Summary
Date Posted: Monday, January 15 2024, Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Reports to: Global program manager Free to be Me
Period: ASAP- 28/02/2026.
Scope: Global; Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia
Location: Global (preferably Africa-based)
Hours: fulltime

ABOUT HIVOS AND FREE TO BE ME
Hivos is an international organization that seeks new solutions to persistent global issues. With smart projects in the right places, we oppose discrimination, inequality, abuse of power and the unsustainable use of our planet’s resources. Counterbalance alone, however, is not enough. Our primary focus is achieving structural change. This is why we cooperate with innovative businesses, citizens and their organizations. We share a dream with them of sustainable economies and inclusive societies.

Free to Be Me is an ambitious, daring and innovative program that helps build and maintain a vibrant LGBTIQ+ movement that is confident and capable to lobby and advocate for their human and economic rights. The program is led by an alliance of three consortium members – Hivos (the lead party), ILGA World and Positive Vibes – and three technical partners – Sogicampaigns, The Global Interfaith Network (GIN) and Workplace Pride. Together the Alliance will coach, accompany, fund and train LGBTIQ+ persons and organizations to influence norms and attitudes, generate (public) support, and promote laws, policies and regulations that recognize, respect and protect LGBTIQ+ people’s human and economic rights.

The program is implemented in 12 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, in partnership with and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The five-year program has a budget of EUR 37 million.

JOB CONTEXT
Inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people in economic development efforts is a new area of work, with few and disconnected actors and large needs. In the last 2 years, Free to be Me has made some strides in strengthening the capacity of rights holders in understanding and strategizing for economic justice advocacy. The Free to Thrive fellowship was launched last year as a way to create a space for learning, experience sharing and strategizing for advocacy. A number of grants have been provided in different countries to support the research and advocacy efforts at the community level aligned to the economic development pathway of change. Further, we have started interventions that are meant to pilot and test best practice in economic rights issues affecting the LGBTIQ+. In different Free to be Me spaces and through a number of efforts by consortium and technical partners, mentorship support, connection to businesses and global advocacy spaces have been made.
We are looking for a senior program officer who can keep the momentum going and take the current work a notch higher. There is a continuous need to bring the relevant parties together, ensure that all relevant stakeholders are and stay involved in the process, create a strong support base for LGBTIQ+ economic justice work and ensure that the future direction and organization of the LGBTIQ+ economic development sector is clearly defined.

Responsibilities
• Create a global network and a movement around LGBTIQ+ economic inclusion;
• Build momentum around this issue, including coordination and capacity strengthening of the Free to Thrive fellows.
• Identify and bring together actors at global level, in a World LGBTIQ+ Economic Forum (March 2025).
• Enable local/national initiatives to join, as their perspective of working directly with LGBTIQ+ people in need of economic development is vital.
• Support national level efforts (lobby and advocacy) in 12 countries as part of building momentum for the World LGBTIQ+ Economic Forum.
• Support the SOGIESC economic pilot projects in different countries including those piloted by the Free to Thrive Fellows.
• Convene the Free to Thrive Fellows and connect them to various resources on economic justice, global spaces of advocacy and ensure connection to local transformative actions.
• Build a joint strategic and action plan for LGBTIQ+ economic development and inclusion together with interested parties from the Free to be Me Alliance partners.
• Build a collective strategic and action plan for LGBTIQ+ economic inclusion which will guide the work of both Free to be Me and the LGBTIQ+ economic development sector in the coming 5 to 10 years. This strategic and action plan is not a plan for one organization or consortium alone, but rather a collective effort of multiple actors.
• Set out a larger, long-term perspective that is jointly owned by the movement, laying the foundation for the large-scale change needed.
• Identify and connect researchers to potential & existing (pilot) programs for LGBTIQ+ economic development and facilitate research into their effectiveness and efficacy.
• Document stories of change and best practice that can be replicated in future programming.
• Grant management of projects that are economic development nature and work in liaison with other Program Officers in coordination of projects supported under the economic development pathway.

REQUIREMENTS
• A feminist with at least 8 years of relevant experience. An expert on LGBTIQ+ issues and/or economic development.
• Innovative and solution driven strategist who will be leading and coordinating the ‘thinking’ of Hivos in the area of LGBTIQ+ economic development.
• Lead annual process of reviewing the economic pathway of change.
• Able to operationalize the Free to be Me SOGIESC economic justice strategy in building blocks for program development and resource mobilization.
• Thinks and acts strategically based on evidence and reality, while at the same time proposing and co-creating new solutions.
• Credible Hivos champion at national and international level.
• Able to combine thought leadership with a pragmatic solution driven attitude and the ability to maintain a wide network.
• Level skills: cooperation, influence, leadership, result-oriented.
• Job skills: feminist analysis, innovative, customer orientation, relationship management.
• Lived experience as an LGBTIQ+ person is an asset.


Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 96

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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