Aflatoun Deputy CEO

The organisation

About

Aflatoun is a global non-governmental organization providing social and financial education working with 300 partners in 101 countries reaching more than ten million children annually. Its purpose is to empower and equip children and youth by developing their social and financial skills to create a better future for themselves and their communities. Its local implementation partners execute the Aflatoun program.

Aflatoun is internationally recognised for its scaling model and high impact. Since its first campaign in 2008 launched by then Princess Maxima, Aflatoun grew quickly reaching 1 million children in 2010 and continued to grow 29% annually reaching over ten million children by the end of 2019. To validate and demonstrate impact at the individual child level it has performed or taken part in 75 research projects including 9 Randomized Control Trials. It is ranked 23^rd in the 2020 global top 500 most influential NGOs in a survey conducted by Global Journal. Brookings Institution (2016) and Harvard University (2018) recognized Aflatoun as international best practice in scaling education with quality. The finish education think tank HundrED recognised Aflatoun International in 2019 as one of five global innovations in financial education and selected the organization in 2020 as part of their Global Collection 2021 highlighting 100 of the most impactful innovations in K to 12 education from around the world. The Million Lives Club, a consortium of bilateral donors, selected Aflatoun International in 2019 as a Vanguard member of the Million Lives Club, an initiative that celebrates innovators and social entrepreneurs who are scaling impact to improve the lives of those living on less than $5 a day.

Mission

At the heart of the Aflatoun concept is the belief that children are important change-makers in their homes and communities and can break the inter-generational cycle of poverty. Children are individuals capable of making sense of, and influencing, the world around them. This conviction underpins the mission of Aflatoun: “Ensure access to quality, inclusive, child-centred Social & Financial Education for all children and young people”

Concept

The balance of social and financial education is what makes the Aflatoun concept so unique. Child Social and Financial Education (CSFE) starts at young age, thereby ingraining positive financial and social habits early on in their lives. Children are familiarised with social and financial enterprise ideas and models.

The five core elements of CSFE are:

1. Personal Exploration and Understanding

2. Rights and Responsibilities

3. Saving and Spending

4. Planning and Budgeting

5. Child Social and Financial Enterprise

The Aflatoun concept also supports and is in alignment with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Programme

The Aflatoun programme is built on the core principles of Child Social & Financial Education (CSFE). The Aflatoun teaching methodology encourages “learning by doing”; through fun games, activities, songs and workbooks, children are encouraged to take an active role in the learning process. This includes school-wide savings clubs, financial and social enterprises and group activities within the community. Our network of partners from the social, corporate and governmental sectors works together to ensure that the Aflatoun programme is implemented and supported at a local level, in both schools and non-formal educational settings. Our partners ensure that the materials are contextualised and adapted to meet local requirements, so that the Aflatoun message can be passed on to all children, everywhere.

Network

The Aflatoun Network is a global partnership Network consisting of 300 national and international NGO partners, education and finance ministries, international donors, academics, the cooperative movement, banks and organisations from the corporate and social sectors. To maintain a cohesive, effective Network built on trust, the Aflatoun Secretariat ensures transparency, sharing and assistance to all stakeholders in the Aflatoun Network. Another important role of the Secretariat is to advocate for the inclusion of CSFE in national curricula.

Board

Aflatoun is now in its 14^th year of existence. For the first 9 years its founder and first director, Jeroo Billimoria, was the visionary leader and driving force of Aflatoun. She led the secretariat. Roeland Monasch now leads Aflatoun as the Chief Executive Officer and statutory director.

The supervisory board currently comprises 6 enthusiastic members who share a common dream to reach out to even more children in an impactful way and have distinct experiences and skills to help realise this dream. They meet 4 times a year with the management team and provide individually or as a committee ad hoc support when required.

The members of the Supervisory Board are:

§ Mr. Rob Becker (Chair)

§ Mrs. Joanne Kellerman (Vice-chair)

§ Mrs. Margo Hoftijzer

§ Mr. Olivier van Riet Paap

§ Mr. Cor Vink

§ Mr. Sander Volten

More detail on the background of the CEO and the supervisory board members can be found on the website.

Last year, Aflatoun changed its governance structure. The one-tier board structure was replaced by a two-tier board whereby management responsibilities are delegated to the executive board and fiduciary duties of the supervisory board are more clearly demarcated. Also, every two years, each region elects a representative to the Global Network Board, which has a strategic advisory capacity.

In addition to the regular meetings of the Supervisory Board, twice a year a global meeting is held which is also attended by the Global Network Board.

Secretariat

The Aflatoun ‘franchise’ is supported and lead by a secretariat based in Amsterdam with 30 professionals of 21 different nationalities. The annual budget of the secretariat is approximately €4 mln funded through multiple income streams, including earmarked & unearmarked donations by major foundations such as the Nationale Postcodeloterij in the Netherlands, Botnar Foundation, Credit Suisse, Dioraphte, Dubai Cares, Echidna Giving, Hershey Company, Mastercard Foundation, Sint Antonius Stichting, among others. Furthermore, income is generated through consultancy contracts for the private sector and international organizations. Increasingly the local partners are also contributing to the funding of the secretariat.

The position – Deputy CEO position

This is a new position. Aflatoun is at a cross-roads. The current five-year strategic plan is coming to an end. As the organization is growing we will develop a new strategy in a rapidly changing programme environment. The Deputy CEO will work with the CEO and Directors in the Management Team to take Aflatoun to the next level. The Deputy CEO will lead several components of the new strategic plan (2021-2025).

Key activities include:

1) Programme rollout. To implement quality Aflatoun programmes by:

a. Selecting and guiding (NGO) partners committed to implementing the program and able to scale up to reach a large number of children;

b. Working directly with Ministries of Education and Central Banks and other related government institutions as well as multilateral organizations to promote incorporation of the Aflatoun programme in the regular curriculum;

c. Facilitating sharing and cooperation among partners and with other stakeholders;

d. Implementing an on-going process through self-reflection and evaluation;

e. Refining the training methodology and materials for quality implementation.

2) Concept. To maintain and further develop thought leadership in Child Social & Finance Education (CSFE) for children aged 6-18 by:

a. Further developing core elements of the Aflatoun concept;

b. Exploiting the availability of on-line curriculum and gaming technology to further enhance the attractiveness and effectiveness of the programme;

c. Sustaining a research network to support program development;

d. Creating an impact assessment approach;

e. Maintaining the Aflatoun identity;

f. Investigating new areas of programme development based on the children’s feedback.

3) Aflatoun Network. To be a real social entrepreneur and build a global movement of Aflatoun implementation partners who commit resources and advocate for policy supporting CSFE by:

a. Being the face of the organisation tirelessly advocating the cause while raising funds to implement Aflatoun Programmes;

b. Engaging relevant organisations to include CSFE in their policies, programmes, network and activities;

c. Engaging financial institutions to ensure access for children and youth to adequate banking facilities and products or provide resources to the programme;

d. Developing and maintaining Aflatoun communications with stakeholders;

e. Optimising Secretariat effectiveness and efficiency against key performance indicators.

4) Funding. To ensure that the secretariat will remain adequately funded and to support funding of the network by:

a. Further strengthening high level contacts with existing donors;

b. Reaching out and building relationships with potential major donors for the secretariat;

c. Business Development with private sector and international agencies;

d. More generally, further raising the profile of Aflatoun in the Netherlands and globally as a partner of choice;

e. Supporting network partners to obtain funding by being present at key events and coaching proposal writing. The continuous focus will be to empower partners to be self-propelling contributors to the Aflatoun cause;

f. Maintaining high level contacts with organizations with similar objectives to leverage joint funding options and broader cooperation possibilities.

The candidate profile

Professional background

Aflatoun wants to attract a world class entrepreneurial deputy CEO with international work experience and background to closely work with Roeland Monasch, the current CEO. Together they will be the executive board of Aflatoun. The allocation of responsibilities will be decided upon by the board and in dialogue with the executive board based on skills and experience of the appointee. In due course, the deputy CEO should be a credible candidate to succeed Roeland as the CEO of Aflatoun.

The ideal candidate has 12 years plus experience in a professional environment in a broad set of roles including entrepreneurial, executive and management responsibilities in both developed and less developed markets. Aflatoun would like to meet with candidates with NGO and preferably also some private sector experience. The ideal candidate has a demonstrable affinity with child (financial and social) education topics. Additionally, experience with on-line learning methods is desirable but not mandatory. The candidate ideally should also bring a network of potential NGO/Funding partners to Aflatoun.

The candidate should feel comfortable working as a team with the CEO and interacting directly with the Supervisory Board and other international stakeholders at a strategic and conceptual level while being sufficient hands-on to be a real team player in a relatively small multi cultural organisation. The candidate should also have a proven record in attracting, developing and retaining excellent (academically educated) professionals with very different cultural backgrounds.

The candidate should be proficient in both written and verbal English and have some proficiency in basic organisational (accounting) and IT processes. While the nature of the academic background is of lesser importance, excellent academic results up to at least a master’s degree are strongly preferred.

Competencies

1) Entrepreneurship, the successful candidate should have experience with creating and nurturing new organizations to maturity by having been part of the team which set a clear vision and inspired staff and other stakeholders to pursue that vision.

2) Results orientation, the successful candidate will have a high level of ambition and goal orientation. He/she will set the highest standards for him/herself and his/her environment. He/she should have shown that he/she can achieve break-through results in challenging and adverse settings.

3) Team leadership, the successful candidate has management experience and will be able to effectively build, co-lead and co-manage a team of driven professionals with various levels of experience and different cultural backgrounds. He/she will be recognised as a natural leader and somebody who can delegate not only tasks but also responsibilities. He/she has proven skills in developing people both on a personal and professional level.

4) Collaboration and influencing, the successful candidate will be a natural team player. He/she should be used to working in complex international settings involving a broad ranger of different types of stakeholders.

5) Strategic orientation, the successful candidate will be competent in co-leading strategy and business plan development processes and is able to translate strategic objectives in specific action plans.

6) Commercial orientation, the successful candidate will be challenging the status quo and will be a driving force in bringing Aflatoun to the next level, ‘selling’ the concept to current and potential partners and funders while maintaining the integrity of the organisation and its mission.

Personal characteristics

It is expected that the candidates will have an unquestioned and high level of professional and personal integrity. The new deputy CEO has a personal commitment and drive ‘to improve the world’ and to create opportunities for children in particular. He/she has an independent mind and will be autonomous in his/her thinking and decision-making. He/she will be dynamic and energetic and show endurance and tenacity.

Location

The secretariat and the CEO/Deputy-CEO will be based in Amsterdam, but willingness and ability to travel is required.

Start date

Q1 – 2021

Compensation

As a recognised charity foundation in the Netherlands Aflatoun adheres to the ‘Wijffels code”. This ensures the co-CEO compensation is competitive, reflecting years and relevance of working experience. The annual compensation is expected to be in the range of Euro 60k to 80k including benefits.

Due to the nature of Aflatoun’s work with children around the world, specific attention is drawn towards Aflatoun’s Child Protection Policy and its Policy on the Protection of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). These two policies are required to be signed by new employees and forms part of the employment documents related to the employment contract. The applicant commits to zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse.