Man I’m busy.
We have so much stuff going on around here I can barely keep up with it all–but that’s the way I like it! Here’s a brief little run down on what I’m working on and thinking about, for anyone that’s interested (like all our potential new hires).
1) Hiring four new full-timers. The International Programs Director position closed yesterday, two more close tomorrow and the last one closes in about a week and a half. This is a result of both changing team members and adding new positions to our team. How well I hire these positions will go a long way to determining how successful jhr is in the years to come. So, I’m taking this 100% seriously–I want the most talented and best qualified out there. Problem is that those two elements aren’t always found in the same person. I’ll be dedicating a good portion of my time in the next two weeks or so to bringing the exact right people in.
2) Board. I’m doing a review of our Boards (Canada, US and UK) with the aim of professionalizing them. Lot’s of work ahead.
3) Metrics: We’ve been working hard to quantify and qualify all of our program successes, across dozens of different categories. Once they’re finalized, we’ll make it public, ask for comments and set goals for future improvement on the numbers. This will mark a significant and positive shift for jhr by increasing our transparency and showing the world the huge impact we’re having. Exciting times.
4) Night for Rights. I’m locking down our big fundraising event for 2010. Looks like it will be on March 26th. Will be better than ever, with more focus on what jhr does overseas.
5) Make Media Matter. After months of planning, we’re finally putting together our next big thing–the creation of a global community of people that care about the intersection between human rights and the media. It will consolidate our School Chapter Programs, volunteers, social media, events and bring new life to jhr. We’re hoping for a soft launch by Night for Rights, but we’ll see.
6) Overseas. With some changeover in our overseas project management staff, we’re in a bit of holding pattern until we bring in our new team. But I’m excited about the future–at the very least we’ll continue to run our programs in DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia, send a whack-full of people to Ghana and Malawi in the spring and hopefully expand to at least one or two new countries within six months time.
7) More, so much more. But I have to get back to work!
