By Merritt Frey, Executive Director

Mali Rising Foundation seeks volunteer board members with a passion for changing lives through the power of education. We're looking for board members to serve as ambassadors for our work and our students. Mali Rising Foundation's volunteer board guides our work and provides legal and financial oversight. These dedicated volunteers make sure we are on track to do the best job we can for Mali's children and to be responsible with donor dollars.

This is not a paid position.

Qualifications

Mali Rising has a fun and engaged board, but we're growing and so should our board. The main trait we seek: an eagerness to serve as an ambassador for our work and students by sharing stories with others.

After conducting an analysis of our current board's capacities, we are also particularly looking for candidates with several specific skills (note: no one would have ALL of these skills -- if you have one you are a good candidate!):

• Legal background: Don't worry, we aren't looking for free legal services! However, we would benefit from having someone with a legal background to make sure we are asking the right questions and going above and beyond on compliance and transparency.

• Organizing movements: Our board has some great communicators, but we have identified a need for more capacity to channel our messages into building a community of supporters who are passionate about international issues and education for all.

• Fundraising: We just launched a big push to double our capacity to make change....and that costs money. We would love the board to have more expertise and connections in the fundraising world.

• Nonprofit leadership: Maybe you've been in nonprofit leadership in the past? Or maybe you have a long history with serving on nonprofit boards? We'd love to add more knowledge in this arena to the board.

• Corporate connections: We are building out a robust corporate giving strategy and would love to have additional capacity to connect in the corporate world.

We also especially welcome board candidates with a background in education OR international issues/international development. We also would particularly love to add board members from the East Coast and Midwest of the US and Canada.

Requirements

Most importantly, board members are ambassadors in the community -- sharing our work with their friends, families, and networks In terms of specifics, the average Mali Rising board member provides approximately 2 to 4 hours of volunteer service each month. An annual job description outlines the core duties and allows board members to personalize their time contributions to make the most of their skills. Some general requirements for all board members include:

• Board members commit to attending bi-monthly meetings and participating on a board committee in the alternate months. Most of this meetings are virtual, but one annual day-long retreat is in person if at all possible.

• Board members also commit to 1) making a financial contribution at a level that is personally meaningful (that might be $50 or $25,000) and 2) helping to engage others in both the work and fundraising efforts (e.g., at a house party or gala, at our annual on-line fundraising event, etc.).

• Board members take on projects that utilize your own personal skills -- examples might include: setting up a meeting with a potential supporter, helping to streamline the Chart of Accounts, assisting in the design of a pilot project, providing feedback on a social media campaign, etc.

What do you get in return? The knowledge that you're making a real difference with real children -- we connect you with the work. You also get to work with a fun group of board members, network at events, and learn a lot about a place you might never have otherwise known (Timbuktu!).

Interested? Contact me here. If the board feels like too big of a commitment right now, you might consider joining our Council of Advisors or volunteering.