Ashoka’s vision is of an Everyone a Changemaker society, where every person — and young people in particular — have the confidence, ability, and support to be changemakers for the good of all. In a world defined by rapid change, interconnectedness and uncertainty, and where our social problems are deep and urgent, changemaking must become the new literacy. Such a shift is significant and will require a movement that fundamentally re-examines how young people grow up and learn — in and out of school — and how we see and support them today as change agents. It will require more than any specific curriculum or skill set, but rather a new mindset and new priorities.
We are seeking a dynamic and strategic Consultant to lead Ashoka's work on a critical partnership, Time for Change, that promotes changemaking in Canadian schools serving low-income and historically disadvantaged communities. This role is ideal for someone with a strong track record in building cross-sector collaborations, managing stakeholder relationships, and driving strategic value through partnerships.
What You'll Do:
Partnership Management Serve as the primary point of contact for key partners, particularly First Book Canada, ensuring strong communication and alignment. Co-create and manage partnership work plans, deliverables, and timelines with First Book Canada to achieve the goals of the Time for Change project. Monitor partnership performance and impact, providing monthly updates and reports to the Project Management team. Troubleshoot challenges and ensure mutual value creation. Produce three progress reports with qualitative and quantitative data in January 2026, July 2026, and December 2026. Collaborate with Ashoka's internal teams outside of Canada (e.g., programs, communications, fundraising) to align partnership efforts with organizational priorities. Partnership Development Identify, research, and engage potential additional partners aligned with programmatic goals to expand the impact of the project. Design and implement outreach strategies to engage new partners across sectors (corporate, nonprofit, government, academia). Facilitate introductory meetings and represent the organization in external engagements.
What You Bring:
You have extensive professional connection to and understanding of the education/youth and/or social impact sector in Canada.Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build trust and influence across diverse stakeholders. You are a strategic thinker with a results-oriented mindset. A proven track record with partnership development, creating value-driven strategies to expand impact.Excellent writing and presentation skills.
Core Criteria
Entrepreneurial Quality: Compelled to take creative initiative and ownership (e.g. founding an organization or company, starting a movement, or re-shaping the work of an existing organization). Demonstrates relentless and realistic how-to-thinking and passion for seeing their ideas come to life. Understanding and Belief in the Everyone a Changemaker: Understands and believes the Everyone a Changemaker vision at a gut level. To be able to innately ‘get’ this, candidates should have a broad and inquisitive intellectual and a thinking pattern that connects the dots between historical trends and current social context. Emotional and Social Intelligence: Ability to work efficiently and respectfully in teams, putting organizational/team goal first (personal glory second). Ethical Fiber: Exceptionally strong ethical behavior. Is self-reflective and has strong empathy skills. Trustworthy. Self-Definition: The person expects that changing the world in big ways and on a continental scale is what he/she will do in life.
About Ashoka:
Ashoka is the world’s largest community of leading social entrepreneurs, having pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship over 40 years ago. We support a robust network of more than 4,000 Ashoka Fellows in 90 countries who have successfully implemented systems-changing solutions to human and environmental problems globally. By learning from and collaborating with our Fellows and other social entrepreneurs, Ashoka identifies patterns and key levers to help society gain a new framework for living in the world as a changemaker.
Our current work is centered around the "Everyone a Changemaker" (EACH) movement, which stems from our belief that everyone has the potential and responsibility to make positive change in an ever-changing world. We continue to grow a global movement of social entrepreneurship, recognizing that the rate of change is accelerating and our problems are growing faster than our solutions.
