ISC May2016sThe Red Umbrella Fund is looking for committed sex worker activists to join our International Steering Committee (ISC)!

Are you an experienced sex worker and activist interested in supporting the sex workers’ rights movements at a global level? 

Do you agree with the need to respect sex work as work and ensure that sex workers everywhere can organize themselves to claim their human rights?

We currently have 4 positions open on our ISC for sex workers from:
1)      any of the non-Spanish speaking countries in Latin America or the Caribbean;
2)      any of the English speaking countries in Africa;
3)      any country in South Asia;
4)      any country in East Asia, Southeast Asia or the Pacific (except for Australia or New Zealand)

Deadline for nomination forms and endorsement letters: 6 December 2016.

Note that applications will be accepted in English, Spanish or Russian only.

Download the self-nomination form here.

Interested? Keep reading!

[fruitful_sep] About the Red Umbrella Fund

The Red Umbrella Fund is the only global fund dedicated to supporting and promoting the rights of sex workers. We exist to mobilise new money to support a strong and sustainable global sex workers’ rights movement that can create the changes sex workers want to see. The Red Umbrella Fund has made 78 core-funding grants to sex worker-led organisations in all regions since it was launched in 2012. Click here for more information about us.

How we are organised

ISC tour Belle2s
ISC members, staff and volunteers at the sex worker statue of Belle in Amsterdam

The Red Umbrella Fund is led by a partnership of sex workers and donors, with a sex worker majority in both grantmaking decisions and overall governance. Our International Steering Committee (ISC) provides oversight and is responsible for making strategic decisions. We also have a Programme Advisory Committee (PAC), which is our peer review panel that advises the ISC on the groups to fund. The work is coordinated and supported through a small secretariat (office), hosted by the international women’s fund Mama Cash, in the Netherlands.

Roles and Responsibilities of ISC Members

The International Steering Committee (ISC) is responsible for the key strategic and programmatic decisions of the Red Umbrella Fund. While its members come from different parts of the world, all ISC members are expected to keep the global perspective of the Red Umbrella Fund at the forefront of their decision making.

The ISC:

  1. Sets the grantmaking criteria and priorities, selects the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) members, and approves the new (Grantmaking)
  2. Supervises and supports the Fund Coordinator and reviews and approves policies, plans and procedures related to strategic and programmatic decisions. (Management)
  3. Reviews and approves the Red Umbrella Fund annual plan and budget. (Planning)
  4. Ensures that the Red Umbrella Fund’s communications are consistent with the agendas of key global and regional networks of sex workers and the fund’s own vision and mission. (Communication)
  5. Supports communication, cross-learning, and capacity building. (Learning and sharing)

Who are the ISC members?

The ISC consists of sex worker representatives (always the majority) and representatives of selected donors to the Red Umbrella Fund. It has up to 11 members from different parts of the world. The ISC aims to consist of people who are capable of fulfilling the described set of ISC responsibilities, while striving for diversity on all levels, including geographic, language, gender, areas of expertise, and types of networks and affiliations.

What we are looking for:

  • Sex workers’ rights activist, who identify as (current or former) sex workers and are part of and endorsed by at least one sex worker-led organisation. Note that ISC members are selected based on their individual skills, expertise and commitment to strengthen the global sex workers’ rights movement(s) and they are not considered representatives of their respective organisation or region.
  • Sex workers’ rights activists based in any of the of the regions mentioned in the box at the top. Note that the other regions already have representation on our ISC at the moment.
  • Someone with regular e-mail access and availability to attend quarterly ISC meetings (by phone or Skype) and at least one three-day meeting in-person per year. ISC members are expected to volunteer additional time (several hours per week) for ISC discussions and responsibilities at different times of the year.
  • All candidates must be interested and available to commit to actively participate in the ISC for a minimum of three years. Membership can be renewed once for another three years.
  • Able to communicate well (read, write and speak) in English, Spanish or Russian.

What do we offer?

  • Participating in the ISC provides a unique opportunity to contribute to the only global fund that is led by the community and specifically focuses on supporting the sex workers’ rights movements.
  • Insight into the sex workers’ rights movements globally as well as the funding landscape and trends.
  • Direct contact with diverse sex workers’ rights activists and allied funders.
  • ISC membership is a voluntary (unpaid) position but costs of participating in Red Umbrella Fund meetings are covered.
  • Language support for ISC members to communicate together in English, Spanish and Russian.

How do you apply?

  1. Get a sex worker organisation or network that you are part of to write an endorsement for your nomination; and
  2. Send us your completed self-nomination form.

 

Questions? Please contact info [at] redumbrellafund [dot] org

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