The Impact Officer is a locally-appointed governance role of hubs in the Global Shapers Community. The main objective of an Impact Officer is to guide hub members into designing, executing, and showcasing high-impact projects that improve their local communities.
- Mission and Mandate
- Eligibility Criteria
- Appointment
- Benefits & Responsibilities
- Termination
- Frequently Asked Questions
1. Mission and Mandate
Impact Officers are nominated Global Shapers who are passionate about delivering high-quality projects and committed to tracking their hub’s progress.
By participating in a unique curriculum, Impact Officers develop their project design and analytical skills. Under the leadership of the Curators, Impact Officers guide hub members to implement high-quality projects and contribute to a deeper understanding of our collective impact as a community.
Impact Officers ensure that each hub improves the state of the world, starting locally! Shapers have the skills, network and will to tackle the world’s most pressing issues. You help your hub achieve this goal.
2. Eligibility Criteria
- Is ambitious about the impact the hub can make to improve the state of your city
- Can make a one-year commitment to the role (1 July - 30 June of the next year)
- Does not reach the Global Shapers age limit during the term
- Understands our impact guides, particularly the Hub Projects and Project Submission guides
- Engages in hub activities and has experience managing at least one hub project
- Demonstrates resourcefulness in collecting and showcasing data from past and new hub projects
- Is committed to building impact management capacity in self and in others
3. Appointment
Impact Officer is a locally-appointed governance role that does not follow the Curatorship election process (although Impact Officer terms also last 1 July - 30 June).
Each hub is autonomous in deciding the best mechanism to select the next Impact Officer, as it does for other local roles such as treasurer, communications lead, etc. Impact Officers are eligible for consecutive terms, although it is encouraged to share the opportunity with other hub members. Each hub must share with HQ the name of the new Impact Officer every year. **
Below is a suggested timeline:
- Phase 1: Current and Incoming Curators from each hub agree on the process to select or appoint the next Impact Officer based on the eligibility criteria and the hub's policies on diversity and inclusion.
- Phase 2: Hubs run their local process to select or appoint their new Impact Officer.
- Phase 3: Current and Incoming Impact Officers start the handover (assess needs of the city, hub's past impact, project history, member's knowledge about impact, etc.)
- Phase 4: Current and Incoming Impact Officers finish the handover. Under the leadership of the Curator, the Impact Officer helps coordinate the creation of a yearly plan of the hub's impact goals.
- Phase 5: Impact Officers term officially begins on 1 July and finishes on 30 June of the next year.
** Founding Curators will be automatically listed as their hub's Impact Officer until they appoint one to HQ. Similarly, if a hub does not nominate an Impact Officer for an upcoming term, the Vice-Curator takes the responsibilities and benefits until they appoint an Impact Officer to HQ.
4. Benefits & Responsibilities
Benefits
- Gain key skills and develop knowledge on how to lead and manage social projects
- Access a global network of Impact Officers for peer learning and long-lasting connections
- Receive mentorship and support from the Advisory Council and Community Champions
- Work directly with HQ to understand the community's latest processes, policies, resources & tools
- Enjoy access to a suit of comprehensive short online courses on impactful project design, implementation, and monitoring in partnership with Social Shifters.
Responsibilities
- Strengthen individual and hub capabilities by offering coaching, strategic advice or training and enhance the impact and vision of the hub by discussing impact vision, project design and planning, impact measurement, beneficiary engagement, equity lenses for hub project design, etc.
- Ensure that the design phase of hub projects and cross-hub initiatives follows the Hub Project Guideline, contributes to the Global Impact Strategy and has local impact metrics described in the Project Planning Template. This includes ensuring that hub projects respect local socioeconomic and cultural contexts and that they collect intersectional data where possible and relevant.
- Contribute to building hub infrastructure, networks, systems and platforms that Shapers use to further their impact. This includes ensuring all hub projects are submitted and updated on TopLink.
- Conduct and participate in mid-project reviews with project leads to monitor progress, assess project efficacy, and make necessary recommendations and adjustments.
- Complete end of project reviews with project leads detailing project actions and impact metrics and ensure that each TopLink project page is updated.
- Complete Annual Review survey shared by HQ each June to share your hub's impact over the year.
- Serve as the point of contact for proposing and (if approved) facilitating cross-hub initiatives with the Curatorship, Advisory Council and Community Champions.
- Liaise between the hub, the Advisory Council, Community Champion and HQ with updates on projects and their impact.
5. Termination
Impact Officers are expected to meet or exceed the minimum requirements of their role and responsibilities. If an Impact Officer does not meet minimum requirements, they can receive written notice from the Curatorship or Global Shapers HQ. If non-performance persists, the Head of the Global Shapers Community reserves the right to terminate the Global Shaper's role as Impact Officer.
If an Impact Officer wishes to step down from their role, they must notify the hub's Curator. The Curator should emails their Community Manager to deactivate TopLink manager rights and share a replacement.
6. FAQ
Can Curators, Vice-Curators or Founding Curators also be Impact Officers?
To reduce work load and distribute leadership among hub members, we do not encourage Curators to fulfill this role. However, Vice-Curators and other leaders can take on dual responsibilities if time permits. In fact, Founding Curators will be automatically listed as their hub's Impact Officer until they appoint an Impact Officer to HQ. Similarly, if a hub does not nominate an Impact Officer for an upcoming term, the Vice-Curator takes the responsibilities and benefits until they appoint an Impact Officer to HQ.
Can Impact Officers serve in the role for consecutive terms?
Impact Officers are eligible for consecutive terms if they meet the eligibility criteria and are nominated, elected or appointed according to the hub's agreed process. This will ensure fair process when multiple members are interested in the role. To provide more young people with leadership and training experience and access to a global network of peers, we encourage a new Impact Officer each term.
What is the relationship between Impact Officers and Curators?
Curators serve as the hub's main leader, overseeing its overall growth and development. Impact Officers serve a specific role focused on the impact of hub projects and tracking progress towards impact goals. Curators and Impact Officers work together to support their hub in planning and executing high-quality projects. The responsibility for decisions on projects, however, lies with all hub members as a collective.
Curators work to facilitate this process and ensure involvement of all hub members in decision-making. Impact Officers provide additional support for their hub by sharing useful information about project planning, for example identifying what qualifies as a project, and conducting training on how to design projects for measurable impact. Impact Officers also act as the single point of contact for showcasing their hub's projects, ensuring information is shared in an efficient and consistent way.
I'm interested in becoming an Impact Officer. What can I do to prepare?
Before becoming an Impact Officer, it's important to check that you meet all the Impact Officer eligibility criteria. Moreover, it's important to have hands-on experience, having worked on a hub project that carefully follows all of the principles, criteria and processes defined defined by the community. Then, reach out to the Curator and let them know you are interested in the role for the following year.
I am an Alumni. Can I be my hub's Impact Officer?
Alumni who are over the age limit are no longer eligible to be their hub's Impact Officer. However, Alumni who are still Global Shapers are eligible. This refers to Shapers who have served over five years in the community but who are still under the age limit. For more information, see the Alumni Charter.
My Impact Officer is not fulfilling their mandate. What can I do?
The role of Impact Officer is highly flexible and each person can customize it according to their hub's and city's needs. However, tools and resources are offered to Impact Officers that helps maximizing the collective efforts of this global network.
If an Impact Officer is not supporting the hub's impact goals, do your best to have direct, frequent and constructive feedback sessions with them to get them back on track. You can also reach out to your Community Champion or your Community Manager to share any thoughts or needs.
If the Impact Officer is still not fulfilling their mandate after your conversations with them, the Impact Officer can be asked to step down. If a conflict arises, be sure to hold a hub majority vote in order to decide on the way forward. An Impact Officer can also choose to step down from this role to give the opportunity to another Shaper.
My Impact Officer has stepped down from the role. What can I do?
If an Impact Officer is unable to remain in the role, the hub will need to nominate a new Impact Officer for the hub and notify their Community Manager with the name of the new Impact Officer. This is important as Impact Officers have special access that HQ needs to manually give them.