Climate/ Environment/ Biodiversity Coach

  • Full-time

Company Description

Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity. Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.

EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work.    

EDC is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 

Project Description 

USAID’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative–Mekong Program will strengthen the leadership capacities and networks of youth leaders in Southeast Asia, empowering them to lead with confidence and to claim their right to a sustainable and just future.   

 The leadership development program will provide the knowledge, training, and exposure to empower Southeast Asian youth to act on environmental issues, help integrate them into the web of climate, biodiversity, and sustainability actors in the region in order to contribute to the sustainable development of the Mekong region.   

The program will 

  1. Build the leadership capabilities of youth in Southeast Asia with focus themes of climate change, environment, and biodiversity within the Mekong sub-region countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam,  
  2. Strengthen ties among Mekong sub-region countries, other ASEAN countries (plus Timor-Leste), and the United States, and  
  3. Nurture a community of leaders who work locally and across borders to address shared issues relating to the focus themes.  

Focus themes of the program are: 

  • Climate change – advance equitable and ambitious actions to confront the climate crisis with dual climate change priorities of mitigation (reducing emissions) and adaptation (improving resilience to climate impacts) 
  • Environment - Ensure that the environment and the natural resources upon which human lives and livelihoods depend are managed in ways that sustain productivity growth, a healthy population, as well as the intrinsic spiritual and cultural value of the environment. 
  • Biodiversity - Conserve biodiversity and manage natural resources in ways that maintain their long-term viability and preserve their potential to meet the needs of present and future generations. 

YSEALI-Mekong will be hosted by the Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM), and will partner with local, regional, and international relevant stakeholders. 

Job Description

The Climate/Environment/Biodiversity Coach is responsible for content delivery of the core environmental leadership course, with support from guest instructors from VNU-HCM and other partner organizations. S/he will work closely with the Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead and the Leadership/Soft Skills/Design Thinking Coach to contribute to the curriculum adaptation process. S/he will facilitate online and in person sessions with each youth cohort. S/he will provide support to youth peer groups. The Climate/Environment/Biodiversity Coach will organize and lead or co-facilitate meetings and workshops as needed.

Essential Functions
The Climate/Environment/Biodiversity Coach’s specific responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

Instructional Content and Training

 

  • Support the Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead in the curriculum development and adaptation process, working with key program partners in coordination with home office technical assistance staff and program partners.
  • Assist in the development of materials/tools.  Provide input into the content development and adaptation process as necessary.
  • Populate climate/biodiversity/environmental instructional content the Learning Management System (LMS), assist in setting up each cohort of learners in the LMS, track learning progress through the LMS.
  • Understand the content of the materials and be able to share understanding of the content to the youth as well as other partners
  • Conduct online and in-person training sessions on the core environmental curriculum on an ongoing basis to cohorts of training participants.
  • Facilitate training of trainers sessions on curriculum package for any other instructors who will deliver the core training package.
  • Identify and schedule guest speakers from VNU and other program partners.
  • Coordinate with VNU-HCM and other partners on the delivery of training and the guest speaker series. Work closely with the Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead to organize training schedules.
  • Work closely with the Green Partnerships and Mentorship Lead and Leadership/Soft Skills/Design Thinking Coach to ensure that all youth have identified and secured a Youth Leadership in Action opportunity.
  • Assist in the identification of quality education opportunities, skills development for employment and self-employment opportunities for youth. Help compile the menu of courses for professional growth (self-directed learning specialized topics).

Mentorship and peer coaching groups

  • Oversee and support weekly online youth-led peer coaching meetings (1 per youth pathway)
  • Assist in the election of peer coaches for each pathway groups.
  • Train peer coaches on the process for leading the weekly meetings
  • Assist the Green Partnerships and Mentorship Lead in the identification of mentors; Help pair mentors with youth based on shared areas of interest and expertise
  • Help onboard the mentors
  • Check in with youth on a regular basis to ensure that they are meeting with their mentors and work with the Green Partnerships and Mentorship Lead to address any issues
  • Identify opportunities for engagement with other partners to provide mentorship or other guest speakers

Recruitment and Program Promotion

  • Work closely with Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead and counterparts within VNU-HCM and organizations in the Network of Champions to recruit youth leaders to apply to the program.
  • Participate in the selection committee as needed.
  • Work closely with the Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead, Communications Coordinator, Network of Champions and alumni network on enrollment campaigns and promoting activities and successes of youth leaders.
  • Work closely with the Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead, the Green Partnerships and Mentorship Lead and Leadership/ Softskills/ Design Thinking Coach in the development and implementation of the Leadership in Action phase of the program to ensure alignment with training components of the program.
  • Coordinate with the Green Partnership & Mentorship Lead and the Leadership/ Softskills/ Design Thinking Coach in fostering the collaboration with respective departments or units of the VNU-HCM, other USAID projects, and relevant active programs/initiatives on youth development.
  • Provide successes stories (youth, mentors) for annual reporting and fostering further partnerships.

Other Responsibilities

  • Collaborate with other project’s teams, including financial and administrative staff as required.
  • Support social and gender inclusion in the activities.
  • Collaborate with the M&E team to ensure timely collection of information.
  • Contribute to ad hoc, monthly, quarterly, annual and other reports.
  • Contribute to project’s activities planning. 
  • Perform other tasks as required by the project.

Qualifications

The candidate for the position of Climate/Environment/Biodiversity Coach shall have at a minimum the following qualifications:

Education:

Bachelor’s degree required. B.A. in education, social development, or related field preferred. Specialized training in non-formal education or related/similar fields would be an advantage.

Skills and Experience:

  • At least 5 to 6 years of work experience in curriculum and training development, instructional design, and training design, delivery and facilitation preferably in an NGO, international organization or business.
  • Extensive experience and involvement with developing curricula and training materials for youth audiences, related to climate change, environment, biodiversity etc.
  • Teaching or facilitating experience, including experience in using active teaching and learning methodologies for adults and youth.
  • Experience and/or training in career guidance and counseling or human resources management desired.
  • Demonstrated capacity for coordination and task management, and strong organizational skills.
  • Excellent people skills at all levels, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to work in both a multicultural work environment as well as independently.
  • Working knowledge of MS Word, MS Excel and preparing effective power point presentations.
  • Strong time management and attention to detail.
  • Ability to travel in the Mekong and ASEAN regions.

Language:

Fluency in English and Vietnamese are required.

Additional Information

Please note: There will be no relocation allowance provided for this position.

Job Closing Date: 9 December 2022

Due to the volume of applications submitted, only finalists will be notified. No phone calls, please.

Applications submitted without a resume will not be considered.

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EDC is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to enhancing the diversity of its workforce and ensuring an equitable and highly inclusive work environment. EDC is a smoke-free workplace, and offers a supportive work environment, competitive salary, and excellent benefits. Women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

This announcement is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this notice are the sole responsibility of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.