Are you one of our next Board members? Apply for the oikos International Board 2022/23!
You are passionate about oikos and its international community of student change agents? You love putting strategies into action and are looking to enhance & develop your skills in a specific field that aligns with your strengths?
Then this is your next leadership opportunity: Become a Board member of oikos International! Work in a team of like-minded people from all over the world, while learning all about an international non-profit organization!
What is the oikos Board & how do we work?
The oikos International Board is part of the oikos International Team and governs the strategies and actions on the international level. Representing the oikos community, the Board is given the responsibility for inspiring and empowering the community to move towards our common purpose, mission and vision and for demonstrating its core values. Next to this, expanding the organization’s resilience, and exploring systematic linkage with other organizations engaged in the pursuit of similar objectives are topics that move the Board as a whole. Each member of the Board is needed as a proactive and co-creative participant in a body that functions effectively as a team, taking on roles that match their strengths.
What are the main roles & responsibilities of a Board member?
Each Board member…
- Empowers and inspires the community through practicing leadership and exploring strategic directions for the organization
- Works alongside their fellow Board members, as a body that is in constant exchange and supports each other.
- Pursues a certain thematic role and is accountable to the community for competent, conscientious, and effective accomplishment of this mandate. This includes developing strategies together with volunteers and employees and overseeing the implementation of everything related to your mandate. In other words, you might convene and manage a sub-team of oikos International, depending on your role and the situation within the team.
- Assesses the impact of our organization and reporting them to the community and partners
- Stays informed and engaged with all fields, initiatives, squads etc. related to and organized by oikos International
Next to these general duties of a Board member, our Board works hands-on to support a specific circle within the organization. At the beginning of the term, the newly elected Board comes together to agree on the ways of working and the official roles and responsibilities of each individual Board member. These conversations aim at co-creating commitments that highlight our strengths while covering all fields of responsibility.
Below, you can find summaries of the current roles covered by Board members. These fields might give you some orientation for your application – but might be restructured based on the needs of the team and organization. If we identify that roles are missing, we will add them during the process. One Board member can cover several of these additional roles, according to their availability and scope of commitment. We will also set priorities and specify goals of your roles within the Board. We are looking for curious people who are eager to try out new things!
What are Opportunities and Benefits of becoming a Board member?
There are plenty! You will, for example,…
- Join a high performing and multicultural team in an innovative and open-minded environment
- Take decisions that guide the direction of the organization with a truly international scope and impact and see our vision come to fruition;
- Enhance your networks and connections with students, faculty and sustainability professionals from all over the world;
- Develop a variety of skills that surely will last beyond your time as a Board member (eg. leadership, strategy and communication skills)
- Gain deeper knowledge of your role and areas of responsibility while having the opportunity to create and try new things
- Have the opportunity to be coached by a professional coach
- Join our international gatherings, programs and strategy sessions (onsite or online) and get to know the oikos community from a completely different perspective
What should you bring – Qualifications & Requirements
You should…
- Be a current Bachelor, Master or PhD student or recent graduate
- Have a commitment to, and a clear understanding of the purpose, mission and vision of oikos;
- Have a minimum of one academic term (4 months) of experience at oikos at any level;
- Have a B2/C1 level in written and spoken English;
- Be open-minded and curious to try out new things. oikos is a playground and we do most of our work in co-creation. You should be up for working together and be willing to communicate and take time for teambuilding and similar efforts.
- Be available for a one-year commitment to oikos, excluding the handover process until the end of 2022. We see that long-term, honest commitments are the only thing that serve the organization, so please only apply if you are up to staying around for a whole year;
- Have the will and availability to dedicate approximately 10 h/week (40 h/month) to oikos. In view of this, we request candidates planning to go on exchange, graduate or take up a full-time job within their mandate to carefully consider if you would be able to fulfill a sustained commitment to oikos and to state possible restrictions in the application. Furthermore, from experience we see that a double commitment as a chapter president and an oikos International Board member is hard to balance, so please take this in consideration, too;
- Be available for weekly and monthly calls, annual international meetings and strategy meetings.
How to apply? 5 simple steps!
If you are interested in applying, please fill in this form until Wednesday, 5.10.22, 11:59 pm CEST. Next to some general information about your person, you will have to upload
- Your curriculum vitae (max. 2 pages);
- A motivational letter stating why you wish to apply, how you want to make a difference, the skills and experiences you will bring to oikos, and a brief summary of your time availability over the next one year. You can also share your motivation for certain roles you might be interested in, knowing that you won’t be elected for any of them, but as a Board member in general (max. 2 pages);
- Your vision for oikos in general and the roles you could imagine to fulfill in the Board (max. 2 pages)
- A short 100-word biography and a picture to be put on the oikos website.
- A 3-to-5-minute video to introduce your candidature to the Legislative Assembly
Once the application deadline closes, we will share all information with our community as a preparation for the Legislative Meeting where the new Board will be elected. Documents (except the short biography) won’t be published on our website and are only accessible to community members on our Google Drive.
All applicants then are required to join the virtual Legislative Meeting on 16.10.2022. via Zoom in order to take part in a panel conversation, defend their application and run for election. The election of the Board members is a democratic process involving all chapters holding the status of a full membership.
Any questions? Please contact us at darija.miletic@oikos-internatioanl.org or reach out to any Board member.
We are looking forward to your application!
The oikos International Board
