Job (Beirut): Lebanon Country Director – Alfanar Venture Philanthropy

Do you believe in the power of social enterprise to create meaningful and scalable social change in disadvantaged communities in Lebanon and across the Arab region? Alfanar provides grants and technical assistance to social enterprises, enabling them to achieve greater financial sustainability, and to scale their impact for their beneficiaries. Alfanar Lebanon was launched in 2012 and has impacted over 1,500 people directly in less than five years.

Alfanar provides a rare opportunity to help identify, scale and promote the work of truly inspiring social entrepreneurs in Lebanon. Alfanar currently has 13 investments in our portfolio across Egypt and Lebanon. We are looking to double our portfolio within the coming two years and to significantly grow support for our work in Lebanon and the Arab world.

Develop Alfanar’s social investment strategy in Lebanon with an emphasis on a growth in impact and sustainability. Grow Alfanar’s Lebanon portfolio of social enterprise investees through applications for investment and proactive investment sourcing
Conduct and assess due diligence on prospective investees and design pilot year investments
Provide initial capacity building for investees by conducting Alfanar Sustainable Social Enterprise Training (ASSET) modules
Manage growth and performance of investees through regular meetings to follow up on goals, to provide coaching and to source external consultants when needed
Assess investability of business plans and structure long-term investment when plans are backable (financing to include repayable grant component as and when appropriate)
Build Alfanar’s network of technical (business, marketing, finance, etc) pro-bono supporters in Lebanon, to help build the capacity of investees
Monitor and evaluate the performance of investees against social impact, financial sustainability and operational efficiency indicators of success
Organise quarterly meetings among Lebanon investees to encourage cross-fertilisation of ideas and peer-to-peer learning
Present to the Lebanon Board portfolio performance against indicators on a quarterly basis

Country Office Management and Representation

Represent Alfanar Lebanon both officially with relevant ministries, banks, and other legal institutions, and organisationally with investees, donors and other stakeholders
Strengthen the operations and organizational setup of Alfanar in Lebanon
Oversee day-to-day needs around finances, human resources recruitment, management and appraisal of additional team members as per approved plans, premises management, IT needs, and other back-office operations
Ensure compliance and risk management of country office finances, legal needs, audits, and other registration requirements
Participate in the development and improvement of Alfanar’s business plan, strategy and operations as needed
Develop Lebanon country strategy and ensure its effective and timely implementation within budget

Fundraising and Communications

Secure Lebanon income targets and ensure a growth of support for Lebanon’s portfolio of social investments and venture philanthropy activity
Identify and cultivate fundraising leads in line with the organisation’s business plans and fundraising strategy, pitch and secure support, attend and participate in external meetings and events when needed
Liaise with board members to facilitate and support Alfanar fundraising events
Represent Alfanar in front of supporters and donor-investors, organizing site visits to increase exposure to our work
Actively raise the profile of Alfanar and venture philanthropy in Lebanon and the Middle East
Work with Alfanar’s Communications Officer to ensure that Lebanon investments and achievements are effectively communicated to supporters and other stakeholders through regular newsletters, social media, and other outreach efforts
Work with Executive Director to achieve Lebanon income targets and ensure the growth of support for Lebanon’s portfolio of social investments

Experience and Qualifications

Experience in running a small organisation, a major project within a larger organisation, or a portfolio of social enterprises and grassroots organisations
Experience in setting strategies, budgets and work plans and implementing them effectively
Experience in reporting to Boards and other committees
Experience in contributing to a senior management team
Experience in putting together and managing a small team
Experience in fundraising and communications is a plus
Masters degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience
Exceptional communications skills in both English and Arabic languages
Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build rapport with diverse stakeholders ranging from marginalized populations, social entrepreneurs to international philanthropists
Passionate about Alfanar’s mission and values, venture philanthropy, sustainable development, social enterprise and the Arab world
Self-motivated with a passion for working in a fast-paced environment where proactivity, initiative and leadership are encouraged

But Monday afternoon, district staff learned its policies have been pulled for review.

In the meantime, some grant funds the district was expecting are being withheld.

The policy changes would have added more discrimination and harassment protection for students, including on the basis of gender identity and transgender status.

School Board attorney Wes Bridges said the OCR and DOJ did not say the move was related to the “Dear Colleague” letter released earlier this month by the Department of Education and Department of Justice that explains how school districts should accommodate and support their transgender students.

However, he said he thinks they may use it to try to force Polk and other districts to comply with the letter, which said transgender students should be allowed to use the restroom of their gender identity. He said the timing could be coincidental, but he thinks that is unlikely.

“The clear inference is the Department of Justice will hold it ( grant funds ) until they are convinced we are compliant with everything they want us to be compliant with,” Bridges said.

Board members had many questions about how much federal funding the district might be risking and whether they should be doing anything in response.

Bridges told the School Board his advice would be to do nothing right now and instead to wait and see how courts rule in the question of school bathroom access for transgender students.

When the letter was released to superintendents, the Polk County School District said it would comply with law and that the legal department was reviewing the issue. Polk Schools’ discrimination policy under review by federal agencies; grants withheldMay 24, 2016 6:18 PM

BARTOW The Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice have pulled Polk’s harassment and discrimination policies for review. But Monday afternoon, district staff learned its policies have been pulled for review.

In the meantime, some grant funds the district was expecting are being withheld.

The policy changes would have added more discrimination and harassment protection for students, including on the basis of gender identity and transgender status.

School Board attorney Wes Bridges said the OCR and DOJ did not say the move was related to the “Dear Colleague” letter released earlier this month by the Department of Education and Department of Justice that explains how school districts should accommodate and support their transgender students.

However, he said he thinks they may use it to try to force Polk and other districts to comply with the letter, which said transgender students should be allowed to use the restroom of their gender identity. He said the timing could be coincidental, but he thinks that is unlikely.

“The clear inference is the Department of Justice will hold it ( grant funds ) until they are convinced we are compliant with everything they want us to be compliant with,” Bridges said.

Board members had many questions about how much federal funding the district might be risking and whether they should be doing anything in response.

Bridges told the School Board his advice would be to do nothing right now and instead to wait and see how courts rule in the question of school bathroom access for transgender students.

When the letter was released to superintendents, the Polk County School District said it would comply with law and that the legal department was reviewing the issue.

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CONNEAUT LAKE a The Dietrich Foundation Conneaut Lake, PA Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation has awarded $5,284, more than doubling the $2,397 in grants made by the fund last year.

Elliot Pellman, the NFL medical director who once ran the league’s discredited concussion research program, emailed the executive director of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), writing that the NFL had “significant concerns [regarding] BU and their ability to be unbiased and collaborative.” He asked that the FNIH “slow down the process until we all have a chance to speak and figure this out.”

Less than a week later, the NFL stepped in again. Betsy Nabel, emailed the director of NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, attaching Stern’s 61-page affidavit in support of the class-action lawsuit.

“I hope this group is able to approach their research in an unbiased manner,” Nabel wrote.

At the end of June, NFL representatives told the NIH on a conference call that the league “could not recommend that the NFL fund the BU study” because they felt that “Dr. “Since its research agreement with NIH was clear that it could not weigh in on the grant selection process, the NFL should never have tried to influence that process.”

The league denied the report’s findings that it acted improperly, and complained that the doctors on the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee were not consulted during the investigation.

“There is no dispute that there were concerns raised about both the nature of the study in question and possible conflicts of interest. Ultimately the funding decision was made by the FNIH/NIH, not the NFL,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement.

McCarthy went on to note that, of the $30 million NFL commitment to the NIH, $6 million went to the Boston University School of Medicine and the Department of Veterans Affairs for a study on CTE and post-traumatic neurodegeneration.

“We continue to be very happy and grateful that the NIH has funded this multi-site study. As the committee report indicates, NIH followed the scientific, peer-review process in funding the CTE study, and was not inappropriately influenced by outside forces,” the government institute told RT in a statement.

While the committee did find that the NIH “maintained the integrity of the science and the grant review process,” it noted that the FNIH “did not adequately fulfill its role of serving as an intermediary between the NIH and the NFL.” The report offered several recommendations to address the committee’s findings, steps which the NIH said it has already begun undertaking.

“This experience has reinforced the importance of clear lines of communication between NIH and FNIH,” the agency said. “NIH has already taken a number of important steps to clarify its roles and responsibilities in agreements with FNIH and outside donors, in order to ensure that the science is free of even the perception of inappropriate outside influence.”

The committee also found that the NFL’s “rationalization that the Boston University study did not match their request for a longitudinal study is unfounded.”

CTE diagnoses continue

The congressional report comes as a former NFL player was diagnosed with CTE and BU shared the findings of a clinical consensus panel about a 27-year-old former NFL player who had previously been diagnosed with CTE.

On Tuesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs, BU and the Concussion Legacy Foundation announced that Charles “Bubba” Smith, a former All-Pro defensive end who played nine seasons in the NFL, had Stage III CTE.

Students raise $2,000, give it away to charities | AL.com Estelle Hebron-Jones, second from left, an attorney for the Equal Justice Initiative, drove from Montgomery to Birmingham to receive a check today from students at N.E. The students visited and researched various non-profits, and decided who to give the money to.

One of the recipients was the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery. “Their whole thing is to help people who are wrongly convicted,” said Arlo Winston, 13, a seventh-grader.

Estelle Hebron-Jones, an attorney for the Equal Justice Initiative, drove to Birmingham from Montgomery for the presentation of a check for $560. Equal Justice Initiative has documented more than 4,000 lynchings and has been putting historical markers at the sites. “I hope that it will make philanthropy and social justice a core value for them for the rest of their lives.”

Here is the full list of organizations that received donations from the students:

The Equal Justice Initiative: Litigates on behalf of death row inmates, juvenile offenders, those who may have been wrongly charged or convicted of violent crimes, low-income individuals denied effective representation and others whose trials are marked by racial bias or prosecutorial misconduct
The CARES respite program of Collat Jewish Family Services: Provides enrichment, respite and socialization for those with memory and mobility issues. Received $560.
The Birmingham Holocaust Education Center: Educates Alabamians of all ages about the Holocaust so that new generations will apply the Holocaust’s lessons to the construction of a more just, humane and tolerant future.

Kathy Hochul, chairman of the council, and Long Island Association president Kevin Law, co-vice chairman of the council. Kathy Hochul, chairman of the council, and Long Island Association president Kevin Law, co-vice chairman of the council.

Twenty downtowns on Long Island will vie for a $10 million grant from the state for development efforts, officials said.

Eleven communities in Nassau County and nine in Suffolk submitted applications by last Friday’s deadline for Gov. Cuomo’s new Downtown Revitalization Initiative, according to Jonah Bruno, a spokesman for Empire State Development, the agency administering the funds.

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“We’ve received a nice mix of applications from both counties,” said council co-vice chairman Kevin Law, who also is president of the Long Island Association business group.

Montgomery County, Texas (May 23, 2016) – Montgomery County Youth Services (MCYS) is the recipient of a ten thousand dollar community grant from The IRONMAN Foundation.

Preceding the recent Woodlands IRONMAN event, a group representing The IRONMAN Foundation visited the MCYS BridgeWay Emergency Shelter and spoke with residents about why they race, the obstacles they overcome to race, played basketball with the youth and shared a meal.

Trumbull Gives Grants To Teachers For Showing Innovation In The Classroom | Trumbull-Monroe Daily Voice Trumbull Gives Grants To Teachers For Showing Innovation In The Classroom by Roy Fuchs 05/24/2016 Lindsey Carley is a technology integration specialist in the Trumbull Public School system. Photo Credit: Contributed comment Read / Add Comments

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I moved to the region in summer 2003 during a bush fire and every three years since, north-east Victoria has had a substantial fire occurrence, let alone every year when we have had the bushfire risk.”

The above comes from Sue Gold, a resident of regional Victoria and Program Facilitator for the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) Australia Social Change 101 Program. As with the people of Alpine and Indigo, many are still learning about social enterprise and there is a large demographic who require further guidance to effectively apply its principles to their businesses.

“[Social Change 101] is another opportunity to learn; it’s for people in the area to build their skills, their knowledge and their confidence to both establish and lead an enterprise focused on solving local problems,” explains Sue. In order to facilitate real change, it’s necessary to work in partnership with local experts.

“I think by having local partners, and in particular Alpine Valleys Community Leadership Program and Into Our Hands Community Foundation, SSE can work with organisations that are well connected with the communities already,” Sue explains, “they know people, they know people’s interests, they know where the expertise lies and what people in the community wish to achieve.”

It’s taken some time to set up the necessary networks throughout regional Victoria since the devastation of the 2009 fires, but now the region is ready for growth. I don’t think you can go wrong.”

To get involved with Social Change 101 Alpine/Indigo, you can find out more information on our website or register your interest today.

If you’d like to hear more from our partners, you can find Sue on her Twitter, or keep up to date with Alpine Valleys Community Leadership Program through their Twitter and Facebook, and Into Our Hands Community Foundation through their Facebook.