November 2005

You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November 2005.

Job Posting

November 28, 2005 in Articles by admin

Job Title Program Coordinator- Mesoamerica

Organization: Horizons of Friendship
50 Covert Street, Cobourg, ON K9A 4L1

Reporting Relationships
· Reports to: Executive Director
· Supervises: Meso Financial Officer and other contract personnel
· Liaises with: Community Outreach, Fundraising and Administration; Board Program Committee and Horizons’ Partners in Central America and Mexico

Location: Cobourg, Ontario

Probationary Period: 6 months

Term: Full-time staff position. Three year contract, renewable upon successful completion.

Salary: $ 40,870- 51,090 (plus benefits), commensurate with experience.

Starting date: February, 2006 (or as soon as possible)

Horizons of Friendship encourages minority applicants.

INTRODUCTION

Horizons of Friendship is a Canadian non-profit, international development agency committed to eliminating the root causes of poverty and injustice through the cooperation of people from the South and the North.
Horizons of Friendship supports Central American and Mexican partner organizations that undertake local initiatives which further this goal.
In Canada, we raise awareness on global issues and work with Canadian organizations at the local and national levels to bring about positive and lasting change

POSITION SUMMARY

Under the direction of the Executive Director, the program coordinator is responsible for the supervision of all activities related to the Mesoamerica program. Program management includes project monitoring, administration, and budgeting, and supervision of Meso program staff and consultants.

In undertaking this role, the coordinator assesses partners’ capacity to plan, implement and manage approved projects and takes any measures that may be necessary to ensure that they have the capacity to meet established standards. The coordinator manages all activities related to Horizons/Partners learning network initiatives to meet expected results.

The program coordinator reports to and seeks the approval of the E.D. on changes to annual operational planning, partner funding, and Monitoring and Evaluation budget allocations. Similarly, in consultation with the Executive Director, the coordinator makes recommendations to Horizons’ Board/staff Program Committee on the acceptance of new partners or the termination of existing relations.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Management
· Foster and coordinate team work with Meso staff, consultants and the E.D. to set goals, resolve problems and make decisions that enhance organizational effectiveness;
· In collaboration with the E.D., effectively manage all aspects of Horizons’ relationship with CIDA;
· Set up processes – that include partner consultation – to assess needs for institutional strengthening (e.g., external evaluations, audits, and capacity-building on strategic and operational planning based on results-based management methodology);
· Coordinate the implementation of specific thematic areas identified and agreed upon by Horizons and partners;
· In the case of programs jointly supported with other Canadian NGOs, manage relations with the sister organizations involved, including the responsibility for delegations to the South and ensure that administrative procedures are met;
· In consultation with Horizons’ E.D. and Meso staff and consultants, develop, coordinate and supervise the implementation of workplans to meet expected results outlined in Horizons’ three-year program.

Program Administration
· Ensure full implementation of institutional procedures, particularly for program approval and acceptance of new partners;
· Develop agendas and document the results of team/E.D. discussions and staff/Board Program Committee meetings;
· Monitor projects via field visits, and consultants’ and partner reports;
· Prepare program reports and proposals for CIDA as required, including the approved RBM chart;
· Supervise preparation of contracts, project budgets and cash flows;
· Prepare country and partner profiles and project descriptions;
· Prepare additional documentation required as requested by the E.D. to contribute to meeting CIDA requirements;
· Prepare partner program descriptions and updates as needed for Fundraising;
· In conjunction with the E.D., prepare, monitor and adjust as needed, the monitoring and evaluation budget;
· Ensure that all financial transactions are accounted for.

Institutional Collaboration
· Collaborate on Horizons’ initiatives to provide professional development to staff and board members, including via field visits to Mesoamerica;
· Provide information as needed for the Community Outreach program, particularly with regard to delegations to the South and partner visits to Canada;
· Provide timely and accurate information to Fundraising;
· Collaborate in the preparation of newsletters, press releases and public presentations as needed;
· Participate in the annual strategic and operational planning process;
· Participate in meetings at the institutional level.

QUALIFICATIONS

· Knowledgeable about the Mesoamerican region and civil society organizations and actions;
· Proven ability to assess program needs and contract and coordinate work with consultants in Canada and overseas;
· Commitment to and understanding of development issues such as gender and environment;
· Ability to provide leadership in the development of innovative ideas and suggestions for work improvements;
· Excellent budgeting skills;
· Fully familiar with CIDA requirements and RBM reporting;
· Excellent team player with ability to work cooperatively with E.D., Board, staff and volunteers;
· Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
· Ability to be away from home and to have the flexibility to work outside of normal office hours to respond to emergencies and to participate in events, fora and Board meetings;
· Good analytical and writing skills;
· Excellent ability in spoken and written English and Spanish;
· Proven administrative skills: organization of work, reporting, data management;
· Familiarity with word processing, excel spreadsheets, e-mail, and internet in a Windows environment;
· Canadian citizenship or permanent residency status.

WORKING CONDITIONS

· Full time position;
· Collegial, supportive atmosphere in small community-based office, high level of interaction with partners in the South;
· Ongoing interaction with Community Outreach, Fundraising and Administrative teams;
· Work on occasional evenings and weekends;
· Travel 2 to3 times a year and as needed, overseas and within Canada;
· Own transportation required within Cobourg and surrounding municipalities.

Cobourg is located approximately one hour east of Toronto on the shore of Lake Ontario. A family community with a population of 17,000, it offers a beautiful sandy beach, affordable housing, quality educational opportunities and a host of recreational and cultural amenities.

Qualified candidates are invited to direct their applications to Patricia Rebolledo, Executive Director, by Friday January 27, 2006.
Via e-mail: lrobertson@horizons.ca
Or via fax: 905-372-7095

For more information on Horizons of Friendship, see www.horizons.ca

We wish to thank all those who respond to this posting for their interest, but advise that only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Writers & Friends Update November 2005

November 8, 2005 in Events, Writers & Friends by admin

Authors and Artists Come Together for Horizons
An impressive gesture has become a potent example that will benefit international charitable organization Horizons of Friendship.

A challenge has been set by the generosity of four of Canada’s most acclaimed writers in contributing to Writers & Friends, Horizons of Friendship’s 11th Annual literary benefit on behalf of impoverished communities in Central America and Mexico.

In response, several well-known artists have made contributions of their own to the Nov 13th fundraiser in Port Hope which aims to boost Writers & Friends coffers in a unique way. A live art auction of these selected works will raise additional funds for Horizons partners in Central America who are working to overcome the widespread devastation due to Hurricane Wilma and Tropical Storm Stan.

Writers & Friends attendees and those unable to attend are all invited to bid on these fine works of art by phoning (905) 372-5483, 1-888-729-9928 or (905) 373-5414. More information below.

The authors participating in this year’s Port Hope literary evening at Le Van Hall, Trinity College School comprise an outstanding roster. Writers & Friends headliner is M.G. Vassanji, nuclear physicist turned author, and the only writer to have twice won Canada’s prestigious Giller Prize for Fiction, 1994 (The Book of Secrets) and 2003 (The In Between World of Vikram Lall). His new book When She Was Queen, offers stories of the Old and New Worlds “ haunting tales of extraordinary lives transplanted”.

Also reading is Claire Mowat, memoirist, children’s author and long time Writers & Friends supporter. Her new book Travels with Farley is a memoir of writing life in the 1970’s during her time with Farley Mowat on Magdalen Island and the interesting characters, local, national, literary and political, who were part of the passing parade.


And as well, Michael Crummey, acclaimed poet from Newfoundland, storyteller and novelist, author of the Giller nominated River Thieves. The Wreckage, his new novel, is grand in scope, unfolding over decades and continents,
a “ journey of stimulating moral enquiry …into the limits of love and the depths of human hatred “.

Joan Barfoot, award-winning author of nine previous novels, including, Critical Injuries, long-listed for the 2002 Man Booker Prize. Her latest, Luck, a 2005 Giller nominee, is described as “black-humoured and blessed with literary acuity and acid wit, an often hilarious, insightful danse macabre … think Carol Shields with attitude.” (Globe & Mail)

Co-masters of ceremonies for the evening will be Anna Porter, author, memoirist and founding publisher of Key Porter Books and Dr. Paul Caldwell, local physician, author, and Horizons of Friendship board member. The San Murata Trio will provide live music and Sprucewood Catering will provide the sumptuous gourmet buffet. A Grand Silent Auction is also offered, and will be a timely temptation for early Christmas shoppers.Among the artists contributing to this year’s Writers & Friends special Live Art Auction are:

-Ron Bolt, one of Canada’s foremost painters whose works are found in private and public collections across Canada. A widely traveled artist, in Canada and abroad, he has painted landscapes as a lyrical abstractionist and latterly as a photorealist. His donation to Horizons’ Writers & Friends, a watercolour from his Mexican portfolio, is entitled, Back Street San Miguel. Dimensions 7′x16′ 3/4 valued at $2,200.00 Reserved $1,100.00


-Keith Cornell, landscape artist, teacher and critic whose works have largely been inspired by his ancestral home in the lush farmland of York Region and have been exhibited yearly at the Wagner Rosenbaum. His donation to Horizons is “ Treasure Island”, acrylic on canvas board, a “fiery” study of trees in autumn 2000. Dimensions 20′x24′ Valued at $1,500.00 Reserved $600.00

- Arnold Hodgkins, talented OCA graduate who began painting during World War II. His commissions (for Lady Eaton,) and his exhibitions (Paris, the National War Museum, Deerfoot Gallery) were highly regarded by members of the Group of Seven. His oil painting “Empty House” is a donation from his daughter. Dimension 26′x30′ Valued at $1,000.00 Reserved at $500.00

- Lenni Workman, artist and organic market gardener living in Warkworth, works out of her farm named appropriately “Art Farm”. She has received many awards over the years and has exhibited at the Roberts Gallery among others. Interested in the play of light and shadow and the historical still life tradition, her work donated to Horizons is called, “Beneath the Surface”, watercolor.Dimensions 34′x41′ Valued at $1,800.00 Reserved $500.00
- Norma Morley has studied with both American and Canadian artists over
the past eighteen years. She takes inspiration from nature, and from her
extensive travels. Norma works in many media and likes to experiment with
techniques and materials. Her work has been exhibited in the Richview
Library, Rivercrest Gallery, Montgomery’s Inn, Springbank Visual Arts, the
O’Keefe Centre, and the Toronto Textile Museum. Norma has also exhibited at
the Art Gallery of Northumberland where her art experience has been combined
with creative rug hooking. Dimensions 36′x29′ Valued at $900.00 Reserved $300.00
Her print maker whose contribution will be part of Horizons’ auction this November.

Prehistoric Pottery, monoprint collage.

-J.E.H. McDonald is another artist, his work donated to Horizons is called Asters and Apples“Born in Durham, England, McDonald came to Canada in 1887 and enjoyed a successful solo career before becoming a founding member of The Group of Seven. The specimen quality print for auction is of a painting he completed in 1917.
These works will also be available for viewing on line at www.horizons.ca. Email bids will also be accepted until Friday November 11, 2005 at 5 p.m.

Deadline for telephone bids is Sunday, November 13,2005 at 12:00 p.m. If successful, you will be notified Monday, November 14, 2005. Payment will be accepted by cheque, Visa, Master Card and American Express. Paintings may be picked up at Horizons of Friendship located at 50 Covert St., Cobourg.

Tickets for this year’s Writers & Friends on November 13th at Le Van Hall, Trinity College School are $110 and an income tax receipt is provided for $ 65. To order by credit card, call 1-888-729-9928. Tickets are also available in Port Hope at Furby House Books and in Cobourg at Horizons of Friendship’s’ office, 50 Covert St. For more Information call 905 372- 5483, 1 888 729- 9928.

Writers & Friends Committee: Kathy Angus, Marcy Berg, Gail Corbett, Ann Cox, Doreen Gorsline, Marnie Marsh, Eileen Mountain, Susan Pignatero, Marguerite Sandig, Diane Taylor, Donna Wootton.

Horizons of Friendship is a community-based federally registered charity founded in 1973 by three volunteers from Cobourg. The goal of this international development organization is to help Central American and Mexican communities meet their basic needs as expressed by the people. With local partners, Horizons supports low- cost housing, health services, clean water, food production and literacy and education. The projects provide entire communities with the potential for self – sufficiency through training and income – generating opportunities. For information about Horizons of Friendship call 1 888- 729 9928 or visit www.horizons.ca.
For further info, contact Horizons of Friendship 905 372-5483,
Doreen Gorsline ext. 14, dgorsline@horizons.ca, www.horizons.ca