Volunteer Chair of the Board Opportunity to help drive KICS UK's new strategy with our Ugandan counterparts

What will you be doing?

Like in so many places, generational poverty continues to limit opportunities for so many in Uganda. Too many struggle to provide enough food for their families, send children to school, pay for medical needs, or access micro-loans to start a small business. Literacy is very poor particularly among women, further limiting their abilities. Working together with KICS Uganda, in the South West of the country, the impact of excellent targeted programmes is being felt. After reviewing all KICS programmes in 2023, we strive to ensure capacity and independence for communities to decide their own actions to improve their lives. A new strategy to deepen long-standing sustainable change in an increasingly difficult environment is being developed to address the fact that subsistence farming  implemented by many, and affected by climate change, fails to address basic health, educational and financial needs. We need a Chair to help reach our  goals of helping to reduce poverty in the area we work. We want to ensure we are able to introduce new approaches to improving lives without creating dependency or taking over duties that need to be done locally. You will be joining a small Board of multi-skilled individuals who all volunteer their time and are committed to realising change driven by the local communities themselves. We need you to have time and preferably, lived in experiences of international development, fund-raising, representation, problem-solving and previous Board work. KICS will look to the Chair for vision and strategy, and assisting the agency to reach new markets and to increasingly demonstrate KICS work and how they approach an often complex environment to  wider audiences. As Chair  you will be able  to draw many competing demands together, be the main point of contact for the Chair of Board in Uganda, and ensure the new strategy is meeting its targets. You will help set the priorities for the organisation in line with principles of localisation and empowering the local team and the communities where they live and work, to drive their own development goals. You will also be bold. Recognising that times are economically tough for  many not previously burdened by poverty in the UK, KICS has since opening in 2009, a great record of funding from individuals, trusts and winning grants. These funds have been translated into well targeted projects. If you feel you would fit with KICS and help make a difference, we would love to hear from you.

What are we looking for?

Commitment to charity's vision and  mission and a willingness to devote time to carry out responsibilities. Strategic and creative thinking, and forward looking vision. Excellent ability to communicate, both verbal and written. Demonstration of fund-raising, and ability to understand financial management. Independent judgement, political impartiality and the ability to juggle priorities.  Desirable Prior experience of being a Chair or Trustee on a Board. Knowledge of international development or other in Africa/Uganda Knowledge of the voluntary sector.

What difference will you make?

As a Chair you are needed to hold ideas, possible solutions and the challenges and bring them together into a coherent strategy, - one that will need to be modified if needed. The trustees contributing in many different ways look to the Chair for leadership, for commitment to the goals of the organisation to reduce poverty and to be across new ways of doing things. Your impact will result in helping to shape KICS UK at a new time, where climate change, resilience, gender equity, civil society space and child and disability rights are all urgent issues to be addressed.  Through your contacts and circles, you will be able to bring new people along with the work of KICS and ensure that not only is the organisation run according to all aspects of being a charitable incorporated organisation, that programmes are reaching their goals and objectives, do no harm, and demonstrate that participants are being able to increase their livelihoods to be able to access clean water, food, education for their children, start a business and more.   You will be bringing your knowledge and area of expertise to the team both here in the UK and the staff in Uganda who work every day to ensure all initiatives are reaching the desired participants who benefit from their work. Your impact will also be felt by the current trustees and future ones as you communicate clearly, address any problems in a timely way, enhance diversity and inclusion, and ensure everyone is understanding of all the different views that are often held around the table and also with our Ugandan counterparts.