and best understand how we can act in meaningful ways. The EleV strategy was co-created with Indigenous communities, young people, and partners to enable 30,000 Indigenous youth to complete their education and transition to dignified work aligned with their values and aspirations.
As reflected in Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, education is a key driver of improved socio-economic well-being.
Through building partnerships with Indigenous communities, we look to expand our initiative ultimately helping to support a generation of transformative Indigenous young leaders who will be change agents within their communities.
We believe that by setting a bold target, we will encourage engagement across sectors and create momentum that will elevate the strengths and opportunities of Indigenous youth.
In keeping with our approach, Indigenous communities and young people will be the drivers of this transformation. The program will promote innovations to address longer-term systemic change to achieve economic prosperity and social well-being within Indigenous communities.
The EleV team oversees current and emerging partnerships related to Indigenous education. Consistent with our overall vision and Youth Africa Works strategy, we will share learnings and opportunities to connect across the work of the Foundation.
While operating in distinct contexts, the centrality of youth voice and vision, affirmation of culture and identity, and priority to enhance community capacity for self-determination are common threads upon which our work is strengthened and reinforced.
UNDERSTANDING & MEASURING IMPACT
The Foundation has developed a comprehensive strategy for understanding and measuring Impact through a more holistic approach. In this context, Impact spans from the effects that our investments trigger directly in creating work opportunities, upwards to the significant changes and outcomes derived from the influence that the Mastercard Foundation Programs have on the institutional and system level changes in policies, practices and larger investments that open-up for expanded impact, at scale, on youth employment.
Working with young women and men in Africa represents a unique opportunity to develop, implement, and learn from programming and influencing activities in ways that value African and Indigenous ways of being and knowing. Impact measurement and the associated narratives will be guided by youth-focused lenses and located within the nexus of nationally owned strategies and global best practices and thought leadership.
The methodologies, tools and insights throughout this journey will be determined and co-created in partnership with youth and other Indigenous vectors of knowledge in communities and countries where we work.
If you are an experienced Refugees & Displaced Persons (RDP) expert ready to build something new and increase your impact, read on!
THE OPPORTUNITY
Move forward with the RDP strategy, the RDP Consultant will support the implementation by leading program development, design and management including but not limited to, a regional university consortium creating access to quality education for RDP youth.
The RDP Consultant’s portfolio will focus on education initiatives including secondary and tertiary level with the objective of leading the RDP youth to dignified and fulfilling work. To this end, we are commissioning an RDP Consultant to join the Foundation’s RDP team and build-out and manage new RDP education programming.
WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE
Contribute to the implementation of RDP strategy and design of sector interventions.
- Contribute and seek new ideas and evidence for partnerships aligned to RDP strategy.
- Build networks with RDP youth and African-based organizations to advance the interventions of RDP.
- Manage workshops and meetings through agenda development, logistics and delivery for partner development.
- Collaborate with team members in various functional areas including Program, Impact and Measurement and Communications to ensure integration in RDP partnerships.
Develop, co-create, design, and manage new and current RDP programming aligned to RDP strategy including but not limited to a regional university consortium.
- Build-out and co-create partnerships aligned to RDP strategy and provide thorough guidance and analysis during program design, partnership development, implementation and monitoring and learning.
- Engage with partners to review opportunities, challenges and advance interventions through collaboration, learning, and networks.
- Develop new partnerships, including identifying and working with prospective partners to design proposals, undertaking due diligence of potential partners and projects.
- Manage day-to-day communication and needs of partners.
Consolidate learnings and impact from RDP projects to inform ongoing and new programming.
- Recommend and participate in evaluation and learning activities to guide the evolution of RDP programmatic work.
- Capture and document insights and learnings to ensure that we are adapting consistently to create sustainable and guided RDP programs and approaches.
- Manage, monitor and coordinate a portfolio of partners, including reviewing financial and narrative reporting from partners.
- Provide perspective on emerging issues and trends in refugee and displaced context.
- Support RDP team on day-today inquiries and support junior staff to learn and build knowledge on RDP programs and engagement.
WHO YOU ARE
- Consultant will be based in East Africa, preferably Nairobi, Kenya.
- Minimum 8-years of relevant experience in displacement context and supporting RDP populations.
- Experience in project management including design and monitoring and evaluation.
- Experience working in a grant management system.
- Experience in organizing and planning workshops or events.
- Strong coordination, organization and multi-tasking skills.
- Excellent synthesis, analytical and report writing skills; ability to synthesize large amounts of qualitative data and present clear high-level findings for decision makers.
- Ability to identify the most promising policies and practices for scale and sustainability.
- Familiarity with the literature surrounding displacement and education in East Africa.
- Fluency in English, French or local languages are an asset to highlight.
- Ability to travel for in-person engagement with RDP Team and/or partners.
- Commitment to Mastercard Foundation values.
Timeline
- Anticipated start-date, September 1st, 2023, over one year contract period ending August 31, 2024, with possibility of extension.
Deadline for Applications is July 27, 2023.
Mastercard Foundation (the “Foundation”) values and respects your privacy. By submitting an application for this opportunity, you hereby agree to the Foundation’s collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy (available at https://mastercardfdn.org/privacy/). Please note that the Foundation may share your personal information with third-party agencies that support the Foundation’s recruitment activities, and such third-party agencies may contact you directly regarding this opportunity. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Foundation’s Privacy Officer at the address indicated in its Privacy Policy.
The Mastercard Foundation values the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the organization and we are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone.
Completion of satisfactory business references and background checks are essential conditions of employment.
For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit http://www.mastercardfdn.org/
Follow the Foundation on Twitter at @MastercardFdn
NB: To avoid missing email communication about your application, please check your spam/junk folder and mark our emails as “not junk”.
