A little bit about our seeds

Sewing the Seeds (STS) is a DGR-registered Australian social enterprise with a mission to remove the social and economic barriers to safe employment for women in India. Our vision is to sew and grow the seeds of equitable employment for women so they can break the poverty cycle. We do this by providing textiles education and safe employment with women from low socio-economic communities in India.

The impact we have grown so far

Established in 2013, we have taken a deliberately measured approach, with a strong focus on quality of relationships and deep, meaningful impact for the women in communities where we work. Our focus to date has been specifically on Pondicherry in the state of Tamil Nadu (South India). We currently support 10 women with a full time job and have employed 160 women in the gig economy to date.

Recent wins

• The women at our Pondicherry centre are thriving financially, personally and professionally
• We pitched at The Funding Network and received financial support to scale into a new region
• Secured a 5 year commitment from a donor for on-going funding

Plans we are hoping to plant in the next 1-2 years

Our new chapter includes scaling into new geographies across India and building the financial sustainability of the organisation for the long-term. With this in mind, we are seeking to appoint up to three Directors to its Board, who can bring the skills, connections and passion that can support the organisation to achieve its ambitions over the next few years. You can read more about our impact and scale strategy here.

What we are looking for in our board

STS’s Board currently comprises three members, two of whom are the co-founders Sakshi Thakur OAM and Gayle Factor.

We are seeking to appoint new Board members with experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Fundraising and grant writing
• Financial and legal - more specifically for social enterprise and not-for-profits
• Storytelling, marketing and social media/advertising
• Retail and wholesale sales and distributions - ideally in fashion/textiles
• Public health, social enterprise and/or international development

The following are also desirable traits/skills:

• Demonstrated interest in supporting women in India through education and employment
• CA/CPA, legal and/or social enterprise experience
• Some knowledge on theory of change, impact measurement and/or GEDSI principles
• A background in corporate governance (AICD qualified)
• Good energy

Board role expectations

The Board roles are voluntary and we expect Board members to commit an average of 6 hours per month to the role which include prepare for board meetings, preparing for board meetings and ad-hoc support. Board meetings will be held monthly for the first 6 months, for 1 hour each, and then frequency and length will be re-assessed based on business needs. Meetings will be held remotely so applicants can be based anywhere in Australia. Even if you don’t feel like you tick all the boxes above, but you care about what we do and believe in our vision to sew the seeds of safe education and employment with women in India, so we can see a world that leaves no woman behind, please do still apply! 

To submit your application please click 'Apply Now' by COB on the closing date.

If you have any questions (and I promise you, there is no such thing as silly question so do not hesitate to reach out with any question), send us an email at [email protected] using the subject line: Board Members (Voluntary) - Remote / Work from Home enquiry via EthicalJobs.

Hopefully we get to see an application from you, so together we can sew the seeds of safe employment and education for women in India, and see a world that leaves no woman behind.