Emergency Grants Associate | Remote

MADRE is an international women's human rights organization and feminist fund that partners with community based women's groups in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East who face war and humanitarian disasters. MADRE works towards a world in which all people enjoy the fullest range of individual and collective human rights; resources are shared equitably and sustainably; women participate effectively in all aspects of society, and people have a meaningful say in decisions that affect their lives.

MADRE offers a comprehensive model of support to our grassroots partners using three interconnected strategies—grantmaking, capacity bridging, and legal and policy advocacy—to meet urgent needs and create opportunities for women and girls in marginalized communities to assert their agency and voice.

Using these strategies, MADRE provides long-term and flexible financial and direct service support to community-based women’s and girls’ groups that have been historically marginalized. Many of them are largely under the radar of traditional philanthropy and/or where conflict or disaster have rendered them difficult to fund and challenging to reach. We work at the intersection of three program areas—Ending Gender Violence, Advancing Climate Justice, and Building a Just Peace—and across five priority communities that have been historically marginalized and continue to face exclusion: young women and girls, Indigenous women, Afrodescendant women, LGBTIQ+ people, and persons with disabilities.

We have been privileged to be the first grantmaker to hundreds of under-resourced organizations that frequently cannot access traditional funding sources. In MADRE’s nearly 40-year history, we have disbursed over $58 million in grants and in-kind support to organizations across the globe that are at varying stages of organizational development.

The Position

Reporting to the Associate Director for Emergency Grantmaking, the Emergency Grants Associate will be part of the Grantmaking and Partnerships team and support MADRE’s emergency/crisis response grantmaking to address the growing needs faced by women and girls during war, sectarian conflict and climate change-driven humanitarian crises. The Emergency Grants Associate will provide rapid response funding and other support to frontline women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and local partner organizations under threat or attack because of their work to promote and protect human rights. They will support the implementation of MADRE’s grantmaking strategy to provide partners with funding resources, trainings, tools, learning opportunities, and access to empower and mobilize communities at the local level to respond to urgent humanitarian needs in moments of crisis and conflict. The Emergency Grants Associate will work closely and proactively with colleagues in the grantmaking, advocacy, and communications teams and across the organization to activate an emergency response to assist partners, and identify emerging trends and risks.

The ideal candidate will be a highly collaborative team player, with a focus on organization and deadline orientation . This person will also exhibit a high level of, discretion, as well as demonstrate excellent written and oral/interpersonal communication skills, including being adept at supporting partners across cultures and geographies. This role requires flexibility to adapt quickly and effectively to rapidly changing external challenges. A strong commitment to gender justice, racial justice, intersectionality, human rights, and decolonizing philanthropic practice is essential.

Scope of Work under this Position:

Emergency Grantmaking

• Work closely with the grantmaking team to contribute to the effective implementation of overall emergency grantmaking strategy and priorities to support current and new partner organizations in existing and expanding geographic regions.
• Oversee day-to-day management of emergency cases and provide small grants to at-risk WHRDs and CSOs, including tracking region-specific emergency assistance requests, case vetting, and coordination of grant dispersal and financial reconciliation.
• Working closely with the Senior Director for Grantmaking and Partnerships and the Associate Director for Emergency Grantmaking, contribute to building and continuously refining MADRE’s in-house emergency grantmaking infrastructure, including establishing secure communications protocols and financial disbursement mechanisms, developing checklists for partners and other relevant security/psychosocial resources.
• Coordinate all stages of emergency grantmaking, including reviewing requests, conducting due diligence, assessment, processing, and tracking emergency grants.
• Communicate with grantee partners to follow up on grant documents and financial information and support them as needed.
• Support the grantmaking team with budget creation, tracking expenses, and monitoring of various country and thematic portfolios

Data Management

• Work with the Finance team to ensure that all grants to partners are recorded accurately and reports are submitted on time.
• Work with the Associate Director of Emergency Grantmaking and relevant colleagues to ensure that emergency grantmaking data is treated and saved securely at all stages of the emergency grantmaking process.
• Work with the Grantmaking and Partnerships team to administer all logistics related to the grantmaking system (database, tracking tools) and procedures, including preparing relevant documents.
• Conduct risk analysis and prepare brief reports to understand and analyze trends and models.
• Contribute to the systematization and analysis of final reports from partners and data entry as needed.
• Compile data for documents and presentations that demonstrate and communicate the impact of our grantmaking strategy and priorities to different audiences and stakeholders.

Administrative/Logistics Support

• Translate and/or coordinate the translation of proposals and program-related materials.
• Provide ongoing administrative support (processing payments, reconciling credit cards, managing vendors, etc.), including but not limited to maintaining appropriate filing and other tasks.
• Manage calendars, including scheduling individual and group meetings and required follow-ups.
• Assist Emergency team’s work-related travel, developing travel plans, security protocols, and logistical arrangements as necessary, including processing expense reports.
• Plan and coordinate logistics/security protocols for on-site and off-site events to ensure the smooth functioning of activities, including coordinating closed captioning for MADRE events.
• Support the organization of virtual convenings with partners and other logistics for such events.
• Work on special projects as needed.

Key Qualifications

• Committed to MADRE’s mission, advancing grant-making centered on intersectionality, and decolonizing philanthropic practice.
• Minimum of 3 years of professional experience within the NGO/philanthropic or commensurate experience in grantmaking/direct service delivery to frontline defenders/women’s human rights groups; experience working in a humanitarian/crisis response organization an added asset.
• Collaborative team player with excellent interpersonal skills and intercultural communication skills with the ability to forge and cultivate strong relationships with partners and colleagues across the grantmaking team and the organization.
• Ability to prioritize tasks, manage timelines, and recalibrate effectively; attention to detail and follow through; proactive work style with the ability to take initiative as needed.
• Ability to be flexible and gracefully adapt to rapidly changing external challenges and opportunities while also maintaining balance and perspective.
• Ability to assess and address the security issues of human rights defenders under threat; familiarity with digital security issues and tools a strong plus.
• Detailed knowledge of and demonstrated proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office and Google computer applications, including Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Google Drive, Sheets, Docs, Slides.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
• Professional working fluency in Arabic or Spanish is required.
• Ability to travel as needed (approximately 10-15%).

Position Location: REMOTE Based. While this job may be remote anywhere inside the United States, it will require occasional in-person meetings at MADRE’s headquarters in New York City. Must provide proof of authorization to work in the United States. International and domestic travel may be required when the pandemic subsides.

Union Representation

This role is a union-represented position. Currently we cannot provide specifics about the collective bargaining agreement as the parties are in the bargaining process, and there is no final contract at this time.

Compensation Package:

• Salary: $60,000
• Benefits: Comprehensive benefits package offered that is robust, inclusive, and progressive.

Application Process: To apply to this rewarding opportunity, please submit Cover Letter, Resume, and two references to: emergencyassociate@madre.org. Applications will be accepted until January 30th. Email Subject Line: Emergency Grants Associate

MADRE is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.