Chief Executive Officer - NGO

Chief Executive Officer, Akshara Foundation

Position Summary - 

Akshara is looking for a strong CEO who will lead the Foundation to deliver effectively on our mission to ensure Every Child in School and Learning Well. The candidate is expected to have strong executive, operational and financial skills and to be a - big idea- person.

Foundation Overview - 

- Akshara Foundation is a Bengaluru-based non-profit that was founded on the belief that quality education is the undeniable right of every child and that children should not be deprived of this just because they do not have access to it or the resources to realise their dreams.

- Akshara works with the Government pre-primary and primary school systems and focuses on pre-school education, math and English language proficiencies in primary schools. It has also set up libraries in over 3,500 classrooms in government schools in Karnataka. Akshara has also pioneered the use of data in decision-making through its Karnataka Learning Partnership (KLP) initiative (www.klp.org.in). Akshara is a strong champion of using the Creative Commons and open source technologies and tools.

- Over the last fifteen years, Akshara has run multiple programmes that have all been designed to be comprehensive, scalable, replicable and cost-effective. All Akshara's programmes are child-centric and are designed to ensure that enrolment in schools increase, drop-outs from schools decrease and that childrens' learning outcomes and overall development improve. In particular, Akshara works in close partnership with the Education Department and the Department of Women and Child Welfare of the Government of Karnataka to supplement existing primary school and pre-primary school programmes.

Akshara has touched the lives of over a million children in the state of Karnataka, India.

Responsibilities - 

1. Building a vision and driving a culture of collaboration:

- Continue to nurture the culture of the Foundation that is focused on personal transformation, collective action and educational equity with the child and their community as the focus.

- Facilitate shared learning, unconditional support and strong self and peer accountability.

2. Establishing strategic plans, rigorous goals and systems

- Create a strategic plan.

- Set measurable and rigorous goals for the organization.

- Build capacity in teams to use a wide range of data (qualitative and quantitative) to analyse progress to goals, evaluate and increase effectiveness.

- Collect, analyse and respond accurately and effectively to group wide data sets and evidence to understand underlying causes.

3. Be responsible for building and maintaining relationships that enable the Foundation to be effective. Be able to recruit and retain talent and supply the skills necessary to develop a strong infrastructure and a culture that builds morale.

4. Be able to engage with multiple stakeholders including government, teacher associations, the community, elected representatives and media.

5. Be able to work with the Board of Trustees to craft the strategic plan and engage Board members in fund raising efforts and use the network of the Board members to further the Foundation's cause.

6. Build a financial plan that is adaptable to changing environment trends and be able to recognize challenges to overcome and seizing opportunities as they arise. In short, keep the Foundation financially stable.

7. Be the ideas person and get the Foundation aligned around those ideas so that everyone knows where we are going and why.

Competencies and Abilities -

The ideal candidate:

- Will be emotionally intelligent - trustworthy, persuasive, perceptive and flexible.

- Have the ability to accept and motivate others including volunteers, Board members and staff.

- Be able to deal with conflict and handle adversity with grace and keep a sense of perspective.

- Is a self-starter - goal driven and possessing a high degree of motivation and energy.

- Understand financials - how to budget and recognize both financial opportunities and threats.

- Have fund raising skills and a network to reach out to.

- Have an ability to listen, have sound judgement, persistence and stamina.

Education and Experience -

We believe that reaching our vision demands that we have the best and brightest group of leaders. Here are some minimum qualifications we look for:

- At least 15 years of work experience - out of which about five years should be related to education. This is desirable but not essential.

- Should have led teams and demonstrated strong people management skills.

- Someone who understands how to leverage technology for Akshara goals.

- Knowledge of Kannada language will be an advantage.

Location - The position is based in Bangalore.