Gender and Social Equity Learning Associate

Job Summary:

In this role, you will work across the institute to identify and fulfill needs for capacity, tools, technical assistance, and cross-learning in support of our strategy to deepen and broaden our work on gender and social equity, but with two primary responsibilities.

First, you will analyze staff needs then develop and deliver a suite of resources to meet the capacity needs of staff across the Institute to ensure our work advances gender and social equity. Second, you will work to incorporate gender and social equity into institutional systems guiding the design, implementation and tracking of our work. These activities will combine capacity building, technical assistance, and mainstreaming or systematization efforts, as well as support to ongoing projects with training components.

You will gain first-hand experience in the opportunities and challenges associated with reframing environmental challenges from an equity perspective. In fulfilling your responsibilities, you will also collaborate with colleagues across the institute from the various Programs and Centers to our International Offices.

This position is remote due to Covid-19, but you will preferably be based at WRI’s office in Washington, DC once restrictions have lifted. However, a remote arrangement or a workstation in another WRI office will also be considered.

Job Responsibilities:

Capacity Building and Technical Assistance (60% of time)

• Analyze training needs o Conduct needs assessments that will inform training objectives, target audiences, and training modalities.
• Identify the capacity gaps of staff related to effectively identifying and addressing gender and social equity in their work.
• Design training plans
• Construct a curriculum scope and sequence that aligns with the needs assessment
• Create well-organized course outlines and storyboards with clearly defined objectives
• Consider and suggest instructional modifications based on the needs of various target audiences, including staff at different levels and in various locations
• Develop and implement trainings
• Develop trainings using various instructional modes, including online asynchronous and synchronous courses
• Design communication strategies aligned to your training plans.
• Provide capacity-building support to WRI teams
• Develop a resource toolkit to guide teams as they integrate gender and social equity issues into their projects and research.
• Conduct outreach to build staff awareness and capacity in using the gender and social equity toolkit. o Facilitate cross-learning efforts, including panel discussions with external speakers, internal workshops for staff, and potentially cross visits between International Offices.
• Evaluate the impact of training and capacity-building efforts on WRI initiatives regarding changes in expected program outcomes, project design, research focus, etc.

Mainstreaming and MEL (30% of time)

In collaboration with staff from the Gender Equity Practice, the Center for Equitable Development and from other core functions:

• Integrate gender and social equity considerations into the WRI systems used to design and track our work, including templates for annual planning and reporting, publication plans, and MEL tools and software.
• Develop systems and tools to track the impact of support provided by the Gender Equity Practice and the Center for Equitable Development on project outcomes, including institutional Top Outcomes and on the focus of our publications and the impact that increased equity content may have on the broader environment sector.
• Facilitate learning for the Practice and Center to improve our approach to providing institutional support for deepening and broadening the work on gender and social equity.

Project Support (10% of time)

As opportunities arise:

• Build training and capacity building on equity into proposals, and, if awarded, implement that component of the project.
• Provide technical assistance in the form of advising to select teams as they prepare new concepts, proposals, or publications.
• Assist other teams in incorporating gender and social equity into training and capacity building components of their projects.
• Serve as a resource person to other core function teams (Research, MEL, Development) as they incorporate equity into their institutional capacity building initiatives.

Job Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in international development, gender, MEL, or other related fields or work experience equivalent (or bachelor’s degree with additional 2 years of relevant experience)
• Minimum of 5 years of full-time work experience in relevant field, with experience in adult education, training, and development of tools/guidance documents
• Demonstrated experience with mainstreaming gender and equity into technical programs
• Excellent presentation and communication skills
• Strong monitoring and evaluation skills
• Detail-oriented and organized thinker who can juggle multiple, competing priorities
• Comfortable communicating with different audiences, including colleagues, government officials, academics, and donors
• Experience creating videos, audio, animations, assessments, graphics, hands-on tasks, instructional guides, multimedia presentations a plus
• Experience using course development/management software and mixed media tools (for example, Articulate Suite, Blackboard, Canvas, Powtoon, etc.)
• Ability to travel when needed
• US work authorization is required; WRI cannot offer visa sponsorship for this position

Potential Salary:

$79,000 – $106,700 if based in United States. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply:

Please submit a resume with cover letter. Applicants must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered. 

Program Overview:

The overall aim of the Gender Equity Practice, situated within the Center for Equitable Development, is to improve the impact and sustainability of our programs, projects, and operations by enhancing our understanding of social disparities and addressing gender inequalities. Applying WRI’s Count It, Change It, Scale It approach, the Gender Equality Practice aims to quantify gender and social equity gaps in WRI’s programmatic works and to document effective approaches to reducing those gaps and effecting positive social change by embedding these approaches in our work and publications and disseminating this information to our target audiences, thereby influencing change on a broad scale. The Gender Equality Practice is working toward three objectives:

1. To establish an internal organizational culture that drives gender and social equality in our programming,
2. To demonstrate programmatic approaches that transform social norms and advance equality while enhancing environment and development outcomes,
3. To cultivate partnerships aligned with this vision to deepen and scale impact of research, tools, and approaches designed through WRI initiatives.

Our approach includes the following:

1. TECHNICAL ADVISING AND ASSISTANCE

• Provide technical assistance to programs to deepen their attention to gender and social equity and to hasten the development of effective approaches that illuminate the potential for impact that may be adopted/adapted by other programs.

1. COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING • Develop a comprehensive training package, to include online and in person training. Drawing on the expertise of various staff, as well as expert consultants, enhance the capacity of staff champions for social inclusion and equity to design projects that meaningfully and effectively incorporate human well-being targets into their environmental objectives.

      3.COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE • Facilitate a community of practice to           foster learning across the institute through regular meetings to share           tools, approaches, research findings and to workshop challenges                 and new ideas.

1. SYSTEMIC INTEGRATION • Build gender and social equity into organizational values, policies, and standard practices. About WRI: World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research organization whose mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. Our work spans more than 50 countries, with offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States. Our more than 1,400 experts and staff turn big ideas into action. In the US and across the world, communities of color are disproportionally affected by issues related to climate change and environmental degradation. Yet, action and support are not happening at the pace required and the environmental space addressing these issues remains dominated by white voices. WRI is creating access and opportunity to harness the power, creativity, and innovation of diversity by increasing representation of Black, Indigenous and People of Color in the environmental space. We need a diverse set of voices to solve climate change, and that begins with you.

WRI Overview:

World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade in order to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean.

We are passionate. We value our diversity of interests, skills and backgrounds. We have a flexible work environment. And we share a common goal to catalyze change that will improve the lives of people. Our shared ideals are at the core of our approach. They include: integrity, innovation, urgency, independence and respect.

The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business, and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.
 
We have been growing rapidly: our staff has doubled in size over the past 5 years and our operating budget is now $150 million. Founded in 1982, WRI has a global staff of 1,000+ people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.  

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices.