AMANI FOUNDATION - Member of the Board of Directors

Mission

The AMANI FOUNDATION Nonprofit’s mission is to support at-risk children and youth from underserved communities in Northern Tanzania in their academic endeavors, psychosocial development, and physical well-being through full-time residential care on campus and its extension services in the region. The Amani Foundation exclusively supports Amani Children’s Home. 

For more information, please the AMANI FOUNDATION’s website at www.childrenofamani.org

Position

The Board will support the work of the AMANI FOUNDATION and provide mission-based leadership and strategic governance. While day-to-day operations are led by the AMANI FOUNDATION Executive Director, the Board-director relationship is a partnership, and the appropriate involvement of the Board is both critical and expected. Board members are expected to dedicate themselves to an area of non-profit operations that matches their skillsets (e.g. communications and marketing, grant writing, etc) to the aims of Amani’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan (available upon request). This is a working board, with active engagement and individual initiative necessary qualities for success. Specific Board Member responsibilities include:

Leadership, governance, and oversight

• Supporting the creation and continued monitoring of evaluation metrics with AMANI FOUNDATION in order to assess programmatic impact on-site at AMANI CHILDREN’S HOME; reviewing agenda and supporting materials before the board and committee meetings
• Approving the AMANI CHILDREN’S HOME estimated annual budget, monthly financial reports, and project-related  // major-funding decisions; being informed of, and meeting all, legal and fiduciary responsibilities
• Contributing to an annual performance evaluation of the Executive Director
• Reviewing and contributing to the Annual Report jointly produced by the AMANI FOUNDATION and the AMANI CHILDREN’S HOME.
• Assisting the Executive Director and board chair in identifying and recruiting other Board Members
• Serving on committees or task forces and taking on special assignments (see specific examples below)
• Representing the AMANI FOUNDATION (to stakeholders; acting as an ambassador for the organization)
• Ensuring the AMANI FOUNDATION’s commitment to a diverse board and that its communications, programs, and policies reflect its dedication to decolonization and the empowerment of local communities and beneficiaries.

Fundraising

The AMANI FOUNDATION Board Members will consider the AMANI FOUNDATION a philanthropic priority and make annual gifts that reflect that priority. So that the AMANI FOUNDATION can credibly solicit contributions from foundations, organizations, and individuals, the AMANI FOUNDATION expects to have 100 percent of Board Members make an annual contribution that is commensurate with their capacity.

Board terms/participation

The AMANI FOUNDATION Board Members will serve a three-year term to be eligible for re-appointment for one additional term. Board meetings will be held quarterly via zoom (April, June, September, and December) and committee meetings (as necessary) will be held in coordination with full board meetings.

Qualifications

This is an extraordinary opportunity for an individual who is passionate about the AMANI FOUNDATION’s mission and ideally who has a track record of board leadership. Selected Board Members will have achieved leadership stature in business, government, philanthropy, or the nonprofit sector. His/her/their accomplishments will allow him/her/them to attract other well-qualified, high-performing Board Members. Grant writing experience is required.

Ideal candidates will have the following qualifications:

• Extensive professional experience with significant executive leadership accomplishments in business, government, philanthropy, or the nonprofit sector
• A commitment to and understanding of the AMANI FOUNDATION’s beneficiaries and community setting, preferably based on experience. General working knowledge of Tanzanian or East African cultures is preferred. 
• Savvy diplomatic skills and a natural affinity for cultivating relationships and persuading, convening, facilitating, and building consensus among diverse individuals
• Grant writing, marketing, networking, donor database management, and event-planning skills as relevant to committee duties
• Understanding of the legal and fiscal responsibilities of small-size NGOs and the ability to provide guidance and mentorship on these matters
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility, inclusivity, and a passion for improving the lives of the AMANI FOUNDATION’s beneficiaries

Service on the AMANI FOUNDATION’s Board of Directors is without remuneration or payment of any kind. Site visits to our campus in Tanzania are strongly encouraged but not required, and not subsidized by the AMANI FOUNDATION at this time.