20 ways to grow your career + impact. A climate fellowship. Mozilla's AI festival. And learn how B-Corps work...

Opportunity Seeker highlights ways you can grow your career and personal impact. We’re here to open up opportunity so more of us can belong in spaces that need us.

Well, it’s been awhile. I’ve been to the USA and back, and along the way learnt a lot about how tech, climate and impact is unfolding there (also hi to all the new NY friends reading this 👋).

This week’s newsletter has got 20 opportunities to grow your impact and get back in the driving seat of your career. And if you just signed up on a whim and are wondering who’s writing this, I’m Hannah.

Today we’re going to cover…

• Impact roles for the climate + esg warriors

• 4 ways to help build startups (without being a founder)

• VC university.. yes, it’s a thing

• How B-Corps actually work

• And Mozilla’s putting on an AI festival and you’re invited

And to remind us that the most valuable thing in our career journey are other people, here’s a quote from the official 👑 of relationships…

4 opportunities to have measurable impact

These roles are front facing, heavy impact work. They’re for those who want to be hands on in building products and impact for social change. My favourite might be the one involving coffee.. but that’s because I need a flat white right now.

• Berlin: Millions of people collaborate everyday to create Wikipedia. It’s one of the biggest websites globally and they’re looking for someone to step up into an interim Director of Product role for their parent non profit, Wikimedia. You’ll need to be able to take over the reins from May 2024 to Sept 2025.

• Amsterdam: Look, I’ve made no secret that I love WeTransfer. They’re one of the true creatively led tech companies I’ve seen. Plus their climate and social impact strategy isn’t messing around. They are now looking for a Social Impact Manager with expertise in corporate volunteering and giving. You’ll be working with the excellent Lina Ruiz.

• London: Want a truly unique Head of Impact role? Redemption Roasters is on a mission to produce both excellent coffee and employment for those leaving prison. They run 9 barista schools providing training across UK prisons, and have a prison-based roastery supplying over 100 coffee shops.

• New York: The New York Climate Exchange is a collaborative hub accelerating climate solutions for NYC. Rubber stamped by the mayor last year, they’re now hiring several roles including a Managing Director of Programs. It’s a big position pushing for climate action, and they’re looking for significant experience in policy, climate or environment.

💡 Intrigued by an CSR or impact career? Pivoting into this space can require some both formal ESG and CSR training, there’s no one size fits all approach or certification. One course I spotted that bridges the fields of corporate action and grassroots mobilisation is Utrecht University’s Masters in Organising Social Impact. Big plus, there’s a low fee cost for EU residents.

Calling all communicators…

• Berlin: One scaling startup focusing on regenerative agriculture is Klim. They’re growing out their communications function with a Senior PR hire. They’re also need a Junior Marketing Manager. Both roles are in Mia Anfinsin’s team and she’s shared what she’s looking for here.

  • Not got a comms background? They’re hiring a Berlin-based Head of Product.

• Rotterdam: Meanwhile, the team at Ocean Cleanup are on the lookout for a Head of PR & Media. It’s a non profit getting consistent media coverage around ocean plastic, but they’re looking to expand that work strategically.

• Sydney/Melbourne/Canberra: The Climate Council runs a PR agency working to shift climate policy and storytelling in Australia. They put everyone from firefighters to renewable energy entrepreneurs in media speaking slots. Now they’re looking for a Media Advisor with specialist skills in finance and economics.

• Washington DC/London: The Malala Fund is hiring a Chief of External Affairs, it’s a big role managing a department that covers strategic communications, activist relations, government affairs and advocacy on behalf of girls’ education. There’s the option to be based either in the UK or USA with this one.

Are you a company builder?

• Palo Alto/NYC: This one is for the organisers in the room. One of my favourite VC leaders is Aileen Lee, she’s the Managing Partner of Cowboy Ventures and is looking for a Chief of Staff to support her as they grow their startup portfolio.

• Hybrid London: Nesta is an innovation agency that runs Mission Studio in partnership with Founders Factory. They’re looking for a Venture Builder to help mission-driven startups grow. You’ll ideally have worked in tech startups before and have UX/UI expertise.

• Auckland: Blackbird VC is looking for a Community Manager to work with founders in Aotearoa/New Zealand. FYI they’re one of the biggest private equity funders in the ANZ region (and just made a lot of 💸 off their Canva investment).

• UK: You can still keep your full time job with this one. Ada Ventures is looking for its next cohort of Ada Scouts. They’ll give you money to scout and fund some of the best mission driven founders out there. Applications close June 30.

💡 Want to know more about how VC works? Every six months there’s a virtual program called VC University, it’s put together by Berkeley Law and NCVA. The next cohort opens April 15, so mark your calendar.

Learning opportunities

• 776 Climate Fellowship: We’ve mentioned Alexis Ohanian the ex-CEO of Reddit before. He now runs both a VC and a foundation and has just opened a 2-year funded climate fellowship program. It’s aimed at those who want to focus on a big climate solution. Unfortunately for most of us… you’ll need to be 17-25 years old.

• Mozilla Festival: This June Mozilla is curating a festival in Amsterdam. Themes include trustworthy AI, planetary justice and democratic futures. Bonus, they have a reduced ticket price for those who need additional support to access the festival.

• How B-Corps work: One question I get asked a lot by startup founders and entrepreneurs is whether you should head down the B-Corp certification path. This short training course from B-Lab UK helps you understand the process, the broader B-Corp movement and why companies switched into this purpose model. It’s a short one, and takes 2 hours.

• Climate Tech Masterclass: Want to know more about what role VC funding and tech can play in decarbonisation? Tim Schumacher from World Fund VC is hosting a masterclass with Tomorrow University. Full disclosure, I work as an advisor with World Fund (but that mean’s I know this course is going to be a good one…).

Next time

If you’ve got a role, learning opportunity or impact event you’d like to see in the next newsletter make sure to send it my way.

Over the coming weeks I have some free career chat sessions for those who want to talk through career development and big pivots. You can pick a spot on Calendly or find out more about my work here.

Signing off from springtime Berlin!

P.S. Got a spare second and feeling generous of heart?

This week I want to highlight a grassroots non profit providing legal support to refugees arriving in Greece and Poland.

Started in 2016, European Lawyers in Lesvos runs an open door legal office funded by donations. Last year they helped 6000 people navigate Europe’s tough border laws. Originally just working in Greece, they opened up operations in Warsaw, and most recently starting working on the Poland/Belarus border.

When someone receives legal aid from ELIL they’re twice as likely to have their asylum case approved. Not sure how much to give? It costs about 25 euros to support one adult’s case.

Want to do a bit more?

They’re looking for volunteer lawyers and legal aid assistants. They also need translators (Arabic, Farsi and French) and will cover travel costs to Greece. Find out how you can signup here.