Senior External Relations Associate

Position Overview 

Educate!, a fast-growing nonprofit social enterprise, is looking for an External Relations Senior Associate to join our ambitious, high-performing External Relations team. With geographic flexibility within East Africa, the External Relations Senior Associate will help us meet and exceed our growth goals to fuel Educate!’s impact. 

The ideal candidate will support in moving forward new and existing relationships that will enable us to reach our goal of impacting millions of youth annually. They should be happy to contribute in a supportive capacity to the team and will have an interest in building diverse institutional knowledge across the organization through varied projects.

A successful candidate should be a reliable self-starter with meticulous attention to detail and exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including some professional experience preparing content for internal and external audiences. However, the role is open to individuals with diverse experience and a variety of backgrounds. 

The External Relations Senior Associate will work closely with Educate!’s philanthropy team, as well as program teams, to manage internal systems, develop high-quality content, and contribute to the ongoing management of stakeholder relationships. They will report to Educate!’s Head of External Relations, directly supporitng building and executing strategies that generate resources to support thethe organization’s next phase of growth. Educate!’s work impacts youth across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, and we are currently in an exciting period of growth. The right person for this role will enjoy interacting and collaborating with stakeholders in and outside the organization, managing complex projects, and thinking strategically and creatively within complex situations. You’ll join a motivated, dynamic, and high-performing team committed to personal and professional development and impacting youth.

About Educate! 

Africa has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. By 2035, the continent is poised to contribute more people to the global workforce each year than the rest of the world combined. 

At Educate! we're obsessed with impact. We leverage iterative learning to build highly scalable youth employment solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of the world’s youngest continent. 

Educate! prepares youth in Africa learn, earn and thrive in today’s economy by: 

1) introducing an employment-focused school subject into secondary, and 

2) delivering livelihood bootcamps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women.

To date, more than 390,000 youth have been meaningfully impacted across Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya, and along the way, Educate! has become the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa.

Educate! is a team of over 250 largely African staff and 300 volunteer youth mentors. We prioritize building an engaging, fulfilling and growth oriented work environment. 50% of our top 30 leaders have been with us for over 5 years, 10+ alumni have started their own organizations and 6 current or former team members were Acumen Fund East Africa fellows. 

We have been backed by top foundations such as Imaginable Futures, Big Bang Philanthropy,  #startsmall, Generation Unlimited, CIFF and Echidna Giving. Educate! won a 2018 Klaus J. Jacobs Prize and a 2015 WISE Award, and has been highlighted by the World Bank’s S4YE's Impact Portfolio, an Al Jazeera documentary, BBC, The Brookings Institution as one of 14 case studies on scaling education, and the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeepers Accelerator. In 2022, we received a catalytic investment from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott to scale our systems change work.

Educate!'s long-term vision is to design solutions that measurably impact millions of youth across Africa each year. By 2025, we aim to scale our annual reach by 4x and measurably impact over 400,000 new youth. 

Performance Objectives 

Develop and manage written materials to communicate Educate!'s strategy and impact externally with key stakeholders

• Write, project manage, and support the development of grant reports and proposals, collaborating with in-country teams to gather information and ensure alignment with donor requirements.
• Conduct field follow-ups and due diligence for donor requests, while researching new funding opportunities and managing prospective relationships.
• Support the fundraising team in streamlining internal systems for grant reporting, compliance, and consistent messaging across Educate!’s teams.
• Contribute to Educate!’s fundraising strategy at conferences through prospect research, event preparation, and relationship-building outreach.

Support Educate!’s fundraising strategy through revenue generation, effective stakeholder engagement and relationship management of partners

• Build a deep understanding of Educate!’s sector and ecosystem, especially key players and stakeholders within the space. 
• Support in managing high priority funder relationships as “Relationship Driver or Co-pilot”, a secondary point of contact for funders. This includes compiling frequent and strategic communications to partners, supporting leadership to prepare for meetings and speaking engagements, and ensuring prompt follow-up and project management of action items related to Educate!’s fundraising efforts. 
• Engage in lead generation and prospect research, including supporting Educate!’s engagement in regional and global conferences. 
• Continuously work to develop and build upon Educate!’s existing fundraising and relationship management systems, processes, and procedures to increase efficiency and move Educate! towards its revenue goals.
• Identify new funding opportunities through calls for proposals and building a network of contacts at key funders.

Strategic projects and team support; being a versatile team player ready to support Educate!’s strategic projects and evolving needs, adapting to various roles as the organization grows. This role will step in flexibly to meet emerging priorities and provide support where needed, which would include:

• Draft a wide variety of internal and external communications to support Educate!’s fundraising and communications efforts.
• Conduct donor research and/or sector research to inform Educate!’s development strategy.
• Support Educate!’s executive team’s attendance at a variety of special events.
• Troubleshoot and project manage tasks aimed at improving efficiency and coordination on Educate!’s wider External Relations Team, such as building or refining existing fundraising, communications, or compliance processes.
• Build internal expertise on specific aspects of Educate!'s work.

Qualifications 

This position is well-suited for those with 3-5 years of work experience. The ideal

candidate is/has:

• A self-starter, proactive and adaptable team player with strong project management, organization, and time-management skills.
• Able to prioritize and handle multiple assignments and deadlines independently.
• Strong EQ, interpersonal skills, and social judgment, enabling effective collaboration across teams, functions, and time zones.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with experience tailoring content for diverse internal and external stakeholders.
• Trustworthy, reliable, and responsive to evolving priorities
• Proven ability to navigate ambiguity and cultivate relationships across all levels, from junior employees to C-suite executives.
• Exceptional attention to detail. 

Terms  

• The External Relations Associate (s) are full-time positions. A minimum two-year commitment is requested to best meet potential professional growth at Educate!.
• The roles will be based in East Africa, with preferences for  Kampala, Uganda and Nairobi, Kenya.
• Willingness and availability to travel throughout East Africa to Educate! offices and regional events, as needed. 

What Is Educate! About?

We’re ambitious. Are you? Educate! is growing fast, so new opportunities are opening up and expanding all the time. We’re inspired by people with drive, and we love to help them reach their full potential. We expect everyone at Educate! to contribute above and beyond their job description, grow their skills, and advance their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey.

1. We put Youth First, Impact-Obsessed - We never forget that Educate! exists to impact youth. We are purpose-driven. We obsess over impact daily and if it doesn’t lead to impact, we want nothing to do with it. We prioritize interacting with and listening to youth. We design and manage the organization to ensure every dollar creates transformative experiences that youth value. 
2. We Exceed Expectations - We take pride in going above and beyond to achieve the best results. When we know what needs to be done, we do it. We don’t wait to be asked and we don’t stop at what is asked of us. We look for solutions as much as we identify problems.
3. We Are Always Learning - We are committed to seeking and applying new knowledge and ideas. We stay open-minded. We know there is always another way and we are excited to learn about it. We continuously look for resources of all kinds from multiple disciplines. We try new things, experiment, grow, and improve. We invest in learning for ourselves and our teams.
4. We are One Team, Many Views - We say what we think while treating each other well. We believe that all people have the same inherent value and that diverse ideas and open dialogue fuel excellence. We constantly strive to create an environment where everyone can and does express themselves freely. We support and respect each other as people and colleagues. We act as one team: We prioritize the organization's mission and goals over team or individual goals.
5. We have the Startup Mindset - We will always keep innovating to grow our impact. We aspire to be game-changing. We never think “we have arrived” or “we’re done.” We question the status quo in our industry. We move fast and embrace change to move towards our long-term vision. We’re not afraid of failure. We interrogate anything that slows us down. 

Every person at Educate! — from interns to the CEO — is evaluated by how they live up to these five cultural tenets. They are at the core of how we achieve our mission and why we work as well as we do. 

Educate is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all who interact in our community.  In creating this environment, we encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.  

Child Safeguarding: Educate! is committed to child-safe/youth-safe recruitment, selection and screening. Our recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to the safety and protection of children in our programs. The successful candidate will be required to provide a satisfactory Certificate of Good Conduct as a condition of employment. We reserve the right to decline to offer employment to an individual or terminate an employment contract with an employee that may pose a risk to children and youth.