Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lead

About One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund supplies over 1.5 million smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms more productive. Our 8,000+ team is drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. With operations across ten African countries, we make farmers more prosperous by providing easy access to quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, and agricultural training to improve harvests. On average, the farmers we serve earn 40 percent more profits from their land when they enroll with One Acre Fund. To learn more about our work, look at our Why Work Here blog for more information.

About the Role

We seek an experienced and empathetic Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Lead to steward the next phase of One Acre Fund’s DEI work.

Our DEI journey has accelerated from early beginnings in 2016 to a broad portfolio of impactful initiatives today. In the last few years, major structural pieces of the work ex. revamping staff pay and performance management packages or diversifying senior leadership groups, have been completed.

The next phase of work will involve developing our DEI approach, supporting team leads to address DEI concerns, and taking on adjacent bodies of work that have recently grown in demand such as women empowerment and staff wellbeing. You will collaborate with teams in our countries of operation and global divisions, across multiple departments and seniority levels, to guide concrete action across our DEI priorities. You will also collaborate with our internal communications team to create awareness and build fluency both internally and externally on our DEI work.

You will report to the Global People Innovations Director.

Responsibilities

• You will develop One Acre Fund’s DEI approach. You will embed DEI priorities into organization-wide and team (global and country) yearly objectives and key results (OKRs) via review of internal staff data and survey feedback (ex. annual Culture & Inclusion survey).
• You will support specific teams to address DEI concerns. Through the DEI business-partner approach you will collaborate with team leads to address concerns raised by team members.
• You will improve overall staff experience by managing 2 – 3 DEI projects at any given time. Example projects include: improving input in decision-making for our farmer-facing teams, developing and rolling out DEI training, and curating the annual People and DEI report.
• Gender Empowerment. In collaboration with the Gender Lead, you will help establish and then own, our internal gender strategy to ensure that One Acre Fund prioritizes gender equity with a focus on being a great place for women to build their careers.
• Staff Wellbeing. You will be a staff wellness advocate to meet the emerging mental and emotional health needs across the organization.
• You will coordinate and communicate progress on One Acre Fund’s DEI work. Through coordination with project owners, you will drive progress on our DEI priorities and communicate regularly so that all stakeholders are engaged and informed. You will also chair our internal DEI Council which meets quarterly to set and provide input on One Acre Fund’s DEI approach.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, we are seeking a professional with at least 5 years of work experience and the following qualifications and achievements but not limited to;

• You led and implemented DEI projects and strategies.
• Experience in DEI advocacy to senior management.
• You have project management and implementation experience.
• Preferably managed gender-empowerment initiatives.
• Experience in internal and external communication (ex. reports, blog posts).
• You have designed staff wellness initiatives (ex. mental health, belonging).

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Flexible between Nairobi, Kenya or Kigali, Rwanda

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Eligibility

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Malawi and Nigeria

Application Deadline

07 May 2025. Please note that we hire on a rolling basis which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous basis until a hire is made.

One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here ([email protected]), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.