June 18, 2025

FORGE Seeking Fund Advisory Committee Members for Democracy at Work Fund

Application Deadline: July 10th

Background

The Democracy at Work Fund (DAWF) is a collaborative fund building resilience among frontline worker organizations in global majority countries in order to address systemic social and climate justice challenges. As part of Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy (FORGE) - the Democracy at Work Fund provides worker organizations in Asia, Latin America and Africa with greater voice, power and opportunities to innovate, with a specific focus on funding organizing and capacity building efforts.

We are seeking committed individuals to serve as members of a Fund Advisory Committee (FAC) for the 2025 funding round of the Democracy at Work Fund. The committee will play a key role in finding and selecting the 2025 cohort of the Democracy at Work Fund grantee partners, bringing regional, contextual, and lived expertise to the grantmaking process.

Key Responsibilities & Commitment

FAC members will contribute to the fund preparatory, review and selection process over a five-month period, ending in December 2025, with a total estimated commitment of no more than 24 hours with preparatory work taking place in August and reviewing work taking place in October/November. 

Responsibilities include:

  • Planning & Processes: 

    • Contributing to the planning and selection process for the 2025 Democracy at Work Fund open call for proposals. 

    • Supporting qualitative frameworks for applications and for the overall funding cohort.

  • Reviewing proposals:

    • Evaluating short-listed proposals based on qualitative and contextual criteria in accordance with expertise.

    • Participating in deliberation sessions with the other committee members to determine the composition of the 2025 grantee partner cohort.

  • Amplifying outreach:

    • Recommending effective awareness channels and leveraging networks and national context knowledge to broaden awareness of the fund and reach applicants outside traditional funding channels.

Eligibility & Desired Experience

We are looking for individuals who bring topical or contextual expertise or a mixture of both. Committee members must have:

Lived or professional experience in one or more of the following areas:

  • Labor rights & organizing (particularly in the context of marginalised groups)

  • Gender justice

  • Climate adaptation/Mitigation/ Just transition

  • Migration and migrant labor

  • Informal workers and/or informal economies

  • Technological transition & its impact on workers

Strong contextual understanding or current residency/nationality of at least one of the following countries: Indonesia, Bangladesh, South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina.

Ability to read and work in English. Working proficiency of Portuguese and/or Spanish is also desirable).

Commitment to ethical engagement, confidentiality, and community accountability.

Commitment to be able to commence work in August 2025 in line with the fund timeline.

Application Process

Interested individuals should prepare to submit:

  • A short statement of interest

  • A current CV or brief bio

  • Applicants must provide a nomination or reference from a community member or colleague who can speak to the quality of their work.

Details should be sent to Maeve Galvin, maeve@forgefunders. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until July 10th.

Final selection will be made by panel interview in late July 2025. Onboarding and orientation will take place in August 2025.

Compensation & Time Commitment

  • Stipend: $2,000 USD (flat fee) for participation over the 5-month process.

  • Estimated Time: Up to 24 hours total, including meetings, proposal review, and outreach. Must be available to take part in three committee sessions in August 2025 and conduct reviewing and be part of deliberation meetings in late October and November 2025.

  • Meetings will be held virtually and scheduled with attention to time zones and availability.

Ethics & Accountability

All FAC members must agree to and uphold DAWF’s Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy to ensure transparency, fairness, and integrity in the grant review and selection process.