ECHO International

ECHO Asia Regional Impact Center Director

ECHO is seeking a Director to lead the ECHO Asia Team located in Chiang Mai, Thailand but serving the Asia region. The Director will lead and supervise the team leaders and staff, as well as actively participate in their training and outreach to development organizations and workers across the Region. The Director will work to nurture and develop partnerships throughout Asia and represent ECHO publicly. In consultation with ECHO’s President/CEO and the Directors of the ECHO Asia Thailand Foundation, the Director of ECHO Asia will work with the team to strategically design, implement, and effectively execute ECHO’s engagement in Asia, with an eye to the continued expansion of and servicing of the network. Part of the strategic plan for Asia is to create and implement scalable and modular teams to ensure the contextualized relevance of ECHO Asia. Fundraising for a South Asia team is currently ongoing.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Develop, supervise, and support the existing Asia team along with potential future teams that are modular and scalable serving distinct regions of Asia.
• Ensure teams are developing and maintaining diverse networks of those working directly with farmers in the Asia region.
• Ensure teams are providing validated training, tours, demonstrations and technical support in ways that are strategic in both impact and multiplying benefit for small-scale farmers, communities, and partner organizations in the region.
• Work with team members to develop follow-up steps ensuring that participants in ECHO’s regional equipping events receive appropriate encouragement and support through e-mail, technical advice, and access to ECHO materials.
• Ensure that team members are evaluating the impact of training events to improve training resources.
• Ensure that team members are creatively disseminating validated innovations, ideas, and techniques throughout the region.
• Actively participate in facilitating and conducting training activities.
• Facilitate the selection and development of research and demonstration activities that benefit small-scale farmers and gardeners in Asia.
• Provide guidance and direction to the on-going operation and development of the ECHO Asia Seed Bank and the management and focus of its seed collection.
• Oversee the effective management, administration, public engagement, and financial conduct of the Asia Team and future teams.
• Lead staff assessments and professional development plans.
• Lead and encourage the health, growth, and equipping of the Asia staff team individually, collectively, professionally, relationally, and spiritually.
• In coordination with ECHO’s President/CEO properly operate in accordance with the guidance and oversight of the ECHO Asia Thailand Foundation Board.

2.Develop Partnerships
• Develop intentional partnerships between ECHO and like-minded individuals and organizations working to improve the productivity of small-scale farmers in Asia through the identification, validation, dissemination, and evaluation of innovations, techniques, and regionally relevant ideas.
• Leverage organizational capacities/strengths to connect diverse network members.
• Introduce ECHO resources to change agents previously unfamiliar with ECHO and connect regional change agents to one another.
• Develop relationships between ECHO and like-minded individuals and organizations interested in partnering with ECHO financially.

3.Develop Strategy for effective engagement in the region
• Develop ECHO Asia as an integral and closely linked element of ECHO’s global outreach and engagement.
• Strategize and develop modular, scalable regional teams housed at the ECHO Asia Small Farm Resource Center that are under the leadership of the Asia Director that serve Southeast Asia and South Asia in addition to future teams to ensure relevancy and localization of innovations.
• Keep informed about small scale farmer challenges, innovations, agricultural tools, techniques, and practices through continuing education, research, professional development and engagement in regional meetings and conversations.
• Work in close consultation with ECHO Florida and other ECHO regional training leaders to develop/enhance training curriculum that is science/research/experience-based and relevant to the needs of small-scale farmers and gardeners in Southeast Asia.

4.Coordinate Communication
• Based on weekly, monthly, and annual schedules and protocols, facilitate the development of ECHO Asia plans, proposals, budgets, and reports.
• Ensure close communication with ECHO Florida.
• Supervise the writing and distribution of reports and impact stories following Asia training and networking events.
• Maintain correspondence with partners in the Asia region
• Ensure production of quarterly issues of ECHO Asia Newsletters.
• Locate appropriate outside technical materials and resources that can be contextualized, translated, and shared with the ECHO Asia network
• Coordinate the translation of Asia Notes, ECHO Development Note issues, and other technical materials into regional languages.
• Assist in providing ready access to these materials through ECHOcommunity.org.
• Share best practices with other RIC directors and ECHO Florida staff.

ECHO is a Christian organization, working to fight hunger by multiplying agricultural knowledge and skills through trainings, conferences, and technical resource creation and sharing opportunities. Based in North Fort Myers, FL, ECHO works globally through a diverse network of over 17,500 organizations and individuals and its three Regional Impact Centers (Thailand, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso). ECHO equips and empowers a diverse network of farmers, NGOs, missionaries, and development workers with innovations, ideas, techniques, skills, and seeds to improve food security and the livelihoods of the most vulnerable.

For more information about our organization, please see www.echonet.org and www.echocommunity.org.