Update: Please note that this application process closed on 30 July. We are not accepting any new applications as we’re currently in the review process.
1 July 2021: Book Dash Board Member Positions advertisement
Book Dash is a South African-based social-impact publisher of children’s books. Our vision is that “Every child should own a hundred books by the age of five”, and our innovative publishing model (driven by professional creative volunteers) allows us to produce an abundance of books at a fraction of the usual cost.
We have printed and distributed 1.5 million physical books to children under five in South Africa, and our books are read by hundreds of thousands of people across the globe on free reading platforms, and adapted in many different ways. We’re a registered NPO and PBO. More at bookdash.org.
Book Dash is an ambitious organisation, established in 2014 and growing in impact yearly. To help us achieve our goals, the Book Dash team is seeking to appoint new Board members to bring fresh insights and new skill sets to the organisation. We are not necessarily looking for executive-level applicants with Board-level experience, but for capable, interested and committed people who can help us achieve our vision.
Who we’re looking for
Black South Africans* who have skills and experience in any of the following areas are invited to apply to join this award-winning non-profit organisation:
- Specialists in child development in general and ECD and early literacy in particular
- Specialists in reading promotion, language acquisition and/or multi-lingualism
- Specialists in diversifying across geographies
- Specialists in social impact with access to diverse areas of funding or partnerships
- Specialists in logistics and scaling (e.g. FMCG)
- Specialists in financial, legal or business management.
Book Dash’s core principles are listed below, and whoever wants to join our Board needs to be a believer in all of them:
- Ownership: Owning books is essential to a young child’s well-being and development.
- Abundance: A child needs to own many books in order to fall in love with reading.
- Representation: Young children need access to books in which they can read about characters that reflect their realities, in the language that they know best.
- Enjoyment: Our books are fun and engaging to create avid readers – they are not reading instruction materials.
- Openness: Book Dash books are published under a Creative Commons open license license. This means that there are no rights to sell, and no option of exclusivity: the books are a gift to the world, and are free for anyone to use, thereby drastically increasing their reach.
- Early impact: The earlier the intervention, the bigger the impact.
About the role
- Board members are not paid for their time and input.
- There are two scheduled Board meetings per year, as well as some subcommittee work.
- All meetings and work is conducted online, so candidates can be based anywhere, but would need reliable access to the internet.
- Terms for Board Members are 3 years long, with an initial probation period.
We are open to applications from people who believe in what we do, and feel that they can contribute meaningfully.
Process to apply
If you are interested in joining the Book Dash Board, please send a letter of motivation to board@bookdash.org. In the letter, please highlight relevant experience, explain why you would like to join the Book Dash Board, and what contribution you think you would make. You can include your CV should you wish, but should assume that we might only read your letter of motivation in the initial selection process.
We reserve the right to not appoint anyone.
*Although this is not a B-BBEE position, Book Dash is committed to increasing our diversity in decision-making positions in the organisation, and this includes (but is not limited to) racial diversity. As a result, we are seeking candidates as per the B-BBEE Act guidelines laid out in the act and detailed below:
“Black people is a generic term which means Africans, Coloureds and Indians–
- Who are citizens of the Republic of South Africa by birth or descent; or
- Who became citizens of the Republic of South Africa by naturalization.”
Book Dash is looking for a small team of tech-savvy graduates or freelancers available immediately for short term contract work within the month of February.
The job would comprise work on our WordPress site to upload all existing African language versions of our books for the world to enjoy.
There is no software development work or experience required for this job and you don’t need to be able to speak an African language to be able to do the work.
Book Dash is a South African, not-for-profit publisher of beautiful, African picturebooks for all to enjoy. Our vision is that “Every child should own one hundred books by the age of five”. You can read the books here: bookdash.org/books.
You’d be an ideal fit for this job if:
- You’re already familiar with working in WordPress
- You’re meticulous, pay attention to detail and enjoy following a structured workflow
- You have your own laptop and would be willing and able to work from a COVID-safe office location in Salt River, Cape Town
- Are available to work between the 17th – 23rd February, ideally full days (at least 25 hours, potentially more)
- Enjoy working in a team to get a job done
- Ideally, our vision resonates with you and you value the power of books to change lives
- Please note that there is no software development involved in this job, and experience in that field is therefore not required but an understanding of how websites work is preferable.
Outline of the job:
- You’ll be uploading multiple African language versions of Book Dash’s extensive library of picturebooks to our website, allowing them to be read by anyone
- You’ll need to follow the workflow provided and report to a team leader, correcting errors that come up
- You would be paid a rate/book uploaded and report on your progress to a team leader
- You’ll be provided with training, expected to have your own machine and ideally be able to work from a COVID-safe office in Salt River, Cape Town
- We’re also seeking a Team Leader who would have additional quality assurance responsibilities, and be responsible for keeping the project on track and the team working according to timelines provided.
Interested candidates must please email julia@bookdash.org with:
- your full name as the subject line
- a short explanation of prior experience, especially WordPress experience, and experience working in or managing a team, that would make you a good fit for this job
- at least one reference or testimonial from someone for whom you’ve done similar work
- any qualifications you feel relevant
Expression of interest is due by 3pm on Friday, 12th February 2021, but we may fill up spaces as appropriate candidates apply.
Questions can be sent to julia@bookdash.org
Thess events were recorded as part of the Open Publishing Fest, 2020 – a decentralized public event that brings together communities supporting open source software, open content, and open publishing models. For more visit: openpublishingfest.org
Book Dash was involved in three exciting events:
- Book Dash and the power of open: We gather a couple of our incredible partners who re-use Book Dash books in all sorts of wonderful ways to tell us how the open license we use, powers their work too. Watch the recorded session here: youtu.be/XM5bptZVHbw
- Productivity, Sprints and Remoteness: We reflect on our Virtual Book Dash with Book Sprints and learn from their experience with virtual, fast-paced book-making, too. If you’re interested in the processes and tricks behind collaborative, book-making on a deadline, check out the session recording here: youtu.be/BfNbgG6FQBU
- Book Dash: Origins and Evolution: the Book Dash founders speak about the origins and the evolution of the innovative Book Dash model for producing new, African storybooks in just twelve hours. Missed it? Watch the event: youtu.be/cEAB7M7YDvU
