Senior Associate, Africa

Position description

The Milken Institute is a globally minded, publicly supported, non-partisan, and nonprofit think tank headquartered in Santa Monica, with offices in Washington, DC, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. For the past three decades, the Milken Institute has served as a catalyst for practical, scalable solutions to global challenges by connecting human, financial, and educational resources to those who need them. Guided by a conviction that the best ideas, under-resourced, cannot succeed, we conduct research and analysis and convene top experts, innovators, and influencers from different backgrounds and competing viewpoints. We leverage this expertise and insight to construct programs and policy initiatives. These activities are designed to help people build meaningful lives, in which they can experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities.

The Milken Institute’s events and programmatic activities, involve the exchange of ideas with leaders from around the world. The Institute hosts more than 200 events each year, with our annual flagship event, Global Conference, bringing together 4,500+ participants from around the world, featuring more than 900+ speakers throughout 200+ sessions over the course of the event.

About MI Africa

At the Milken Institute, we aim to leverage our networks, partners, and resources to support and accelerate Africa’s access to global capital markets - to help ensure that Africa does not miss its moment. Milken Institute Africa has a three-pronged approach to drive global capital to work for African prosperity:

• Through our Global Financial Scholars Programs, we strengthen financial policymaking and governance on the African continent – not only creating a more reliable and attractive enabling environment for investors and companies to operate, but also helping ensure that African citizens are the ultimate beneficiaries of inclusive and equitable growth. These programs are celebrating their tenth anniversary this year, a milestone which we plan to emphasize through a comprehensive communications, programming and fundraising anniversary campaign.
• Through our Africa Leadership Council, we convene global investors, business leaders, philanthropists, and leading African stakeholders to demystify the Africa investment opportunity, shed light on bankable opportunities, and catalyze partnerships.
• Through our Africa 30x30x30 initiative, we support emerging African asset managers – creating the pathways for this global capital to be most effectively deployed in practice.
  
  

About The Position

The Milken Institute is seeking a Senior Associate/ Associate Director (depending on level of experience), who will administer the Milken Institute’s Global Financial Scholars Programs on a daily basis, and, equally importantly, help shape and deploy the 10-Year Anniversary Campaign in a pivotal year for these programs. The employee will also contribute more broadly to the priorities of the MI Africa team as the need arises, including the expansion of the Milken Institute’s Africa Strategy and of the Africa Leadership Council. The employee will be based in Washington DC, and report to the Senior Director for Africa, based in Los Angeles. This is an exciting opportunity for a mid-to-senior-level entrepreneurial candidate with strong organizational skills, outstanding inter-personal and human resources skills, and a vision and appetite for expanding visibility, fundraising and communications efforts around one of the Milken Institute’s flagship initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day program management of the Scholars Programs in Washington DC and London, including:
• Representing MI as a core partner of the programs, in all related discussions and events in partnership with Georgetown University and IFC/ World Bank in Washington DC.
• Coordinating online and in-person meeting management, from the Fall 2026 Speaker Series to internship matching interviews and learning webinars, all in collaboration with external speakers and companies as well as with our program partners at the International Finance Corporation, World Bank Treasury, Georgetown University and Bayes Business School.
• Maintaining and organizing all paperwork related to the scholars programs, notably securing internship offer letters for the scholars, processing pledge agreements and invoices for donations, etc.
• Generally troubleshooting scholar logistics, big and small, for both US and UK cohorts of Scholars.
  
  

• Help shape and execute the 10-Year Anniversary Campaign of Global Financial Scholars, including
• Researching, outreach and relationship building with key prospects and top donors.
• Supporting event planning, design, speaker relations and logistics around the 10-Year Anniversary Gala Dinner, to take place in New York City in September 2026.
• Supporting event planning, design, speaker relations and logistics for the fifth Alumni Retreat of Global Financial Scholars (Africa location TBD, March 2027).
• Contributing to the campaign’s comprehensive marketing and communications plan, including through impact reports, video/ mini-documentary, social media and press visibility efforts, etc.
  
  

• Drive stakeholder and relationship management with corporate and philanthropic partners, including by:
• Expanding outreach to firms that participate as speakers or internship hosts on the program, assisting on stewardship activities, maintaining and enriching a fundraising database, and creating proposals and agreements for prospect donors.
• Serve as point of contact for the Scholars Programs overall, which entails regular communications, planning quarterly calls and preparing write-ups or newsletter materials as appropriate.
  
  
• Contribute to new programmatic offerings and engagements for the Programs’ Alumni Network, including:

• Coordinating an in-country policy dialogue event for the Kenya Country Chapter.
• Coordinating roll-out of continued learning series for scholars and alumni, on AI, geopolitics and other pressing topics.
• Conceptualizing and supporting delivery of a mentorship program between corporate partners and alumni.
• Support Chair of Africa and senior leadership with special projects as needed.
• Contribute to broader team-wide efforts as the need arises, including support for MI Africa’s involvement in Institute-hosted events, such as private sideline events of the United Nations General Assembly, the Middle East and Africa Summit, and the annual Global Conference.
• Duties as assigned.
  
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, 3-5 years of relevant work experience.
• Experience in working with developing and emerging economies (especially in Africa); having an in-depth understanding of financial policy and investment opportunities in developing countries or regions would be a distinct advantage, with a focus on Africa; experience in/ familiarity with and a robust network of contacts in the US and/or UK financial industry would also be a plus.
• Experience with event planning and business development; experience running fundraising and communications campaigns would be a distinct advantage.
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to source and communicate partnership opportunities in a clear manner, and to represent MI at high-profile events and in meetings with CEO-level donors, partners and prospects.
• Exceptional organizational skills, with ability to juggle concurrent projects and responsibilities in an organized and responsive manner, adhering to time-sensitive deadlines.
• Demonstrated entrepreneurial initiative to work independently and collaboratively, within the Africa team or across departments at the Institute, with the perspective that “no task is too small.”
• Have a keen eye to detail, especially when handling sensitive or personal information.
• Experience with project management software and databases a plus, such as Salesforce, Microsoft 365.
• Priority will be given to candidates with a strong background/experience working with African stakeholders.
  
  

Working Conditions & Travel Requirements

This position will work in a professional office environment on a hybrid schedule consisting of three (3) days per week reporting in-person to the Washington, DC office location (Tuesday – Thursday), with the remaining two (2) days working remotely. Please understand, this schedule is subject to change at the Institute’s sole discretion.

This person will also be required to travel occasionally to other offices and/or venues to assist with events as needed, requiring occasional work outside of traditional hours. International along with domestic travel is possible. Additionally, this position requires interacting virtually on a regular basis with Milken Institute staff based in other locations in the United States and around the world.

Application instructions

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