our global garden of joy Hi 👋 I’m Jasmine, founder of The Bloom. We have a phenomenal selection of social impact resources this week for you to bloom & forward to your friends!
"supported with love by Algbra" "supported with love by Algbra" supported with love by Algbra
Welcome bloomers, Here is your summary of the newsletter this week: 🌱Mentorship on career transitions from leaders in sustainability 🌱 Interview with founder of The Ecofeminist Institute 🌱Global funding award for extreme poverty innovations with love & light, Jasmine 💌 Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up to get your own copy of The Bloom to your inbox with top social impact jobs, uplifting stories, and global resources. 💚 Partner with us! We're looking forimpactful organizations to partner with The Bloom to bring connections, resources, and opportunities to our global community.
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fresh soil
☀️ André began his career in Brazil where he worked in the Amazon in on the ground conservation work across the country, including in the Amazon region, with work on international environmental policy and global supply chains. Since then, he moved to the UK and now lives in Switzerland. He's currently a global engagement lead coordinating activities to make agricultural commodity supply chains more sustainable.
☀️ Rosais a Peruvian-American environmentalist who specializes in operations and people management. She centers diversity, equity and inclusion in everything she does. Rosa is no stranger to pivoting on her professional journey and is dedicated to mentoring others who are navigating the next steps in their careers.
Mentorship bloomers are looking for...
💭 I am looking to transition from academia and short-term projects into the NGO sector as a young career professional. I have experience in communications and community management and would love to develop a strong career in the latter.
💭 I am currently working to transition from refugee resettlement with UNHCR to a more transferable role such as communication or grants. 💭I am looking to transition from 12+ years in non-profit program management to a more “core” role - like partnerships, comms, research, or AMEL. Any insights on how to choose my new path? RSVP for our mentorship event & share your questions on career transitions ahead of time in our learning platform for social impact careers – remember, you can always apply for sponsored membership here 💚 💸
water your soul
Inspiring newsletters, documentaries, social media, and much more; we find media to brighten and enlighten your spirit.
Curated collection of Global South/Global North resources, programs, events – because there are many opportunities to branch out, beyond a traditional 9 – 5 jobs.
💸 Grants
Grants for preventing violence against women & children: Applications are open for innovative research and interventions aimed at preventing and responding to violence against women and violence against children, along with other forms of gender inequality-driven violence in low- and middle-income countries.
RISE grant challenge for climate & gender justice: A a first-of-its-kind grant fund that supports activities addressing gender-based violence and environmental linkages in environmental and climate-related programs and produce knowledge on promising interventions. Digital democracy initiative for Global South: Aims to support local organizations and activists in the Global South in their fight for democracy and human rights in the digital age. The program focuses on organizations representing women, youth, and marginalized groups as well as informal actors and social movements with limited access to funding and other resources.
Fellowship for African early-career scientists: The Inter-Africa Mobility Research Fellowship Program gives support for travel and subsistence to early-career researchers from African countries (PhD students and postdocs at African institutions), who are interested in gaining experience in another African country. Impact pioneers entrepreneurship program: A leadership program for entrepreneurs from 22 countries that welcomes you to exchange experiences with an international network of peers and gain first hand insights and experience from Sweden’s most successful impact entrepreneurship leaders and environments. The programme mixes online learning modules with a one-week onsite summit in Stockholm. Climate journalism fellowship for COP29: Invites journalists from low- and middle-income countries to attend and report on COP29. Up to 20 journalists will be selected for this immersive fellowship, covering the climate negotiations and gaining insights from seasoned journalists and experts.
community garden
Find a network of extraordinary social & environmental impact leaders to nourish your career growth in The Bloom's community.
What is your “official” professional role and field?
I just started a new role this month as the Media and Communications Officer for the European Geosciences Union in Munich. EGU is the leading organization for Earth, planetary, and space science research in Europe. It is a non-profit international union with about 19,500 members globally, publishing open-access scientific journals, organizing educational activities, and hosting the prominent annual EGU General Assembly.
Simultaneously, the role that is constant and never changing is my role as the Founder of The Ecofeminist Institute Ltd. I founded the institute less than 8 months ago so it is still in its early phases of development and growth. The main goal of The Ecofeminist Institute is to transfer intersectional ecofeminist knowledge into solutions that materialize across activism, research, policy-making, training, and education. I am currently the sole provider of the Institute’s services, with the hope of growing slowly and steadily to a group of researchers and trainers that I can work with down the line.
Your relationship to “social impact”: has it evolved since you began your career?
Absolutely. My first foray into social impact began in 2013 when I founded an initiative in my hometown of Oujda, Morocco, titled “Euphoria: Art for Social Change.” Through this initiative, I engaged hundreds of youths in the Oriental annually in diverse programs such as theater, public speaking, and competitions. I led a team of volunteers who shared my vision, providing activities that were previously lacking in my city, especially for children and teenagers whose parents could not afford private schooling. Reflecting on those years in Oujda still gives me goosebumps, considering what I accomplished during that time.
Thanks to "Euphoria: Art for Social Change," I received a scholarship in 2014 to spend the summer in the United States, where I learned about leadership, civic engagement, and project management at Benedictine University in Chicago through the U.S. Department's MEPI SLP program. This experience was life-changing, as it taught me valuable lessons about the social impact I could continue to make, how to expand it, and even secure funding to reach wider groups of youths with my programs.
Now, at this juncture in my career, and armed with everything I've learned since 2013, my vision for social impact has become more refined. Over the years, I have developed a strong interest in climate justice. Having worked for two years in my early twenties at a Renewable Energy training Institute, I realized that technology and science alone are not sufficient for a fair and just energy transition and climate mitigation. Therefore, I have chosen to focus on queer ecofeminism. Ever since then, everything I do serves my priority goal: Disseminating the understanding that climate justice intersects with matters such as skin color, gender, sexuality, socio-economic backgrounds, indigeneity, and much more. I now have a clearer understanding of the impact I aim to achieve, and I've developed greater resilience to overcome challenges.
How did you get to where you are today in your career? If I could summarize it in one word, it’s fearlessness. I always dared to follow paths that were not necessarily paved for someone with my background. For instance, my first job ever was teaching English in Morocco. At that time I believed I wanted to become an English language and literature lecturer within academia. Then while pursuing my masters and my Ph.D. in Ireland, I realized how little scholars are taught about intellectual property and we are rarely shown how to protect the knowledge we produce. I ended up working for Meta Ltd. for almost two years as an Intellectual Property Specialist and then for another year as an intellectual property operations manager for Trinity College Dublin. Navigating a Ph.D. thesis while working full-time in IP was a significant growth period because not only did I learn that committing to academia was not the only “acceptable” career choice for a researcher in the humanities, but also that learning comes in different forms, sometimes in exploring a completely different career path to one’s early plans.
You’ve gone through so many fascinating career pivots, from DEI consultant to Media Editor, what were some of the most influential pivots of your career, and what advice would you give to others who would like to explore and go through many pivots, joyfully?
A pivotal moment in my career was when I decided to quit my job at Trinity College Dublin, leave Ireland, and move to Germany and find a completely different role. By leaving my job, I also bid farewell to a career in Intellectual Property law. Although I remained in the field for around three years, I realized that while I enjoyed what I learned, I didn’t love working in IP law nor the tech corporate culture.
Now, I can say I am hitting two birds with one stone: I am doing what I do best, which is writing and other forms of communication, for an organization that works extensively on planetary and climate justice, matters that I am fighting for too.
Another pivotal moment was when I decided to establish The Ecofeminist Institute. Although this occurred less than a year ago while I was still living in Dublin, I am still firm in my vision. I dedicate much more time for my business in addition to my role at EGU, which is more hours than the average person in my circle. But it never really feels like “work”; it feels more like nurturing a houseplant: The more you listen to its needs and cater to them, the more it will thrive!
One piece of advice I would give to anyone reading this: Do NOT settle and stay in a job that you’re not passionate about just because it pays well. You can earn even more, while still doing what you love by finding the right environment that appreciates your passions and what you have to offer. Dare to quit. Dare to start over. Dare to start your own thing. Dare to fail. And dare to try again. You do not have to have it all figured out in your thirties, forties, or any decade in your life. Balance your life so well that there is always room for art in all its forms, and room for you to bloom. Envision your career as non-linear, and relish in the new beginnings, the new skills, and the new colleagues. It’s never too late to start a new chapter, especially if the previous one is dull, stressful, or doesn’t align with who you have become anymore.
Connect directly with the leaders in our social impact community platform, and read through all the wonderful opportunities for reciprocity from job application peer support, to book club partners 🐝
For more hand-curated job openings, check out the job board of our careers platform!
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