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World Agroforestry Centre – ICRAF/Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya (Tri-state)

The Leader of Science Domain 2 will channel efforts towards creating and supporting high impact research that focuses on aspects of markets, value chain and business development, enabling business environments, production and enterprise economics and strengthening of rural livelihoods. Research is set in the context of trees and agroforestry systems in farming landscapes and has a strong orientation towards development practice. Each Science Domain is led by a world-class researcher who conceptualizes, develops and oversees that domain and its sub-themes as well as seeking synergies and integration with CGIAR Research Programmes (CRPs), other Science Domains and our cross-regional and regional teams. The SDs are the means to seek thematic coherence in our institutional agenda and the SD office teams are primarily focused on the first two of ICRAF’s roles, namely: (i) production of global public goods, and (ii) building robust evidence for better investments and policies. They also support our regional teams with roles concerning (iii) actionable knowledge, and (iv) capacity development. Each SD further instils a focus on innovation, gender advancement and wider public awareness and appreciation within the agroforestry arena.

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The top execs at Monsanto Corp. must be running around HQ these days like director James Cameron post-Titanic, screaming “We’re king of the world!” It’s an understandable reaction. Between a likely Supreme Court win, the recently passed Monsanto Protection Act, and the company’s victory over a government antitrust investigation, the company has been on quite a winning streak.

Odd, then, to remember that less than three years ago, CNBC’s stock market “analyst” Jim Cramer declared that Monsanto’s was “the worst stock of 2010.” This came just before Forbes magazine all but withdrew its 2010 accolade that Monsanto was “company of the year.”

Monsanto had all the hallmarks of a troubled company. Its net income dropped nearly by half in 2010. By October, its stock dropped by almost that much. But those were just the most obvious indicators.

While it’s true that, even at the time, the company dominated the seed industry — 85 percent of all corn planted in the U.S. that year contained Monsanto’s patented genetically modified traits, as did 92 percent of soy — its products were taking a beating both in the fields and in the mainstream press. Word spread of the rise of superweeds that were immune to Monsanto’s pesticides, while farmers complained that Monsanto’s new SmartStax seeds were overpriced and no more effective than the old. At the same time, its flagship Roundup Ready product was about to go “off-patent,” and analysts were expecting a flood of “generic” (and much cheaper) pesticide-resistant seeds on the market.

As if that weren’t enough, Monsanto was locked in a multi-year legal battle with one of its top competitors — DuPont. It was a battle that some analysts thought could topple Monsanto from its perch atop the biotech seed pyramid. Anti-Monsanto activists even looked at DuPont as a potential ally, since it had filed an antitrust lawsuit against its sworn enemy as part of the fight. Then the government got into the act when it initiated its own antitrust investigation that threatened Monsanto’s core business. Oh, how the mighty had fallen!

Fast forward to today. Monsanto Ascendant. Here’s a stock chart that runs from Oct. 8, 2010, to today.

Had you bought Monsanto stock the day you read about Monsanto’s troubles, you would have more than doubled your money — and tripled the return of the S&P 500 in the same period.

Wha hoppen?!

Well, the antitrust investigation disappeared in a puff of bureaucratic smoke — mostly because there’s nothing illegal about massive consolidation and control of an industry if the government can’t find compelling evidence that consumers were harmed. (For those that are interested in going deep into the antitrust superweeds, I explained how this came to be in a recent post.) Ergo, Monsanto isn’t about to be dismantled by the feds.

Meanwhile, the company’s sales recovered impressively. Its 2012 earnings statement shows that its net income doubled since 2010 and now exceeds $2 billion. Sales were driven by record high corn plantings in 2012 — thanks to sky-high demand from both corn ethanol and livestock feed. Never mind that the drought destroyed a good chunk of that year’s crop — no refunds!! (It’s worth noting that Monsanto claimed its seeds outperformed the average yield during the drought year. And with news that farmers will plant even more corn this year — the most since 1936 — Monsanto’s sales will continue to grow.)

As for the other threats to Monsanto’s business, according to this article from Harvest Public Media, it looks like Monsanto has successfully engineered its seeds so that the whole generic biotech seed market will wither and die before it’s fully flowered. This is helped in some part by a Monsanto-related patent case that’s currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Justices seem to be favoring the company over the farmer accused of violating the company’s patents by “illegally” saving seeds.

For its part, the U.S. Department of Agriculture seems happy to do Monsanto’s bidding. From giving approval to its GMO alfalfa seed — despite the fact that many organic farming advocates complained that it could put them out of business — to allowing farmers to plant Monsanto’s GMO sugar beets in violation of a court order, the agency seems to agree that what’s good for Monsanto is good for American farmers.

Then there’s the so-called “Monsanto Protection Act,” snuck into the recent federal government’s funding bill, that allows the USDA to override any judge who tells Monsanto it’s not allowed to spread its genetically modified seeds around. It may not have given the company protections that it doesn’t already enjoy from a compliant USDA — and Politico reports that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack thinks the provision might be unenforceable — but it certainly demonstrates the company’s continued power on Capitol Hill.

Surely if the regulatory and legal processes have failed, a little competition will keep this monster in check, right? What about that titanic struggle between the two biotech giants, Monsanto and DuPont? The one that could knock Monsanto off its perch? Yeah, well, the two companies just kissed and made up. Not only did they drop all the lawsuits, counter-suits, and patent claims, but they also entered into a broad licensing agreement that will allow Monsanto to use DuPont’s genetic modifications in its seeds and vice versa. One of the last stumbling blocks Monsanto faced is now gone.

The upshot is that its genetically modified seeds will gain the ability to withstand repeated exposure to a broader range of herbicides, increasing agricultural chemical use and encouraging farmers to continue planting vast acreages of corn.

Of course, Monsanto’s success is also predicated on a high price of corn — since that justifies the higher cost of the seed and the higher cost of using additional herbicides to combat superweeds. But if this year’s corn harvest comes in as a bumper crop, corn prices are likely to drop, possibly precipitously — there are even early indications that the boom may be ending and prices are returning to earth.

If the recent price drop continues, we’ll soon see if Monsanto’s resurgence is a permanent boom or just an extreme-climate-driven bump. Groups like Food Democracy Now! are hoping for the latter, and are currently pushing back at Monsanto’s powers with demonstrations and petitions. Whatever happens, the company has demonstrated an Energizer Bunny-like resilience. That may make investors happy. But it should make anyone interested in a sustainable agricultural system very, very sad.

Filed under: Article, Food, Politics

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The top execs at Monsanto Corp. must be running around HQ these days like director James Cameron post-Titanic, screaming “We’re king of the world!” It’s an understandable reaction. Between a likely Supreme Court win, the recently passed Monsanto Protection Act, and the company’s victory over a government antitrust investigation, the company has been on quite a winning streak.

Odd, then, to remember that less than three years ago, CNBC’s stock market “analyst” Jim Cramer declared that Monsanto’s was “the worst stock of 2010.” This came just before Forbes magazine all but withdrew its 2010 accolade that Monsanto was “company of the year.”

Monsanto had all the hallmarks of a troubled company. Its net income dropped nearly by half in 2010. By October, its stock dropped by almost that much. But those were just the most obvious indicators.

While it’s true that, even at the time, the company dominated the seed industry — 85 percent of all corn planted in the U.S. that year contained Monsanto’s patented genetically modified traits, as did 92 percent of soy — its products were taking a beating both in the fields and in the mainstream press. Word spread of the rise of superweeds that were immune to Monsanto’s pesticides, while farmers complained that Monsanto’s new SmartStax seeds were overpriced and no more effective than the old. At the same time, its flagship Roundup Ready product was about to go “off-patent,” and analysts were expecting a flood of “generic” (and much cheaper) pesticide-resistant seeds on the market.

As if that weren’t enough, Monsanto was locked in a multi-year legal battle with one of its top competitors — DuPont. It was a battle that some analysts thought could topple Monsanto from its perch atop the biotech seed pyramid. Anti-Monsanto activists even looked at DuPont as a potential ally, since it had filed an antitrust lawsuit against its sworn enemy as part of the fight. Then the government got into the act when it initiated its own antitrust investigation that threatened Monsanto’s core business. Oh, how the mighty had fallen!

Fast forward to today. Monsanto Ascendant. Here’s a stock chart that runs from Oct. 8, 2010, to today.

Had you bought Monsanto stock the day you read about Monsanto’s troubles, you would have more than doubled your money — and tripled the return of the S&P 500 in the same period.

Wha hoppen?!

Well, the antitrust investigation disappeared in a puff of bureaucratic smoke — mostly because there’s nothing illegal about massive consolidation and control of an industry if the government can’t find compelling evidence that consumers were harmed. (For those that are interested in going deep into the antitrust superweeds, I explained how this came to be in a recent post.) Ergo, Monsanto isn’t about to be dismantled by the feds.

Meanwhile, the company’s sales recovered impressively. Its 2012 earnings statement shows that its net income doubled since 2010 and now exceeds $2 billion. Sales were driven by record high corn plantings in 2012 — thanks to sky-high demand from both corn ethanol and livestock feed. Never mind that the drought destroyed a good chunk of that year’s crop — no refunds!! (It’s worth noting that Monsanto claimed its seeds outperformed the average yield during the drought year. And with news that farmers will plant even more corn this year — the most since 1936 — Monsanto’s sales will continue to grow.)

As for the other threats to Monsanto’s business, according to this article from Harvest Public Media, it looks like Monsanto has successfully engineered its seeds so that the whole generic biotech seed market will wither and die before it’s fully flowered. This is helped in some part by a Monsanto-related patent case that’s currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Justices seem to be favoring the company over the farmer accused of violating the company’s patents by “illegally” saving seeds.

For its part, the U.S. Department of Agriculture seems happy to do Monsanto’s bidding. From giving approval to its GMO alfalfa seed — despite the fact that many organic farming advocates complained that it could put them out of business — to allowing farmers to plant Monsanto’s GMO sugar beets in violation of a court order, the agency seems to agree that what’s good for Monsanto is good for American farmers.

Then there’s the so-called “Monsanto Protection Act,” snuck into the recent federal government’s funding bill, that allows the USDA to override any judge who tells Monsanto it’s not allowed to spread its genetically modified seeds around. It may not have given the company protections that it doesn’t already enjoy from a compliant USDA — and Politico reports that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack thinks the provision might be unenforceable — but it certainly demonstrates the company’s continued power on Capitol Hill.

Surely if the regulatory and legal processes have failed, a little competition will keep this monster in check, right? What about that titanic struggle between the two biotech giants, Monsanto and DuPont? The one that could knock Monsanto off its perch? Yeah, well, the two companies just kissed and made up. Not only did they drop all the lawsuits, counter-suits, and patent claims, but they also entered into a broad licensing agreement that will allow Monsanto to use DuPont’s genetic modifications in its seeds and vice versa. One of the last stumbling blocks Monsanto faced is now gone.

The upshot is that its genetically modified seeds will gain the ability to withstand repeated exposure to a broader range of herbicides, increasing agricultural chemical use and encouraging farmers to continue planting vast acreages of corn.

Of course, Monsanto’s success is also predicated on a high price of corn — since that justifies the higher cost of the seed and the higher cost of using additional herbicides to combat superweeds. But if this year’s corn harvest comes in as a bumper crop, corn prices are likely to drop, possibly precipitously — there are even early indications that the boom may be ending and prices are returning to earth.

If the recent price drop continues, we’ll soon see if Monsanto’s resurgence is a permanent boom or just an extreme-climate-driven bump. Groups like Food Democracy Now! are hoping for the latter, and are currently pushing back at Monsanto’s powers with demonstrations and petitions. Whatever happens, the company has demonstrated an Energizer Bunny-like resilience. That may make investors happy. But it should make anyone interested in a sustainable agricultural system very, very sad.

Filed under: Article, Food, Politics

View full post on Grist

I have a confession: I’m a cynic when it comes to living small. I like to garden and ride bikes; I buy local whenever I can. But I don’t think my personal lifestyle choices are going to save the world — and neither will yours.

I’m not alone. Just ask Greg Sharzer, a frustrated Marxist activist with a Ph.D. in Political Science from York University who also enjoys cycling and Fair Trade coffee. Sharzer’s book No Local: Why Small-Scale Alternatives Won’t Change the World is a bucket of ice water on fresh-faced progressive localism, and an affront to the concept of micro solutions altogether. Localism is a survival strategy, Sharzer writes, not a movement, and not a solution.

Localism says we can change how we act within capitalism. If consumers don’t like a commodity, they can demonstrate their commitment to a better one. Choose to support ethical, small-scale businesses, and little by little the excesses of economic growth will disappear. Community gardening, farmers’ markets, and biodeisel cooperatives will change the entrenched power of agribusiness, for example.

For Sharzer, progressive localism and small acts come from a place of “deep pessimism,” a sense that the problems are just too big to tackle. He criticizes lifestyle localism for seeking to model behavior for others while not confronting the powers that made us all oil-addicts in the first place.

It’s not that micro solutions are wrong, per se. It’s just that they aren’t solutions. Buying local organic veggies — or better yet, growing your own — is great, but it’s not a replacement for fighting for the rights of the people who pick the fields for 10 cents per head of lettuce.

Sharzer relies on Marxist class analysis to make his arguments that localism fails to bring about systemic change. I will spare you the Marxism (you’re welcome!) but not the class war. He basically argues that if localists “understood” capitalism (scare quotes necessary), they’d be in the streets with torches and pitchforks, not out scavenging used veggie oil to power their Jettas. He is lobbying for us to think and act collectively, globally, instead of just focusing on ourselves.

Not everyone read No Local the way I did. From a piece in Post Carbon Living:

[Sharzer] misses the point. [Localism] succeeds because it doesn’t challenge capital. Its purpose is not to challenge capital. It isn’t an ideology in that sense. It isn’t born of dogma, it is a practical solution to real-world problems. Those problems have been around since the dawn of industrialization. They are as old as Marxist theory. But, as Marx could only offer theory, localism offered pragmatism.

I’d replace pragmatism here with “something do-able.” It’s not that localism is a practical solution to crisis: It’s that it’s better than nothing. But though I can understand the appeal, it feels absurd to respond to climate change, for instance, by riding bikes, not demanding high-level political and economic change.

Which brings me to this: If below these homespun solutions there is a deep pessimism, where is the optimism?

It’s worth noting that Sharzer’s book came out last spring, a few months before more than 1,000 people were arrested protesting the Keystone XL pipeline at the White House. The pipeline has helped catalyze an organized climate movement — one full of micro and macro thinkers alike, who are looking far beyond the Keystone XL.

Sharzer’s book also came out six days before activists illegally took over a tract of land in Albany, Calif., that was set to be developed, and instead planted a farm. Though the Occupy farmers were expelled and the land locked up, the development was slowed, and some of the backers pulled out permanently. It was a small fight for a small piece of land, a local response to a global problem, but those farmers were also attempting to create slightly greater-than-micro solutions, and their fight has had lasting results.

What we see in the Keystone protests and the Occupy movement is not a Marxist revolution. (I don’t think we’ll ever have one, Sharzer, but if you hear of something brewing please call me.) It is, however, a radical energy — an optimistic energy.

Sharzer, too, recognizes the ability of small-scale actions to beget bigger things. “As part of the struggle to gain power, activists create political counter-institutions to deal directly with community problems,” he writes. “This is a first, and only the first, step on the road to dual power.”

Many localist efforts are indeed valiant. And damn, those local veggies are tasty. But let’s have no illusions about the real impact of our local diets. If we’re too obsessed with policing our dinner plates, we may overlook much larger evils.

Micro solutions aren’t meaningless, and little acts can and do add up. But they only serve a greater purpose if they keep us primed for the bigger fights.

I empathize with Greg Sharzer’s frustrations. But I also feel hope. The micro solutions may not be enough, but if they serve as an entry point to a deeper analysis and greater engagement — if they help feed a movement — that could be pretty damn macro.

Filed under: Living

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Send your question to Umbra!

Q. Dear Umbra,

I am an up-and-coming millennial looking at this world and I often wonder — is there hope for us on this planet? I realize this is a loaded question, but I was after your honest opinion as someone who has been at this longer than me and might have seen a few things. Thank you.

LL
Boston, Mass.

A. Dearest LL,

Might have seen a few things? Why just this morning I saw a pair of wild turkeys walking down the middle of the street as if they owned the place. But those are probably not the things you mean.

I appreciate loaded questions, especially from up-and-coming millennials such as yourself. Now for my little secret: I am by nature hopeful. I have to be, since I spend my days encouraging people to make greener choices and be wiser citizens of the planet. If I thought they weren’t following through, or that their personal and political actions didn’t matter, my entire reason for being would evapotranspirate, wouldn’t it? Nobody wants to see what I look like as a vapor.

But even the most hopeful among us must acknowledge that we are, to use a technical term, in deep doo-doo. Climate change is here, it’s real, and it’s wreaking havoc. We no longer have time to fiddle around. As my colleague David Roberts puts it, we do something or we’re screwed. (I encourage you to take some time to watch David’s delightful video elaborating on this point.)

The good news is, people are doing things. Stroll with me for a moment down the Boulevard of Maybe We’ll Be OK After All, where we find a few reasons to be optimistic:

• People of all stripes are speaking up. Under the deft leadership of veteran activist (and Grist board member) Bill McKibben, the group 350.org is spearheading a global climate movement that’s getting bigger and louder all the time. Earlier this year, tens of thousands of protesters descended on D.C. This group is active in 188 countries. There are other groups out there too, from Climate Parents to Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, and recent polling shows that most Americans believe (finally) that climate change is a problem. You are not alone.

• Kids are super smart(er than us). You do not say where on the millennial age range you perch, but I must inform you that you are already old compared to the next up-and-comers. Who appear to be a bunch of serious overachievers: All around the world, young people are inventing things, convincing companies to change their practices, sticking it to world leaders, and generally raising a ruckus — have a look at a few of the most inspiring examples we’ve spotlighted here in Grist. Turns out younger generations are greener generations, hooray. And if an 11-year-old can stand up to Big Oil, there must be something you can do.

• Not all politicians are corrupt, greedy lunatics. Or so I’ve heard. This is a tough climate in which to push for action on climate, but that doesn’t stop some of our elected officials from trying. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are among them. Secretary of State John Kerry is a climate hawk now in a powerful position. President Obama is talking a good game, as are other prominent leaders like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. What happens next is partly up to all of us. Tell your representatives you want them to act on climate change. Then tell them again.

• The world is full of innovation. Driverless cars? Yes. Pee-powered generator? Absolutely. Soup pot that charges your cell phone? Why not. The mix of human ingenuity and accessible technology is making this century of ours a pretty astonishing one, and smart people are working hard on ideas for stabilizing the climate, from energy storage to geoengineering. Though we humans have a propensity to really futz things up, we are also pretty committed to the idea of surviving as a species. Turns out that can be an excellent motivator.

Those are just a few hopeful signs — perhaps your fellow readers will chime in with others. And you, LL, give me hope, because you’re thinking about the mess we’re in. Keep thinking, keep speaking up, keep doing what you can — and let’s keep hope alive. Otherwise, we’re sunk.

Unsunkly,
Umbra

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World Wild LifeFund/DC, DC

Job Description:

World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world's leading conservation organization, seeks a Program Officer for Business & Industry (B&I). Under the supervision of the Manager, the Program Officer will be responsible for helping to inform and shepherd corporate relationships across the organization, and will play a substantial role in boosting WWF's private sector sustainable business partnerships.

S/he will be responsible for account management and communications tasks related to the B&I team's fostering and convening of global corporate relationships. The Program Officer will be most deeply engaged on WWF's highest profile sustainable business partnerships with the private sector, focusing primarily on the relationship with The Coca-Cola Company and, to a lesser degree, Walmart and Procter & Gamble. These relationships are helping WWF deliver on its conservation mission by transforming business practices, championing pre-competitive and sustainable solutions, and leveraging corporate assets for broader impact. With over a decade of success in partnering with companies to establish ambitious, forward-thinking targets to reduce environmental impacts, WWF remains at the forefront of working with corporations to respond to today's pressing sustainability issues.

Major Duties & Responsibilities
1.Manage administrative functions to support account management for WWF's sustainable business partnerships, with a focus on collaborations with The Coca-Cola Company, Walmart, and Procter & Gamble. Work includes responding to requests for oral and written information, managing quarterly meeting logistics, and working directly with project personnel, donors, grantees, and others to facilitate coordination, communication, and regular reporting.
2.Manages administrative functions to support the philanthropic work supported by The Coca-Cola Foundation (Coca-Cola's philanthropy program), inclusive of assisting with grant submissions, managing reporting, ensuring compliance with deadlines, and supporting international WWF offices in their work with the Foundation. Provide oversight of new and ongoing projects and grants. Work with project personnel, grantees, consultants, and others to facilitate coordination, communication, and regular reporting. Develop and analyze project operating plans and grant budgets. Contribute to the development of regional or programmatic planning and is involved in the development of program strategy.
3.Research, draft and update internal and external communications materials in coordination with the Communications Team for WWF's sustainable business partnership work with The Coca-Cola Company, Walmart, and others inclusive of fact sheets, SharePoint sites, web sites, progress updates, briefing materials and case studies. Work with project personnel, grantees, donors, and others to obtain data, verify information, solicit review and approvals, and verify logo and photo usage is within compliance.
4.Draft the partnership annual report, a key deliverable to The Coca-Cola Company, documenting partnership progress (research and collect information to be included, draft various sections of the report under the direction of the Manager and Senior Program Officers, and provide editing and formatting support).
5.Monitor and analyze new trends and issues related to WWF's sustainable business partnerships, focusing specifically on the engagements with The Coca-Cola Company, Walmart, and Procter & Gamble and advise others accordingly. Stay abreast of issues in corporate partnership work and related areas in which WWF has an ongoing interest.
6.Represent WWF at relevant events and meetings related to sustainable business partnerships. Participate in stakeholder and partner group meetings.
7.Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements:

Education/Experience:
1.A Bachelor's degree is required.
2.Minimum of five years of experience in program management, corporate relations, public-private partnerships, corporate-social responsibility, or sustainability as well as an understanding of international conservation issues.

Skills and Abilities
1.Must be a self-starter, able to work independently in addition to being team oriented.
2.Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
3.Able to work with and communicate with a diverse set of stakeholders is required.
4.Excellent organizational skills.
5.Ability to operate under pressure, to meet deadlines and commitments is necessary.
6.Ability to work on initiatives with multiple and competing priorities.

Preferred skills:
•Demonstrated knowledge of corporate-NGO partnerships is desired.
•Strong MS Word/Excel/PowerPoint/SharePoint/social media skills are a plus.
•A graduate degree in a related field is preferred, such as Environmental Science/Management, Public Policy, Economics, Business, or Communications.

AA/EOE Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. To apply for the job please visit http://www.worldwildlife.org/careers, job # 13045, and submit cover letter and resume. Due to the high volume of applications we are not able to respond to inquiries via phone.

Apply Here: http://www.Click2Apply.net/rncz54k

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Pax World Management LLC/Portsmouth, NH

The Company:

Pax World Funds is a family of mutual funds that seek to invest in forward-thinking companies with sustainable business models. To identify these companies, we combine rigorous financial analysis with equally rigorous Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) analysis.

Pax World has a distinguished history of innovation, having launched the first socially responsible mutual fund in America in 1971. Today, Pax World is credited with being among the first investment managers to integrate (ESG) or sustainability factors into investment analysis and decision making.

Headquartered in Portsmouth, NH, Pax World serves the investment needs of individuals, financial advisors and institutional investors. The company has approximately 50 employees and manages over $2.6 billion in assets as of December 31, 2012.

Primary Responsibilities:

Working directly for the Senior Vice President of Marketing, this role has two primary areas of focus:

• Digital Marketing: Manage Pax World’s digital marketing delivery, including paxworld.com, e-marketing campaigns, online advertising, search engine optimization, distributor web experience, social network and blogger marketing, electronic delivery of sales tools, and e-marketing reporting and analytics, while working with both internal and outside agency resources.

• Production: Oversee high volume electronic and print production activities, from internal and compliance review processes through final product. Materials to include sales and marketing collateral, including presentations, regulatory documents, direct mail pieces, Pax World newsletter, sales materials, and website content.

Responsibilities also include:

• Brand stewardship: Ensure consistent, high-quality brand image across all media;

• Reporting: Develop measurement and analytics to assess and refine activity across all key marketing initiatives;

• Planning: Work closely with Senior Vice President of Marketing to develop marketing plans to support strategic initiatives including Marketing plan, new product introductions, and new opportunities as they arise.

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum of 5-7+ years hands-on marketing experience in financial services/mutual funds;
• Self-starter who assigns sense of urgency to tasks; able to work independently or in collaboration with other internal/external constituencies;
• High degree of personal integrity, trustworthiness, and ethical standards;
• Highly organized with outstanding project management skills.

Additional considerations:

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Series 6 or 7 and 63 licenses helpful

Compensation:

Pax World provides competitive compensation packages and benefits commensurate with experience

Contact Information:

To apply for this job, please submit your resume and cover letter via e-mail to Janet Lawton Spates, Vice President Human Resources. Please include “Senior Marketing Manager – greenbiz†in the email subject line. We appreciate your interest in this opportunity, however, we are unable to respond to all candidate submissions; we will contact only those candidates of immediate interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to high standards of corporate social responsibility, both in our investment approach and in the way we try to conduct our own Business. Women and minority candidates are encouraged to apply for this position.

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World Resources Institute (WRI)/Washington, DC

The World Resources Institute (WRI) seeks a financial and administrative coordinator to monitor and facilitate all financial and donor reporting aspects of the Global Forest and Landscape Restoration project (FLR) and to provide administrative support to the project team.

The FLR project seeks to mobilize forest and landscape restoration in at least five countries around the world, including Indonesia and Brazil, in order to improve human livelihoods and protect the environment. It is one of two new forest initiatives within WRI.

The financial management of this project is complex, with numerous sub-grants and research agreements, cost-share tracking across multiple project codes, detailed financial reporting and tracking obligations, and budgeting across numerous activities and staff, among other challenges. As the primary point of contract for all financial and administrative activities related to the FLR, the person hired for this position will be critical to the project’s ultimate success.

Responsibilities:

Maintain, monitor, and revise the project’s fiscal accounting and reporting systems and procedures in consultation with the project manager, operations manager, and WRI’s accounting department.

•Monitor all FLR contracts and process all payment requests for subgrants, research, and professional service agreements.

•Ensure the project complies with the funder’s financial reporting requirements, including tracking cost-share requirements, maintaining all receipts for expenses related to the FLR project, and other requirements as determined by the funder.

•Track expense reports for all members of the FLR project and work closely with WRI’s accounting department to ensure expenses are recorded properly.

•Comply with all internal WRI financial reporting, budgeting and contract processes, and deadlines.

•Prepare additional budgets and spreadsheets as requested/needed.

•Help plan and facilitate meetings and events.

•Carryout other administrative duties for the project as needed.

Qualifications:

•Undergraduate degree, preferably in accounting, business, public administration, or a related field.

•2-3 years of professional experience in an office environment.

•Strong interest in program/project administration and coordination.

•Experience with, or demonstrated aptitude for, financial management.

•Understanding of basic non-profit accounting principles and experience in developing, monitoring, and reporting on budgets.

•Experience with managing grants, subgrants, and contracts.

•Strong analytical capabilities and a high level of organization and attention to detail.

•Demonstrated capacity to work well under pressure and successfully manage multiple deadlines and competing demands.

•Proficient with MS Excel, MS Word.

•Previous experience with financial software (Concur and Cognos8) highly desirable but will train the right person.

•Excellent oral and written English language skills.

•Ability to work both independently and as part of a larger team.

•Proficiency in a second language (German or Portuguese preferred) is a plus.

Salary:

Commensurate with education, experience and position responsibilities. WRI offers a comprehensive benefits package.

The World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org/wri) is an environmental and development research and policy organization that creates solutions to protect the Earth and improve people’s lives. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, it is WRI’s policy to recruit, hire, and provide opportunities for advancement in all job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, sexual preference, parental status, or disability. WRI’s global agenda requires a staff that is diverse – with respect to race, gender, cultural, and international background. Diverse perspectives and experience enhance the way WRI selects and approaches issues, as well as the creativity and applicability of WRI's policy research and analysis. WRI, therefore, encourages applications from U.S. minorities, persons from other countries (especially developing nations), and from women of all backgrounds.

About WRI:

WRI focuses on the intersection of the environment and socio-economic development. We go beyond research to put ideas into action, working globally with governments, business, and civil society to build transformative solutions that protect the earth and improve people’s lives.

•Solutions to Urgent Sustainability Challenges: WRI’s transformative ideas protect the earth, promote development, and advance social equity because sustainability is essential to meeting human needs today, and fulfilling human aspirations tomorrow.

•Practical Strategies for Change WRI spurs progress by providing practical strategies for change and effective tools to implement them. We measure our success in the form of new policies, products, and practices that shift the ways governments work, businesses operate, and people act.

•Global Action We operate globally because today’s problems know no boundaries. We are avid communicators because people everywhere are inspired by ideas, empowered by knowledge, and moved to change by greater understanding. We provide innovative paths to a sustainable planet through work that is accurate, fair, and independent.

In its day to day work, WRI is guided by several core institutional values:

Innovation: To lead change for a sustainable world, WRI is creative, forward thinking, entrepreneurial, and adaptive.

Independence: WRI’s effectiveness depends on work that is uncompromised by partisan politics, institutional or personal allegiances, or sources of financial support.

Urgency: WRI believes that change in human behavior is urgently needed to halt the accelerating rate of environmental deterioration.

Independence: Our effectiveness depends on work that is uncompromised by partisan politics, institutional or personal allegiances, or sources of financial support.

Respect: Our relationships are based on the belief that all people deserve respect.

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World Resources Institute (WRI)/Washington, DC

The World Resources Institute (WRI) seeks a seasoned Research Associate to join a team of forest and environmental professionals working on global forest and landscape restoration issues.

The successful applicant will be an adept researcher with a strong background and knowledge of international forestry issues, landscape restoration, and the environment. He/she will be a self-starter, pro-active, able to work independently with minimal guidance, set challenging goals and deliver on time.

This is a newly created position that will be part of WRI’s Global Forest and Landscape Restoration project (FLR), which seeks to mobilize forest and landscape restoration in at least five countries around the world, including Indonesia and Brazil, in order to improve human livelihoods and protect the environment. It is one of two new forest initiatives within WRI.

Responsibilities:

•Conduct research and analysis on global forest and landscape restoration issues in support of FLR goals and activities.

•Develop training materials and case studies as needed.

•Develop and contribute to project plans, budgets, project-related communication material, and ensure achievement of deliverables and external outcomes.

•Represent WRI’s work on FLR in various arenas, including within and outside WRI

•Provide administrative and management support to FLR (e.g., annual WRI workplans, financial management, partner sub-grant agreements, donor reports, internal WRI reports, etc.)

•Provide strategic support to project partners – individuals and institutions – in countries where FLR works (Indonesia and Brazil).

Qualifications:

•Advanced degree (Masters or PhD) with a focus on forestry, sustainable forest management, natural resource management, or other relevant field.

•Minimum 5 years of professional experience in international forestry, sustainable forest management, natural resource management or related field.

•International work experience or good cross-cultural and interpersonal skills.

•Exceptional writing and research abilities.

•Strong analytical and critical thinking abilities

•Proficient with MS Office.

•Willingness to travel internationally.

•Ability to work both independently and as part of a larger team.

•Ideally fluency in Portuguese, Spanish or Bahasa Indonesian, but not required.

•Demonstrated capacity to work well under pressure and successfully manage multiple deadlines and competing demands.

Salary:

Commensurate with education, experience and position responsibilities. WRI offers a comprehensive benefits package.

The World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org/wri) is an environmental and development research and policy organization that creates solutions to protect the Earth and improve people’s lives. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, it is WRI’s policy to recruit, hire, and provide opportunities for advancement in all job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, sexual preference, parental status, or disability. WRI’s global agenda requires a staff that is diverse – with respect to race, gender, cultural, and international background. Diverse perspectives and experience enhance the way WRI selects and approaches issues, as well as the creativity and applicability of WRI's policy research and analysis. WRI, therefore, encourages applications from U.S. minorities, persons from other countries (especially developing nations), and from women of all backgrounds.

About WRI:

WRI focuses on the intersection of the environment and socio-economic development. We go beyond research to put ideas into action, working globally with governments, business, and civil society to build transformative solutions that protect the earth and improve people’s lives.

•Solutions to Urgent Sustainability Challenges WRI’s transformative ideas protect the earth, promote development, and advance social equity because sustainability is essential to meeting human needs today, and fulfilling human aspirations tomorrow.

•Practical Strategies for Change WRI spurs progress by providing practical strategies for change and effective tools to implement them. We measure our success in the form of new policies, products, and practices that shift the ways governments work, businesses operate, and people act.

•Global Action We operate globally because today’s problems know no boundaries. We are avid communicators because people everywhere are inspired by ideas, empowered by knowledge, and moved to change by greater understanding. We provide innovative paths to a sustainable planet through work that is accurate, fair, and independent.

Values:

In its day to day work, WRI is guided by several core institutional values:

Innovation: To lead change for a sustainable world, WRI is creative, forward thinking, entrepreneurial, and adaptive.

Independence: WRI’s effectiveness depends on work that is uncompromised by partisan politics, institutional or personal allegiances, or sources of financial support.

Urgency: WRI believes that change in human behavior is urgently needed to halt the accelerating rate of environmental deterioration.

Independence: Our effectiveness depends on work that is uncompromised by partisan politics, institutional or personal allegiances, or sources of financial support.

Respect: Our relationships are based on the belief that all people deserve respect.

Apply To Job

View full post on GreenBiz Jobs

Send your question to Umbra!

Q. Dear Umbra,

Why all the focus on green liberalism? We all know that if everybody dimmed their lights for 20 minutes every day all the whales would sing and dance, but … everybody isn’t going to do that. In fact, many people have at the core of their identity a deep hatred of environmentalism. So do we bring them on board? Go over their head and change the law? And how?

Hugs and kisses,
Kevin H.
Phoenix, Ariz.

A. Dearest Kevin,

You raise enough questions to fill a year’s worth of columns. But I am going to tackle them in the next few paragraphs, because I like a good end-of-year challenge. After that I am going to take a week off, knit myself some new snowshoes, and think about vermillion, violet … anything but green.

I appreciate the hugs and kisses, and I assume you are hyperbolizing in your letter to make a point. But two of your phrases give me pause: “green liberalism” and “deep hatred.” We live in a world that has become far too bifurcated, where we are filed in little boxes and stare suspiciously at each other through the cracks. If we can’t all get along, we can at least try to understand each other a little better. Herewith, Umbra’s Four-Point Guide to Combating Either-Or Thinking.

1. Green is not a synonym for liberal. For too long the notion of being green has been associated with being liberal. Well. Would you like to meet my friends at ConservAmerica? Or Green Evangelicals? Or the Energy and Enterprise Initiative? How about the U.S. Army? Let us shrug off the baggage associated with terminology, taking a cue from the founder of Young Conservatives for Energy Reform: “I don’t consider myself an environmentalist. I just consider myself an American who cares about energy and cares about the environment and cares about the future of this country.”

2. Turning off the lights won’t save the world … but it will help. You’re right, turning off the lights won’t save the world. Even though my job here is to help you and my other dear readers figure out how to make your lives greener, one step at a time, I think we all know it will take more than that. We need a combination of forces to make lasting change, including legislation, incentives for businesses, and international cooperation. But the choices we make each day are one part of that equation. Keep turning off the lights, drive less, buy local, or buy nothing — your actions add up, and they do matter.

3. Civility is still a possibility. When we find ourselves facing intractable opponents of green (they despise chartreuse especially!), do we “go over their heads”? Well, yes, it is statistically impossible to get everyone on board. But let us also practice civility, and remember that thinking people do change their minds. Why just this year, a prominent climate skeptic announced his conversion in The New York Times. And one of our readers told us Grist helped him “change the minds of a few Fox News watchers.” A recent study declared that those looking to sway non-believers on environmental topics can do so by appealing to concerns about “purity and sanctity” — you can find more tips in Grist’s series “How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic.”

4. It takes a village to raise a ruckus. Systemic change is hard. Very hard. And it requires a lot of people speaking up, sometimes for a long time. If we look around, we can see examples of public pressure leading to policy shifts. In our very present and painful moment, the gun control debate seems to be accelerating in part because of public pressure, although of course we don’t know what, if anything, will result. This year also saw great gains for gay marriage, progress that has been decades in the making. In the not-too-distant past, it took the Civil Rights Act to end segregation in public institutions. In all these cases, the public had an important role to play. I am fond of the story Bill Moyers tells, in which President Johnson asked Martin Luther King, Jr. to keep organizing protests. “Make it possible,” Johnson said, “for me to do the right thing.” Similarly, President Obama recently said to those speaking up on gun control, “You’ve started something, and now I’m asking you to keep at it.”

The same is true of climate change. Listen to what former Republican governor Jon Huntsman told Grist this year: “Well, [the climate debate] hasn’t translated into any kind of action within the political community because you don’t have people on a broad basis who are pushing us because they feel it’s urgent.”

So here’s to pushing for change in the new year, on the causes that matter to you most. Here’s to speaking up when speaking up is required. Here’s to living boldly and thoughtfully and lovingly, and trying to respect other people even when they are acting like dingbats. Here’s to smarter cities, cleaner energy, healthier and tastier food, and sensible responses to the climate threat.

And as always, dear readers, here’s to you — your questions are inspiring, vexing, and never-ending, and you make my life richer every day.

Whalesongly,
Umbra

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