Call For Volunteer Board Members 2024
Summary
Help Lesotho, a Canadian registered charity providing mental health and life skills programming in Lesotho, Southern Africa, is seeking candidates with a personal interest and commitment to our mission and vision to join our volunteer Board of Directors. We are currently prioritizing candidates with legal, financial or human resource expertise and experience.
About Help Lesotho
Help Lesotho is a non-profit organization registered in both Canada and Lesotho that delivers grassroots mental health support and life skills training programs in rural communities in Lesotho, Southern Africa, battling the impacts of AIDS, poverty, unemployment and gender-inequity. Over the past 20 years, our work has been strategically tailored to help vulnerable people build resilience so they can heal and move forward with their lives in healthy and productive ways.
Help Lesotho reaches over 25,000 beneficiaries annually and has helped over 274,000 people since 2004. Over 55,000 children, youth, grandmothers, herd boys, young mothers, police officers, health workers and local leaders have graduated from our intensive programs, contributing to our goal of creating a critical mass of alumni who have the self-awareness, life skills and support to be leaders of social change.
All Help Lesotho programs and projects are delivered by a team of 35 talented Basotho staff, most of whom are graduates of Help Lesotho’s programs. Help Lesotho’s Canadian team of 5 staff, headquartered in Ottawa, support program content development, ongoing capacity building, financial oversight and fundraising.
Help Lesotho has an annual budget of CAD $1.6M and has raised over CAD $26M from diverse funding streams, including in-country funding from such partners as UNICEF and UNFPA. Help Lesotho has been accredited by Imagine Canada since 2014 and received numerous acknowledgements for its fiduciary accountability and transparency.
The Help Lesotho Board
The Help Lesotho Board governs the management of the organization. The Board provides fiduciary oversight; contributes to, and oversees the implementation of Help Lesotho’s strategy; provides direction and approval for policies that reflect the organization’s mission and values; and ensures financial resources are managed appropriately. Individual Board members bring unique experience, expertise, perspective and wisdom to the Board and the organization. The Board works collaboratively to advance the mission and vision of Help Lesotho.
Board terms are three years with an opportunity to serve for a maximum of nine years. Executive officers and committee chairs are appointed from among Board members for 2 year terms. Help Lesotho Directors are volunteers and receive no remuneration.
Board Expectations
Board members are expected to:
Act in the best interests of Help Lesotho;
Attend five virtual Board Meetings annually (currently Mondays 4-6pm EST);
Attend two in-person full-day Board Retreats annually in Ottawa, Ontario (travel, if required, is at the members’ own expense);
Bring expertise to at least one Board Committee (Finance and Audit; HR; Governance); committee meetings are held virtually at mutually convenient times;
Dedicate time for preparation prior to each Board Meeting/Retreat/Committee meeting;
Champion the organization in order to contribute to the organizations’ growth and success;
Make annual financial contributions that are meaningful to them; and
Sign a declaration confirming their agreement to adhere to their fiduciary duties and Board and corporation policies.
While not a requirement, Board members are encouraged to travel to Lesotho, at their own expense, to experience the impact of Help Lesotho’s work first hand.
Expression of Interest
Help Lesotho is always open to receiving expressions of interest from potential candidates who bring skills identified in our Board skills matrix. All expressions of interest will be reviewed by our Governance Committee who will identify candidates to bring forward to the full Board for consideration. We are grateful for all individuals who express an interest in serving Help Lesotho.
Our immediate priority is for candidates who bring legal, financial or human resource expertise to our governance.
Preference will be given to candidates who also have prior Board experience, and/or experience in international development and/or lived experience in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Lesotho. Help Lesotho is committed to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion. We invite applications from diverse backgrounds.
To submit an Expression of Interest, please complete this brief application form and attach your CV by October 9, 2024
Please email [email protected] should you have any questions.
