We are looking for a new Chair of Trustees to work with our talented trustee team in overseeing EduSpots’ governance and inputting into EduSpots’ strategic development. 

Further information 

EduSpots is an innovative, dynamic, and locally driven UK and Ghanaian registered charity which connects, trains, and equips voluntary community educators to create transformative literacy and STEM opportunities through education spaces named ‘Spots’, with a focus on female empowerment and environmental action. Together, we are creating a movement for community-led education.

Since 2016, through collaborating extensively with over 250 local volunteers, we have supported 50 communities in creating community-led and owned education spaces named ‘Spots’, with a strategy to support them in moving towards our ‘Dream Spot Model’. We are creating a model for a community-led education space with accompanying network engagement that could have applications across the world.

Our 16-strong but entirely part-time and remote working Ghanaian team creates collaborative learning opportunities through our Ignite and Community Leadership in Development (CLEd) Programmes which include training to lead our EduLit, EduSTEM, EduKidz and Ignite Girls clubs, alongside locally designed education projects, reaching over 15,000 students of all ages annually. Read our 2022 Impact Report here.

EduSpots is in an exciting period of its development, with multi-year unrestricted funding gained in 2022, and our new Ignite Programme launched in April gaining a multi-year grant alongside support from five competitive trusts and foundations. We are projected to double our income in 2023. We won the Tes International Award in 2018, the Big Give Supporters’ Choice Award in 2022 and were selected as a finalist for the Their World Innovation Prize in 2023. In 2021, our Founder was a Finalist in The Varkey Foundation’s $1 million Global Teacher Prize, supported by UNESCO, partly for her role in developing EduSpots.

We are excited by our future.  Do visit www.eduspots.org for further information and learn more about our team here.

Across 2023 EduSpots will be:

• Advancing our operational and financial systems, with a particular focus on monitoring and evaluation.
• Rolling out the trial of our Ignite programme, which aims to give all our volunteers the skills, knowledge and experience they need to lead community-led, sustainable, and transformative change in their communities through establishing a range of clubs in their ‘Spots’, alongside a particular focus on child safeguarding and protection training.
• Continuing to track, review and advance the existing network of community-led libraries or education ‘Spots’, working collaboratively with community educators across our network to move our spaces towards our ‘Dream Spot Model’.
• Creating new partnerships to strengthen the impact of our work, creating a network of EduSpots Ambassadors.
• Creating a dedicated part-time team across the UK and Ghana to lead a strategic approach to fundraising, aiming to expand income by 100% across grants, individual giving, corporate sponsorship, and community fundraising.
• Developing a medium-term and long-term strategy for the future, exploring different options for sustaining, deepening, and scaling our impact.

About this voluntary role

Time: 10 hours a month

Location: Remote or UK/Ghana

We are looking for a knowledgeable, experienced, and committed Chair of Trustees to lead our experienced Board, working closely with the CEO, trustees, advisory board members, wider staff, and our network of volunteers, to enable us to together consolidate our programmes, develop our central ‘Spot’ model, and extend our staffing capacity, ahead of starting to consider opportunities to scale our work. They will have the time and the interest to meet with the CEO on a fortnightly basis, working closely with her and supporting her professional development.

We are looking for an individual with a strong understanding of charity leadership and governance. They will have experience of organisational development, with the insight needed to advise us in this exciting period of growth, ensuring that risks are effectively managed, and that our strategy enables us to build a strong foundation for future scaling of impact. In the next period, we are aiming to considerably grow our income; experience in leading fundraising strategies and hands-on relationship development would be a particular advantage.

We are ultimately looking for an individual who is a hands-on team player with a genuine passion for educational equity and community-driven models of development, with experience of working in low or middle-income contexts. This would ideally be within Ghana or wider Africa, but this is not essential if they bring a learning mindset and an awareness of power imbalances.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Ensuring that trustees fulfil their duties and responsibilities for the effective governance of the Charity, including but not limited to operating within its charitable objectives, reviewing and responding to major risks and opportunities and ensuring strong systems are in place to ensure financial accountability.
• Lead the monitoring and evaluation of the Board’s collective skills, experience, and contribution, and developing this over time ensuring trustees have clearly understood roles,
• Scheduling, planning, and chairing Board meetings, working closely with the CEO (with administrative support from the Head of Development), ensuring meetings are well-planned and meaningful, with Trustees given information required for effective decision-making and policy review in advance. (4 times per annum, plus a strategy day)
• Actively promoting the organisation’s work through their networks and positively represent the organisation at all times.
• Developing a strong co-learning relationship with the CEO, providing mutual support, and working together to create a structure and support for the CEO’s professional development.
• Supporting the CEO and key senior staff through informed questioning and oversight to ensure the organisation’s legal responsibilities and strategic objectives are achieved.
• In partnership with the CEO, developing the long-term strategy for the organisation, including evaluation of potential expansion / partnerships opportunities.

Personal Specifications 

Essential

Knowledge & Experience 

• Strong experience and understanding relating to all areas of charity governance
• Experience of being a trustee, ideally with both large and small charities.
• Experience in leading the strategy of an organisation through a consolidation and growth phase.
• Ability to work in, and inspire, a fast-paced, ambitious team, with strong administrative and operational skills.
• Experience of fundraising within a charity context.

Personal Qualities & Skills

• A genuine passion for our educational model, and community-driven development.
• A strong listener and team player, aligned with our collaborative model of organisational development.
• Strong leadership skills, with the ability to work effectively with the trustee team and be a sounding board to the CEO.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to create positive working relationships and motivate staff, volunteers, and a range of stakeholders at all levels in a cross-cultural environment.
• A learning mindset, with the ability to ensure voices across the whole organisation are heard.
• An understanding of the value of power analysis, ensuring that community-based decision-making is at the heart of our model.
• Diplomatic, thoughtful, and empathetic; yet assertive, and decisive.
• Exemplary written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to create and foster a culture of respect, honesty and commitment to our values and organisational aims.

Highly desirable

• Experience of working in a charity in a low or middle-income context, preferably in Ghana or Africa.
• Experience of developing a fundraising strategy within a charity context and willingness to be involved in this area.
• Experience of working in an education-focused charity or business, ideally within an African context.

How to apply:

Please send a tailored covering letter and updated CV addressed to the Chair, Miss Cat Davison, at info@eduspots.org by 31st July 2023 with a hope to meet shortlisted candidates for a first-round interview in the week starting 5th August 2023. We are happy to receive any questions relating to this role at the same address.

For further information please see www.eduspots.org  or contact us at info@eduspots.org

Also follow us on social media – @eduspots on Twitter and Facebook

EduSpots is committed to the safeguarding of children. Appointment will be subject to an enhanced child protection screening appropriate to the post. Please note that you may be required to provide additional documentation as proof of your identity and qualifications.