Board Trustee

BOARD OF TRUSTEES VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Our Mission

To harness the multiple benefits trees provide for agriculture, livelihoods, resilience and the future of our planet, from farmers’ fields through to continental scales.

About our organization

The World Agroforestry Centre (also known as ICRAF) is a centre of scientific excellence with the world’s largest breadth of agroforestry: expertise; published literature; methods; data; databases; partnership networks; and tree germplasm collections. Focusing on rural landscapes and livelihoods, we work with cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary approaches around Resilient Livelihood Systems, Greening Tree Crop Landscapes, Tree Productivity and Diversity, and Land Health Decisions

The Centre’s headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, and research is conducted in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We are a member of the CGIAR and receive funding from over 40 different donors. We offer a collegial, diverse, inclusive and gender-sensitive environment, and we strongly encourage applications from qualified women.

To learn more about our organization, please visit our website: www.worldagroforestry.org

Scope of the position

The Board of Trustees of the World Agroforestry Centre intends to appoint up to three Trustees to enable better representation of Asia, Africa and North America.

Primary duties of the Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is the ultimate decision-making body of the Centre with the Trustees responsible for appointing the Director General and approving the Centre’s strategy. The Trustees approve the annual programme of work and budget; monitor the Centre’s progress towards achieving its objectives; ensure financial integrity and accountability; approve policies; and monitor the legal implications of the World Agroforestry Centre’s activities as well as monitor the performance of the board as a whole and that of its individual members.

Principal responsibilities of a Trustee

• Provide governance oversight in ensuring the Centre functions to the highest standard to execute its mission.
• Function as a part of the Board of Trustees team with care and diligence to ensure that individual actions reflect the policy and consensus of the Board as the governing body.
• Act in the best interests of the Centre and to avoid situations involving either real or perceived conflict of interest.
• Acknowledge that the responsibilities of the Board as a whole, extend in all respects to individual members of the Board and its committees. In particular, it is expected that Board members shall seek every opportunity to act as emissaries of the Centre with donors, governments and partners.
• Ensure that the Centre follows objectives, programmes and plans that are consistent with its aims and with the goals and purposes of the CGIAR System, of which it is a member.
• Ensure that the Centre is managed effectively by the Director General in harmony with the agreed objectives, programmes, budgets, policies and procedures and in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Undertake an annual self-evaluation to ensure that the Board is functioning at the highest level

Requirements and background of prospective nominees

• Background in agriculture and natural resources, with expertise and experience in value chain management, forestry management, research, policy making, or social science.
• Background in economics, fundraising, management or organizational change.
• Work experience in public or private sector, NGO or academia.
• Preference will be given to nominees from East and Central Asia, South East Asia, North America and Africa.

Terms of offer

• All Trustees are appointed for a three-year term subject to renewal upon mutual agreement.
• This is an unpaid position with travel and related expenses covered including a small honorarium for meetings.
• Trustees are required to spend an average of 15 days per year on Board business including two face-to-face meetings in April and November of each year.

Applications and nominations

Interested candidates should submit a letter of interest and Curriculum Vitae.

Nominations of suitable candidates are also encouraged and may be done by sharing the name, affiliation and contact details of a nominated candidate. The nominated candidate will then be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest and Curriculum Vitae.

For consideration in this round of vacancies, please submit applications/nominations to icraf-board-secretary@cgiar.org by 5th March 2017. Applications and nominations after the deadline are also encouraged and will be kept for consideration as vacancies open.