More Than Me Fellowship in Liberia

What is your next step? Where do you want to go in your life? What kind of impact do you want to make?

How about spending a year on the ground in Liberia, West Africa on a fellowship with More Than Me?

More Than Me (MTM) was founded in 2008 with the mission of getting girls off the streets and into school in the West Point community, one of the poorest and most dangerous slums of Liberia. MTM works with community leaders to identify girls who are at the highest risk of being sexually exploited to ensure that education and opportunity, not exploitation and poverty, define their lives. MTM currently supports the education of 108 students and will open its own school and double its program enrollment in 2013. Within five years, MTM aims to open an all-girls boarding school as a safe house for 1000+ students. MTM's ultimate goal is to empower these girls with an education that will enable them to make real choices about their futures.

Having just won $1 million at the Chase American Giving Awards in December 2012, More Than Me is at an exciting tipping point in its organizational and programmatic evolution – and YOU can be a part of it!

MTM Fellowship

We are looking for eight highly motivated, entrepreneurial fellows to help us propel our programs forward and open our very own More Than Me Academy in September 2013. Fellows will spend half of their time in a classroom paired with a Liberian teacher and half of their time using a specific skill set to advance MTM's mission.

We are not just recruiting teaching fellows…we are recruiting change-makers!

Why should YOU be a part of this?

Liberia is going through a major, post-conflict transition phase – and it's an exciting one! In Liberia, you will be dunked into the world of international development in an incredibly open and forward-moving place. Here, you will have the freedom to be a pioneer, form connections, start your own initiatives, and most importantly you will work with us to build something that matters in this world. This is not a traditional 9 to 5 job. You will live, breathe, and sweat your fellowship. Using MTM as a platform, you will grow both personally and professionally as you network between the UN, government officials, donors and ambassadors. You will meet the beautiful souls and smiles of the girls, you will live the daily contradiction of struggle and beauty, and you will wake up every morning knowing that every day you make an impact, every day you are contributing towards getting these girls to places where they have real choices about their futures.

Joining MTM in Liberia will be an exhilarating adventure. No two days will be the same…we can promise you that! You will put on a suit to network with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and government officials then turn around and jump on a motorbike to visit girls' homes in the slums. Are you ready to jump in?

Fundraising

We ask fellows to fundraise to defray the cost of their expenses. We promise, it's do-able! Fundraising is a crucial skill in this line of work; one that you will hone in this fellowship with MTM. We want you to utilize MTM's current momentum to tell your story, portray the need, attract investment and encourage people to join in our vision. We want you to get your home community, work community, school community, and global community involved and behind this cause. Our development team will work with you 100% of the way to develop your personal fundraising plan and troubleshoot problems. All of the donations you raise for MTM will be tax-deductible.

In return for your invaluable participation in our fellowship program, we will provide:

• Pre-trip orientation in New York City
• Three weeks of orientation in Liberia
• Roundtrip flight, housing, medical evacuation insurance, visa and permits, daily meals, local transportation allowance, and monthly stipend of $300.
• Mentoring and support both in the classroom and in your specific fellowship role
• Connections to our network—MTM is a family of incredible change-makers. We will connect you with mentors and experts in your field and constantly promote your own professional development.
• The chance to make a real difference in the lives of hundreds of at-risk girls, and see your ideas and suggestions come alive!

Important Dates

• May 10, 2013: Application Due
• May 22, 2013: All Successful Applicants Notified
• June 14-16, 2013: Orientation in New York City
• July 21, 2013: Land in Liberia

Candidate Requirements:

• Experience having lived/worked and/or studied in a developing country
• 4 year degree
• Ability to make a one year commitment (July 2013-June 2014)
• Past experience working with children
• Deep resonance with the mission of MTM –getting the girls to a place where they have choices
• Demonstrated interest in human rights and/or development
• Willingness to contribute in any way towards achieving the goals and mission of MTM (daily tasks may sometimes be completely unrelated to your fellowship)
• Innovative, out-of-the-box thinker and risk-taker
• Adaptable and flexible
• See opportunities not limitations
• Tenacious towards reaching goals
• Self- motivated team player…we are building this together
• Culturally sensitive

Preferred qualifications:

• Teaching and/or tutoring and/or mentoring experience
• Experience working in West Africa, preferably Liberia
• Degree in specialized area for which you are applying or in international development or non-profit management
• Experience in the specialized area for which you are applying
• Experience working with a start-up nonprofit
• Prior fundraising experience

Specific Fellowships

We have come a long way, but there's still a lot to be done…COME BUILD THIS WITH US!

All fellows will spend five hours a day in the classroom and will work alongside Liberian teachers to design lesson plans and reach classroom goals. Additionally, to help us build our capacity outside of the school program, fellows will be expected to apply for and take on one of these crucial roles:

1. Grant Partners Fellow

Primary responsibilities:

• Apply for and report on grants and funding opportunities for MTM
• Work in partnership with the New York City-based grant fellow
• Be the eyes and ears on the ground for MTM's Development Team
• Scope out actual program needs and expenses
• Set up and attend networking meetings in Liberia

Specific qualities we are looking for:

Deeply learn about MTM and the local environment in order to match grants with program needs. Relentlessly pursue opportunities and see potential where others only see roadblocks. View procrastination as a dirty word and enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from sitting in front of a computer for long stretches knocking out grant proposals. Flexible and willing to learn how to write using our language.

2. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Fellow

Primary responsibilities:

• Evaluate the effectiveness of MTM's programs and curriculum
• Develop and monitor both internal and external indicators and targets
• Conduct impact evaluation- both immediate and long-term
• Create a dashboard of MTM's goals and targets

Specific qualities we are looking for:

Previous M&E experience (whether or not in a formal M&E role). Detail-oriented and enjoy managing data. Willing to learn how to write using our language. Able to work with our graphic designer to make data speak to the vision of the program. Work very closely with both program and grant team members.

3. Communications/Digital Media Fellow

Primary responsibilities:

• Manage Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram postings
• Generate photos and video
• Write stories and web content
• Update the MTM blog
• Edit publications
• Use social media to connect children and donors in the USA with children in Liberia

Specific qualities we are looking for:

Experience with photo editing and video editing software. Experience marketing and conveying a vision through social media. Willing to take risks through social media to advance the mission and work of MTM. Entrepreneurial person with an innovative, creative mind who will own our communications on the ground. Strong writer and able to touch people through story telling.

4. Business Development Fellow

Primary responsibilities:

• Assist the Country Director with small business creation and maintenance
• Set up and manage MTM's voluntourism business
• Write business plans
• Pursue partnerships with local businesses
• Create budgets for potential projects
• Hire and manage local staff

Specific qualities we are looking for:

Entrepreneurial and able to see opportunities for making money and forming partnerships everywhere. Emotionally intelligent in building partnerships and hiring staff. Experience creating and running a small business and managing staff.

5. IT/Technology Fellow

Primary responsibilities:

• Deal with technology issues, both hardware and software (computers, Wi-Fi, iPhones, printers, hard drives)
• Work with local staff to set up and run computer lab in school
• Mentor local staff on computer skills
• Develop curriculum for computer training
• Seek out IT partnerships in Liberia
• Create MTM intranet
• Manage the tech-side of Skype calls with donors and partners

Specific qualities we are looking for:

Geeky, able to fix things and deal with re-occurring IT problems. Patient, calm under pressure, and able to deal with last-minute issues. Troubleshooter with previous IT experience. Able to share and teach your IT knowledge to students and staff.

6. Pedagogical Fellow

Primary responsibilities:

• Manage all school activities (serve as "principal" of More Than Me Academy)
• Work with MTM's curriculum team for ongoing curriculum development
• Lead weekly teacher meetings and provide feedback to teachers
• Provide ESL expertise
• Visit other school models in Liberia, West Africa
• Scope out other education programs, partnerships, and sister schools

Specific qualities we are looking for:

Passion and experience with inner city or alternative education. Able to help other fellows and Liberian teachers teach to the best of their ability and troubleshoot MTM's curriculum. Progressive, innovative individual who is able to scope out other programs and utilize technology to leap-frog MTM's education. Extremely curious and eager to visit existing schools in Liberia and ask questions and meet principals. Able to work closely with the Ministry of Education in Liberia and with the M+E fellow to create indicators to determine the success of the curriculum.

7. Creative Development Fellow

Primary responsibilities:

• Work with local staff to manage after-school program
• Implement an arts curriculum (crafts, sewing, painting, dance) that stimulates and expands the minds of students
• Incorporate arts therapy into school and after school curriculum
• Create MTM market in Liberia where students' art projects can be sold
• Create a fashion product for interested fashion lines
• Get MTM students involved in making the community more beautiful
• Assist with events and fundraising in Liberia
• Help with aesthetics and interior design of all MTM buildings

Specific qualities we are looking for:

HUGELY creative and able to use art to make an impact on the lives of MTM students. Manage local staff to implement arts curriculum. Eager to take risks and shoot big to utilize art in all aspects of MTM. (For example, we want to get a major graffiti artist to graffiti the walls of our buildings in Liberia).

8. Finance/Procurement Fellow

Primary responsibilities:

• Manage daily expenditures in Liberia
• Manage local staff payroll
• Ensure adherence to local laws and regulations for taxes and registrations
• Work closely with finance team in the USA
• Build budgets and budget projections
• Put financial accountability procedures in place
• Handle procurement requests and acquisitions
• Manage Quickbooks
• Manage customs and vendor relations
• Teach financial literacy classes

Specific qualities we are looking for:

Obsessed with numbers and spreadsheets, addicted to red tape, and find bureaucracy amusing. Follow technical rules but push boundaries. Amazing networking skills and tenacious in following up with people. Able to translate data and numbers into something meaningful for non-numbers people.

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If you have a skill set that is not listed here, but you feel would be particularly relevant…PLEASE apply and include a draft of your own job description in the application.