Executive Director

Job Description

Global Fund for Widows is seeking a highly experienced and motivated individual to serve as Executive Director.  The ED will play a key role in leading the full scope of operations for GFW and working closely with the President and the Board of Directors to shepherd in a new era of growth. With over 23,000 widows on our waitlist for micro-loans, we are looking for an experienced and dynamic leader to help us diversify and expand our revenues, advocate for change, and work with our local teams to expand upon our services in support of women. If you are passionate about economic empowerment of women around the world and are an experienced NGO leader, we welcome your interest in this exciting role. 

About Global Fund for Widows

GFW is an award winning, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in New York City, holding Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and has been widely recognized for its pioneering programming on the issue of widowhood. 

As the world’s largest non-profit organization economically empowering widows, our mission is to provide financial inclusion to widows and female heads of households. We do this by establishing for widows our proprietary award-winning Widows’ Savings and Loan Associations, or WISALAs. Simply stated,  WISALAs can be considered a community “micro-bank,” owned and operated by the widows themselves but capitalized by funds raised by GFW.  WISALAs provide widows with a permanent source of capital from which they can launch small businesses. Thus far, we have built 109 WISALAs around the world, and have empowered 21,000 widows and helped 54,000 of their children across Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Cameroon, Malawi, and India.  

We use our success in the field to advocate for widows at the United Nations General Assembly, United Nations Security Council, United Nations Human Rights Council, US Congress, and the House of Lords. In 2022, we partnered with African Member States at the UN to shepherd the world’s first ever UN General Assembly Resolution on widowhood,  “Addressing the situation of widows” – AR 76/252 which was adopted unanimously.

Currently we are seeking an exceptional Executive Director to lead Global Fund for Widows into a growth era, allowing us to successfully address the 23,000 widows that have placed themselves on the WISALA waitlist. 

The candidate must exhibit the following:

A strong understanding, passion, and compassion for GFW’s mission and for the situation of widows in the developing world Very strong command of finance, micro-finance, banking, and/or economics in order to effectively execute GFW’s main intervention – the establishment of WISALA micro-banks for widows- around the world Proven and successful track record in organization leadership with strong fundraising success in both US and international markets An extremely strong and deep network which will be activated to advance our funding and advocacy goals Excellent leadership skills, ability to manage and inspire a global team to advance the mission. Excellent prospect research, writing, presentation, and networking skills. Candidate must be an impactful public speaker and excellent negotiator Critical and strategic thinking skills Forward thinking skills such as leveraging new technologies to facilitate the mission Deep familiarity with development issues in Africa, MENA, and South Asia Flexibility – as a small organization GFW may require you to be a team player and assume responsibility for various tasks Excellent sense of humor, humility, and camaraderie Dedicated self- starter with entrepreneurial spirit, and ability to develop and implement strategic initiatives

Duties and Responsibilities:

Duty/Responsibility:………………………………………………………………………….. %  of Time 

Fundraising and strategic development……………………………………………..40%

Develop strategic and actionable fundraising plan in partnership with Director of Development with high priority to
Prospect Research – conduct for leads in US and global philanthropic markets Corporate and CSR donors –  creating long lasting partnerships with aligned strategic initiatives Foundations – leverage relationships to activate critical research grants or other long term funding Government – activating government aid programming to scale WISALAs expansion across platforms Individuals/High net worth donors/retail grassroots 1-1 & planned giving
Lead all planning for annual fundraising gala Develop and implement a 5-year Strategic Plan Develop and implement updated operational policies and procedures. Oversee the execution of all grant agreements and contracts

Implement program initiatives:……………………………………………………………………… 40%

Work with program managers and implementing partners in all stages of development of our global WISALA programming.  Develop and implement initiatives that will advance the goals of the program area. Implement strategies as assigned. Draft and or manage correspondence, reports, and memos as necessary, including proposals, grant reports, pitch decks, newsletters etc. Conceive and manage strategic research projects Utilize and maintain systems for workflow tracking. Monitor internal action items and activities  Coordinate various organizational projects  Lead and conduct advocacy at the United Nations, US Congress, and other locations as necessary. Travel frequently to field to engage with beneficiaries and partners

 Organizational management :………..…………………………………………………………….20%

Manage team of global staff and implementing partners (10 + team members)  Report and engage with the Board of DirectorsManage media and communications strategy and implementation

Minimum qualifications

• A minimum of 10 years of nonprofit leadership experience, preferably in an international development context. 

• Strong understanding of the international development landscape including proven track record in navigating UN, USAID and other major stakeholders.

• Strong fundraising skills and proven track record of growing and diversifying revenue.

• Experience working with high networth individuals, foundations and granting institutions. 

• Strong leadership skills and ability to plan and implement strategic initiatives.

• Excellent communications and public speaking skills.

Compensation and work arrangements

This is a full-time, work from home role. Preference will be given to candidates located in Washington DC or New York. The GFW offers a competitive compensation package commensurate with experience. For more information, please contact Mariya Yurukova (mariya@charitysearchgroup.com) .

The GFW has engaged the exclusive services of Charity Search Group to coordinate the recruitment for this role. To express your interest or questions about this role, please visit www.charitysearchgroup.com or contact Mariya Yurukova, President and CEO at mariya@charitysearchgroup.com