Fellowship Opportunity – Senior Fellows – Banyan Impact Fellowship at American India Foundation

Position: Senior Fellows, BIF
Programmatic year: 2022-23
Duration: 10 months; October 2022- July 2023
Program: Banyan Impact Fellowship
Reporting: Program Head
Location: Remotely for the most part, with some in-person engagements

AIF background

The American India Foundation is committed to catalyzing social and economic change in India, and building a lasting bridge between the United States and India through high-impact interventions in public health, education, livelihoods, and leadership development. Working closely with local communities, AIF partners with NGOs to develop and test innovative solutions and with governments to create and scale sustainable impact. Founded in 2001 at the initiative of President Bill Clinton following a suggestion from Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, AIF has impacted the lives of more than 12.9 million of India’s less fortunate. Learn more at https://aif.org/

AIF Fellowship program

AIF’s Fellowship program shapes the next generation of leaders committed to positive social change while strengthening civil society in both the United States and India and identifying innovative solutions to tackle the most pressing challenges we face. It is the oldest program operating in AIF where fellows work on scalable projects across a range of thematic areas, including public health, education, livelihoods and many more with a special focus on women, children and youth. They aim to create knowledge for the sector at large while contributing to SDGs and uplifting local communities.

What started as the AIF Service Corps in 2001 became the AIF William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India in 2009, in recognition of the former president’s role in creating AIF. In March 2021, AIF rebranded the program as ‘The Banyan Impact Fellowship’ to reflect the organizational mission, vision, and values moving into the third decade of action. It has been built upon its glorious past and will lead for the decade to come as a true catalyst for change. Since its inception, the program has supported 512 Fellows and built capacities of 218 partner organizations across 25 Indian states to scale impact. To learn more about the AIF fellowship, click here https://aif.org/fellowship/

Starting 2022, in addition to supporting service opportunities for Indians and Americans across Indian civil society organizations, the Fellowship Program has started sending social change professionals from India to serve across organizations in the US for capacity building and leadership development, thereby furthering the program’s mission of creating lasting ties between India and the US. Senior Fellows’ track at BIF Senior Fellows at the Banyan Impact Fellowship will be a crucial part of the program’s India service track, which facilitates voluntary service opportunities for a select group of socially-minded Indians and Americans across a range of projects in diverse Indian civil society organizations. Chosen after a rigorous process to lead, guide and collaborate with the current Fellows during their Fellowship journey, the Senior Fellows (SFs) are highly-distinguished individuals, with vast experience within the Indian social development and cultural context, along with cross-sectional knowledge and experience in various thematic areas like livelihoods, public health, education, arts & culture, sustainability, climate change, gender, entrepreneurship, human rights and other related fields. They are self-starters with willingness and prior experience of initiating collaborations and leading capacity building. The Senior Fellows will assist the India service Fellows in grappling with technical and professional challenges in their respective services and projects. The SFs also act as an advisory committee for the Fellowship team through consultations and advocacy, guiding and assisting the program as a whole. The program seeks to leverage Senior Fellows’ knowledge, experience and resources for the overall development, knowledge building and advocacy within the program, current Fellows’ capacity building, providing understanding of the Indian context and special demands and context specific/ academic nuances of the thematic areas they are working in. The track seeks to give the senior Fellows an opportunity to not only create a meaningful and demonstrable impact on the grassroots, but also a platform to showcase their own work and disseminate knowledge.

Qualifications to become a Senior Fellow under Banyan Impact Fellowship

Following are the requirements to be selected as a senior Fellow for BIF-

● SFs must be based in India during their entire association with BIF as a senior Fellow. Global exposure, especially in the US-domain, is a plus.

● SFs must have at least 12 years of work experience in leadership capacity within the Indian social development sector across one or more of the thematic areas of livelihoods, public health, education, arts & culture, sustainability, climate change, gender studies, entrepreneurship, human rights, restorative justice and conservation etc.

● Past or current affiliations with government or non-government, or bilateral bodies overseeing work in the aforementioned sectors or working (in the past or currently) in a consulting/ mentorship capacity for such bodies, will be an added bonus.

● Connections and networks with media houses (traditional, digital or new-age) or prior experience in media will be an asset.

● Prior experience of mentoring Fellows under an educational or professional program will be an added bonus.

● Research experience/ Publications within Indian/ International Academic/ Development Journals/ platforms would count as a bonus

Expectations and Deliverables

● SFs will take steps to not only enhance the capacity of the current Fellows by giving them context-specific and field-specific knowledge, intel and guidance, they will also be expected to connect them with right resources and networks, including the ones SFs are a part of.

● SFs will amplify the impact and outreach of the Fellows they are mentoring. This includes guiding them to appropriate conferences, seminars and publications. SFs will also assist in getting Fellows’ work published in journals and/or media outlets, guiding them through the process.

● SFs will not just empower the Fellows but also suggest steps so that the Fellows can derive more meaning out of their work and can navigate any technical challenges. The SFs will also assist current Fellows through project navigation by facilitating monthly meetings.

● Orientation: The orientation for the 2022-23 BIF class will be held in October/ November 2022. For 2 days notified by the BIF team in advance, SFs will mandatory attend the same. Throughout Orientation, there will be a variety of components including an introduction to AIF, the expectations of the Fellowship, a Host Organization Conference, and experiential sessions with different NGOs and social enterprises. On the aforementioned two days, SFs will be introduced to the current batch and will be given time to present an hour-long interactive session. In this session, they can talk about their experiences and learnings from their respective specialized field in the Indian development sector and how the Fellows can benefit from the same. They will also get to meet the Fellows they will be mentoring and have detailed discussions about their projects and how they can go about them, rooted in the specific geographical and thematic context.

● Connections – Throughout the year, SFs will connect with their mentees at least once in a fortnight during the first 2 months and then once in a month thereafter. SFs can conduct site visits to meet their mentees at their host organizations and oversee some of the projects they are working on. For site visits (if needed),the BIF team will be happy to assist the SFs for scheduling (taking in consideration availability of all concerned parties) and logistics.

● In-person interactions – While connections with Fellows can be virtual, in-person attendance at our three conferences, namely Orientation (October/ November 2022), Midpoint (tentatively in February 2023 and Endpoint (tentatively in June 2023) is required. SFs will be required for a duration of 3-4 days each time and exact dates will be notified in advance.

● Dissemination of knowledge – The SFs must present/ participate in at least two national/ international seminars, workshops, symposiums or conferences, presenting their work or experience in the relevant field, while representing AIF. These should ideally be done in collaboration with the current India track fellows.

● Fellowship Blog – The AIF-BIF Fellowship has a very active blog section, where the Fellows share their learning and experiences throughout the Fellowship period. These blogs play an important role in AIF’s social media strategy, and Senior Fellows will be expected to contribute by writing at least 4 blogs throughout the 10-month period, detailing their Fellow mentees’ work or commenting on the current issues, challenges and opportunities in the specific sector they specialize in.

● Guiding and assisting – As mentioned before, the SFs will act as an advisory committee for the Fellowship team through consultations and advocacy, guiding and assisting the program as a whole, especially with regard to AIF/BIF brand building.

● Organizing and directing thematic conferences – The BIF team organizes various thematic conferences and seminars throughout the year, wherein SFs will take primary roles, including guidance on how to take these forward creating more opportunities as well as the resource persons (domain experts, professionals and civil society members) to invite. The Senior Fellows will also collectively be responsible for ideating on and curating a large scale annual event showcasing the broad bilateral nature of the program.

● Contribution to BIF publications – All the SFs will contribute information-centric articles or papers for the BIF publications. These pieces can be co-authored by a SF and their mentees, taking into perspectives of industry experts, donors etc, and will relate to a particular aspect of the Indian social development sector. The SFs will also amplify these publications and identify opportunities for cross sharing and an increased readership for maximizing impact and brand recognition, along with bringing other authors and content contributors on board.

Important notes –

● Attendance at Orientation, Midpoint and Endpoint is mandatory.

● In all AIF events such as Orientation, Midpoint, site visits and Endpoint, (travel, food and accommodation), including participation in seminars, symposiums and workshops etc. to represent AIF, expenses (as applicable) will be borne by AIF.

● Senior Fellows are covered by the AIFT Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy. Senior Fellows must adhere to the ASH policy and Child Safeguarding policy when executing work for AIF and its affiliates.

Remuneration

Senior Fellows will be an integral part of the AIF and BIF team during the year and will be treated as senior consultants. They will be adequately compensated, with payment made in three installments during the course of the Fellowship period.

To apply

Please send an updated CV, two recommendations and a cover letter explaining your interest in and your overall ‘fit’ for our Senior Fellows Program. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis until September 14, 2022. Please share your details with the subject line “Application for Senior Fellows’ track at BIF” at fellowship@aif.org