It's official: I'm moving on from Ashoka. Ashoka doesn't usually promote specific roles but today we announced that we are looking for a new Social and Digital Marketing Manager. I've had an amazing time building the social media program at Ashoka. During this time our Twitter account has gone from zero to 315,000 followers, we have run 12 Twitter #SocEntChat conversations, published 3 e-Books, live-streamed 7 Fellow presentations, launched a number of new blogs including our flagship Change InSight, developed a new template for Ashoka websites which foregrounds social content (which you can see piloted on the Ashoka USA site), crowdsourced an Everyone a Changemaker film, placed social media at the heart of our events and run numerous trainings for staff, Fellows, changemakers and students. Most importantly, social media has been adopted across the organization, by staff and programs.
It's been an amazing experience and I've learned a great deal. Ashoka's Everyone a Changemaker vision is one I believe in intensely and it has been an honour to represent this vision to our online communities, and to work with an incredible group of people.
So why am I leaving? Our two year visas are almost up and I will need to apply to get a new one whether I remain at Ashoka or not. K's work with WineInc is strongly pointing us West, to San Franciso. When we moved to DC for my work I promised K that she could choose the next city we lived in. San Francisco is the right place for her to grow the business while also fostering her creative practice. For me the draw is the incredible local non-profit technology and start-up culture in the Bay Area, and the proximity of so many of the outdoor locations I most want to explore in the States: Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, the Sequoia Forests.
This all means we are looking for a passionate, energetic and entrepreneurial individual to take Ashoka's social media and digital marketing program to the next level of reach and impact. If this sounds like you we'd love to hear from you. Go here to see the position description and here to apply.
My colleague Hayley from Ashoka's People Team put a blog post up today on what Ashoka is looking for when hiring and I wanted to excerpt it here as it does a great job of explaining the unique nature of our approach:
Who is more important than what. At Ashoka, we are not typically looking to hire someone who can do a job. We are looking to hire someone who can re-define a job; taking it, the team, and the initiative to a higher level. That means that who you are and what you’ve been compelled to do is more important than your degrees, your work experience, and the metrics demonstrating your competence.
Our hiring criteria are clearly listed on that page. Let me take this blog-post space to explain the meaning of one of our most important criteria: entrepreneurship. We describe it like this: Entrepreneurs are compelled to take creative initiative and ownership (e.g., founding an organization or company, starting a movement, or re-shaping the work of an existing organization). They demonstrate relentless and realistic how-to thinking and passion for seeing their ideas come to life. That means not only that you have demonstrated social initiative, but that you have proven a willingness to see a few things:
· Things must change. · Things can change. · You can be a part of change.
Entrepreneurs are not intimidated by the worlds’ ills, not defeated by the status quo. They intuitively realize that they, and others, can make change. Often solutions to the worst social ills are simple, but require changing systems, not just situations. Entrepreneurs know that. They aren't afraid to think big, they can see how each tiny piece relates to the whole.
This may all sound like wishful thinking. Embedded in our prototype of the entrepreneur is 'realistic and relentless how-to thinking.' That means working within real-time, real limitations, and with real people to make change that affects not symptoms, but causes.
I am sad to leave Ashoka but also excited to once again not know exactly what I'll be doing in three months time, when anything seems possible. I am having some very interesting conversations about some great opportunities and I hope something will be finalized within the next few weeks. I'm completely open to possibility in terms of my next role so long as it is fun, challenging and meaningful. I'm inspired by using technology to empower communities and individuals and share inspiring stories the world needs to hear. I want to continue to learn and grow and make a difference.
If you know of an opportunity that sounds like a good fit, I'd love to hear from you.