Full-Time Alterna Entrepreneur Cultivation Fellowship—Seed/Early Stage
Job Description
Alterna’s Fellowship Program is a trampoline for professionals who want to be on the frontline of the emerging fourth sector—social entrepreneurship. Our Fellowship Program is designed to bring top talent from the most innovative firms, universities and organizations worldwide to get hands-on experience working with local entrepreneurs who lack access to high-quality business services.
Over the course of 6-10 months, Alterna Fellows provide individualized support to entrepreneurs in three phases of businesses development, accompanying them and guiding them through the riskiest phases of launching a business. Utilizing a methodology built from five years of launching our own social businesses and working directly with entrepreneurs in the community, our Fellows have successfully helped launch and scale over 300 social businesses and have worked with over 375 entrepreneurs in Guatemala.
As Central America’s first Center for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Alterna aims to catalyze social entrepreneurship from the ground up, and we envision a world in which the opportunity to ignite positive change exists in every context. Our talent is the key to achieving our mission, and we’re currently recruiting fellows on an ongoing basis to take on new projects in different phases of development.
JOB DESCRIPTION
We are looking for a bright and people-oriented person to join the Alterna team as an Entrepreneurship Cultivation Fellow. In this role, you will play an integral part in supporting the business development of early-stage social entrepreneurs in Guatemala. By identifying potential entrepreneurs, implementing our Seed Stage Cultivation Program methodology, working with partners who utilize the methodology and monitoring partners’ and entrepreneurs’ progress post-cultivation, our Early Stage Fellows play a hands-on role in converting potential entrepreneurs into change makers and creating an ecosystem of social entrepreneurship from the ground up in Guatemala. Specifically, you will:
– Support early-stage entrepreneurs as they develop their business goals and convert their ideas into action plans and business models
– Facilitate Talleres de Cultivation (Training) early-stage entrepreneurship program; including coordinating sessions, being a lead facilitator, managing logistics, following up with entrepreneurs and leading client relationship work
– Work directly with Alterna’s senior team to implement Seed Stage Cultivation program development, including identifying, cultivating and retaining relationships and partnerships that lead to pipelines of qualified entrepreneurs
– Collect and produce content for a trimestral report for early-stage cultivation partners working with Alterna’s Seed Stage Methodology
– Lead the process of continuously monitoring and adjusting Alterna’s Seed Stage Methodology
– Conduct research about innovative approaches, ideas and best practices in the areas of Impact Investing and Social Entrepreneurship
POSITION REQUIREMENTS
Our Fellows are professionals with 3-7 years of business or management experience seeking an opportunity to apply their skill sets and immerse themselves in the social entrepreneurship community in Guatemala. We look for innovators; those are excited by challenges; those who are looking to dive in head first to problems and who don’t take no for an answer. On paper, Alterna Early/Steed Stage Fellows have:
– 3+ years of professional experience with a multinational, consulting, NGO or international organization
– BA in Education, Management, Finance, Economics, International Studies or Business
– Advanced proficiency/Fluency in Spanish
– Experience working in either economic development, education, training, marketing & communication, capacity development or in similar position
– Prior experience running or managing training or capacity building programs in a business or educational setting
– Prior experience working with partnership building and relationship development in a business context
– An interest in working with our social entrepreneurs in our Cultivation Program, learning along with us and applying models to help our social businesses achieve lasting results
– Supporting social SMEs in the field is not always easy. We´re looking for resourceful, flexible and creative individual. You’ll also need to enjoy working on your own and as part of the team, be proactive, be passionate about making a difference and have a sense of humor!
DESIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS
– Pursuing or hold an MBA or MS in Business, Economics, Education, Human Resources, Marketing and Sales, Organizational Behavior, or Finance
– Awareness of cultural identity, patience and strong sense of empathy
– Professional working proficiency in both Spanish and English (verbal and writing)
– Strong analytical, business judgment and problem-solving skills
– Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills
– A leader who takes initiatives to solve problems with minimum resources
– Proficiency in Office suite; basic design tools
– Knowledge of, and passion for, social entrepreneurship and impact investing