Q&A: On our journey to finding our next CEO, we asked Leadership what the Future of Fora could look like.
As you may have heard, Fora's CEO, Heather Barnabe will be transitioning from her role this fall (in case you missed it, you can read Heather's announcement here).
This means we're looking for our next incredible leader!
So, Heather joined the Vice-Chair of our Board of Directors, Tanvi Girotra, to answer some questions about Fora's evolution, the best and hardest parts of the job, and who we're looking for in our next CEO!Here’s what they had to share:
What’s your favourite thing about working at Fora?
HEATHER: My favourite thing has been meeting, interacting with, and learning from our community - program participants, coaches, steering committee members etc. In this role, I’ve had the pleasure of developing relationships with young women and gender diverse youth all over the world and it’s so exciting to personally witness these change agents work tirelessly to improve their communities.TANVI: For me, my favourite thing about being Vice-Chair of Fora’s Board is the fact that I can invest my time, energy and resources back in an organization that has truly defined who I am as a leader and as a woman. I have experienced first-hand the impact that Fora can have on the lives of its program participants and it’s an honor to be able to work closely with the staff, board and the community to enable that for more people. Additionally, the Fora community has always made me feel like I belong - probably one of the first global communities where I felt welcomed as a young woman from India. So it’s a special opportunity to continue to show up for this ever expanding global community of activists, equity leaders and people who believe deeply in the mission that spaces of power need to be revolutionized and women and gender diverse people need to be at the forefront of that movement.
What’s the best thing and the hardest thing about being CEO at Fora?
HEATHER: The best thing is having the ability to be part of something bigger than me and see the impact of our programs first hand. It’s both inspiring and humbling. The hardest thing about this job is balancing the views of many stakeholders (board of directors, staff, steering committees, donors, partners etc) and making decisions to propel the organization forward. Collaboration and consultation are key to our success and so is efficiency. Those two things can be at odds when we are keen to have the greatest impact and as CEO, I’m responsible for effectively striking that balance. And it‘s definitely a big challenge.
What’s the culture and work-life balance like at Fora?
HEATHER: The culture at Fora is constantly evolving! As an ever-growing organization, we have worked hard to develop a culture that approaches our work with transparency and humility, in a way that truly prioritizes putting our people first. And I think this approach allows us to be open and authentic in our interactions with each other, and with our larger community.Like most non-profits, we always have to work within the parameters of operating with minimal resources, with staff who care deeply about the work. As an organization, we could always use more funding to better operate and implement programming. That's why actively working towards striking a work-life balance and taking measures over the last couple of years to introduce more balance with multiple wellness days, more lieu time, and leadership that prioritizes capacity conversations and ensuring our team has the space to take care of themselves.
Who do you think Fora's ideal next CEO would be?
TANVI: Fora’s next CEO is someone who continues Heather and Miriam (our Acting CEO)’s efforts to make the organization more sustainable and internally stronger to be able to thrive, even in a challenging and uncertain global climate. And combines that with leading the organization to grow and scale our impact and execute our next strategic plan in the coming years. This person is someone who is representative of our global community and has experience leading with feminist, anti-racist, anti-oppressive values at the forefront of their vision and decision-making. Two notable strategic shifts have taken place at Fora over the past couple of years - we recently shifted our mandate to define spaces of power beyond the G20, and our programs have evolved to provide capacity building and mentorship for anyone facing gender-based barriers. We’re looking for someone who can help further deepen our strategic vision, make it more inclusive, and make it accessible to more people globally. Lastly, we’re looking for someone who can inspire our hardworking staff and larger community, and work collaboratively with the board towards a shared purpose.
What are skills you’ve developed in this role that the next CEO could look forward to developing?
HEATHER: Where to start! One of the best parts of this job is that you develop (or hone) a broad range of skills across operations, programming, and governance. You’ll wear so many different hats each day that it’s near impossible to describe what "A Day In the Life of Fora’s CEO" looks like. As a small non-profit, you have the opportunity to support in so many capacities (including Finance & HR work on a Monday, Programming & Fundraising on a Tuesday, Partnerships & Governance on a Wednesday), and that translates to the whole week. Some of the most important skills you’ll develop though are the essential ones - diplomacy, change management, empathetic leadership, effective learning etc. After 6 years in this role, I can assure the next CEO that they will sharpen a vast, important array of both professional and personal skills and will feel that growth was a core aspect of this work.
How has Fora evolved over the last 10 years?
TANVI: Fora has evolved from an idea that Farah Mohamed had more than a decade ago - that spaces like the G20 needed to be more inclusive and benefit from the opinions and experiences of young women from around the world. Girls20’s first summit, which happened to be my first summit as a naive 19-year old woman from India still trying to find her place in the world, did exactly that and more. We left the summit feeling like our voice deserves the loudest mic it can get, we could conquer the world and we now had the skills to do it. I left with a mentor and friends for life, and the conviction that more people needed to experience what I had just gone through. Fora has now evolved to become an organization that applies that same mandate and urgency to various spaces of power where women and gender diverse people feel like they don’t belong. Over time, Fora’s programs have deepened to provide best in class training, network development and mentorship, and our spaces strive to be more representative of the communities we serve. Fora thinks about problem-solving at a systems level and advocates for policies and processes that need to change to make our world more equitable. With each passing year, we have learned and we have become more intentional about key organizational decisions like - what we call ourselves, what we call our programs, how we include our global community, who we partner with, who sits on our board, and now, who our new CEO will be. We’re not perfect, but we’re intentional. We’re continuously becoming better at what we do and leading the way for others to follow suit. Fora is at the precipice of something even bigger in its next phase of growth and I can’t wait to meet the visionary leader that will help get us there.
Interested in joining our team? We are accepting applications for our next CEO until August 10, 2023 at 11:59PM EST. For the full job description and to apply, please visit our Work with Us page.