Board Member

SID’S Mission and Board Responsibilities

Strategies for International Development (SID) is a U.S. nonprofit that designs, proves, and promotes better methods for eradicating rural poverty.  We help farmers conserve the land upon which their livelihoods depend, while they also increase their income.  We also help them adopt business practices and make better business decisions.  We ensure equal participation of women in all project activities and benefits.

More than 75% of the world's poor are small farmers trying to make the transition from subsistence to successful commercial farming, but only a small percentage of them have access to technical assistance in making the change.  In every region of every developing country, there are hundreds of communities and thousands of farm families.

Fortunately, in many of these regions farmers produce a common cash crop.  SID is applying a regional approach that gives all the farmers producing the common crop or product a chance to graduate from poverty.  We work in Guatemala, Uganda, and Malawi.  We are also planning a project in Tanzania.

The core activities of the regional approach are:

1. Farmers define the practices they need to adopt to conserve land and increase income. Agricultural and environmental technicians help, but farmers take the lead.
2. District officials, primary school teachers, and others promote knowledge of the practices and encourage their adoption. The practices become common knowledge and expected behavior.
3. SID conducts demonstration fairs in the practices. Farmers see and try their hand at the practices, and they become palpable and acceptable.
4. SID provides technical assistance in adopting the practices in communities that agree to adopt all of them. The early-adopters conserve land, increase income, and become examples for others.
5. SID helps early-adopter women to improve their public speaking, empowerment, and leadership. They participate equally in the technical assistance and start second businesses.

We are seeking highly motivated candidates to become members of our Board of Directors. The Board of Directors ensures that SID is doing the best job possible to achieve this mission and has adequate funding to carry out the programs that achieve it.  Members attend on average four meetings a year, either in person or via Zoom, to review progress and make decisions.  They serve for three-year terms and can be appointed for successive terms in accordance with SID's Bylaws.

Requirements

• Strong interest in international development, in particular agricultural development and helping poor farmers graduate from poverty.
• Strong interest in and commitment to equal opportunities for women and their advancement.
• Experience in implementing international development projects, nonprofit fundraising, or marketing.
• Commitment to attend at least three meetings a year; provide feedback on reports and other marketing materials; and seek ways to improve SID's projects.
• Willingness to travel and visit programs, a plus.