Program Manager, Africa

WHO WE ARE

At Thousand Currents, we believe the people most affected by injustice are the ones already building the solutions. Around the world, peasant farmers, Indigenous communities, women's collectives, and grassroots movements are organizing across borders to transform food, energy, and the commons as  well as the underlying economic systems. Our role is to back them with flexible funding, with the relationships and platforms that amplify their leadership, and with the long-term solidarity that movement-building requires. 

Thousand Currents funds, connects, and supports visionary grassroots groups and movements leading solutions in food, climate, and the economy.

We support our movement partners in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific with core, flexible, long-term grants and value-added services. 

OUR VALUES

We envision a future where community-led movements have transformed the way we grow food, generate energy, and build economies, creating a world where people and planet thrive together. To realize this vision, we embrace and practice a clear set of values: 

• Courage - We confront injustice and inequality with love, strength, conviction, and integrity.
• Humility - We are part of a greater whole. We are one among many currents. We recognize our place among many forces for good and change that exist in the world.
• Experimentation - In order to take principled actions together, we prioritize learning, commit to self-reflection, embrace trial and error, and honor multiple ways of knowing.
• Creative collaboration - We share power, practices, and resources to reimagine new ways of living.
• Interdependence - With our futures intertwined, we respect all beings and build authentic relationships to move forward together.

POSITION OVERVIEW
The Program Manager, Africa advances Thousand Currents’ regional strategy by stewarding relationships with movement partners and supporting movement-led solutions advancing food sovereignty, climate justice, and economic justice across the continent.  The primary strategic focus for the Program Manager is Energy Democracy, including supporting community-owned, decentralized renewable systems, resisting extractivism, and advancing community self-determination. Rooted in a relational and movement-centered approach, the Program Manager accompanies grassroots movements and movement support organizations through trust-based partnership stewardship, grantmaking support, learning processes, ecosystem engagement, and collaborative initiatives. The role contributes political analysis, ecosystem knowledge, and strategic insight to regional priorities while helping strengthen movement resilience and systems change efforts across Africa. It is an ecosystem weaving role centered on solidarity, systemic awareness, and deep grounding on the continent.

Reporting to the Regional Director, Africa, the Program Manager works collaboratively across the Global Programs Team as well as with Learning, Grants Operations, Communications, and Philanthropic Partnerships & Influence colleagues.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: June 14, 2026

Key Details: Compensation, Location, Travel, & Benefits
Position: Full time, Exempt
Team: Global Programs Team
Location: Remote, Anywhere in Africa

Travel: Up to 40%
Position Reports to: Regional Director, Africa
Compensation:$97,000
Benefits: 

• Health, Dental, and Vision cost reimbursement or stipend for employee + dependents, and out of country medical travel insurance for employee 
• 10 paid annual holidays + open paid time off policy allowing flexible time off 
• Up to 16 weeks of paid parental leave
• Up to $1,000 stipend to set up work space
• Up to $2,000 per fiscal year in wellness stipend, $1,500 per fiscal year for work from home expenses, and up to $2,000 per fiscal year for learning and development 
• Retirement contribution paid monthly as a 4% salary boost 
• Possibility of sabbatical leave after seven years of employment

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Steward Movement Partnerships & Advance Regional Priorities (60%)

• Identify and build relationships with movements and movement support organizations advancing systems change in food sovereignty, climate justice, economic justice, agroecology, stewardship of the commons, and energy democracy.
• Draw on political analysis, ecosystem knowledge, research, convenings, and trusted relationships to assess alignment and inform partnership recommendations.
• Accompany movement partners through relationship-centered engagement rooted in trust, humility, accountability, and solidarity.
• Steward a portfolio of movement partners through regular communication, site visits, proposal and report review, accompaniment, and ongoing learning and reflection.
• Support movement resilience through flexible grantmaking, movement strengthening resources, learning opportunities, emergency support, and ecosystem connections.
• Support the implementation of regional initiatives and collaborative cohorts advancing movement-led solutions in key thematic or geographic areas.
• Facilitate peer learning, convenings, collaboration, and relationship-building among movement partners and allied organizations.
• Work collaboratively with Grants Operations colleagues to support grantmaking timelines, documentation, and partner information systems.
• Contribute political, ecological, and movement analysis to regional planning, ecosystem mapping, and strategic discussions.

Document, Learn & Share Insights (20%) 

• Engage the work with curiosity, reflection, and a commitment to collective learning.
• Support learning and reflection processes that surface emerging patterns, strategic insights, and movement-led approaches to systems change.
• Collaborate with Learning colleagues and movement partners to document insights, lessons, challenges, and evolving strategies.
• Support partner-centered learning processes that strengthen movement practice and collective sensemaking.
• Contribute written analysis, reflections, and regional insights to internal learning, organizational strategy, and donor communications as needed.
• Remain informed about political, ecological, economic, and movement dynamics shaping the region and Thousand Currents’ thematic priorities.

Organizational Storytelling, Resource Mobilization, & Ecosystem Engagement (15%) 

• Contribute movement insights, regional analysis, and partner context to support donor proposals, reports, and organizational storytelling.

• Collaborate with Communications and Philanthropic Partnerships & Influence colleagues to strengthen movement-centered narratives and donor engagement.
• Support partner participation in convenings, learning exchanges, campaigns, and organizational events.
• Represent Thousand Currents in selected meetings, gatherings, and movement spaces to strengthen relationships and ecosystem connections.
• Identify opportunities to deepen solidarity, collaboration, and strategic alignment across movement ecosystems and allied organizations.

Organizational Collaboration  (5%) 

• Show up fully for organizational activities, including staff meetings, retreats, and training.
• Collaborate with colleagues across programs and functions as needed.
• Support organization-wide activities such as the Thousand Currents Academy, convenings, and fundraising efforts.
• Manage personal administration responsibly, including receipts, reimbursements, scheduling, travel planning, HR paperwork.
• Take on additional responsibilities as assigned.

Thousand Currents responds flexibly to changing circumstances and priorities, which means the expectations of every position are dynamic. This description reflects essential functions but does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

We recognize that people gain skills through a variety of experiences. We encourage applications from candidates who meet most of the criteria and are committed to our values.

• 7+ years of experience working with grassroots movements, movement support organizations, or social justice ecosystems in Africa.
• Proven experience working alongside African social movements to advance energy democracy or stewardship of the commons.
• Experience contributing to institutional storytelling, donor communications, or strategic learning processes
• A capacity to see systemic wholes, recognizing how local, grassroots struggles for self-determination intersect with global political and economic structures.
• Demonstrated knowledge of movement organizing related to food sovereignty, climate justice, economic justice, agroecology, stewardship of the commons, and/or energy democracy.
• Experience building and stewarding relationships across cultures, geographies, and power differences with humility and accountability.
• Strong political analysis and understanding of movement ecosystems and systems change approaches in the African context.
• Experience facilitating collaboration, learning processes, convenings, or movement accompaniment.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, including strong written and verbal English communication.
• Rigorous organizational and project management skills, paired with the self-motivation to hold complex initiatives from seed to fruition and ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.Familiarity with collaborative digital tools and remote work environments.
• Flexible and proactive. Comfortable working in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment with a remote, geographically dispersed team. Ability to travel as needed (both nationally and internationally) and to engage virtually across time zones.
• High learning orientation, sound judgment, attention to detail, and openness to feedback.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic, remote, and geographically dispersed work environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent lived and professional experience.
  • Please note: We are unable to provide visa sponsorship or relocation assistance. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in philanthropy, participatory grantmaking, or movement support organizations.
• Proficiency in additional languages, especially French and/or Portuguese strongly preferred.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands of this position are light and may require walking or standing to a significant degree.  The position requires frequent computer use at a workstation. As Thousand Currents staff work in a number of locations and come together for meetings on occasion, all staff must be able to travel by car and plane to meetings at locations nationally and internationally. Availability to travel and maintenance of a valid passport is required. National or international travel represents up to 25% of the time for this position. Thousand Currents will make reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This job description and its physical requirements will be reviewed periodically as duties and responsibilities change with business necessity.  Essential and marginal job functions are subject to modification.

Equal Employment Opportunity 

Thousand Currents is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, or medical condition including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS-related conditions.

To Apply
Please submit your CV and a short cover letter (maximum 300 words total). This cover letter should NOT include general motivation, general interest in Thousand Currents, or broad narrative storytelling. Instead, please provide brief, specific, evidence-based examples demonstrating:

• Experience working alongside grassroots movements or movement support organizations in Africa
• Experience related to energy democracy, stewardship of the commons, food sovereignty, climate justice, or community self-determination
• How you have used political, ecological, or systems-level analysis to inform partnership stewardship, strategy, or programming
• Experience stewarding multiple partnerships, grants, initiatives, or movement relationships over time
  

Strong responses will demonstrate direct, relationship-centered experience aligned with movement stewardship, ecosystem engagement, and systems change work.