TalentLift is a Canadian charitable organization addressing the global refugee crisis through job placement and relocation. We are seeking impact-driven and thoughtful professionals to join our volunteer board.

About TalentLift

TalentLift is a non-profit international recruitment agency. We support Canadian employers to recruit and relocate talent from within refugee populations to fill skills shortages, enabling candidates along with their families to lift to their potential as they advance their careers, secure their futures, and leave displacement behind.

There are more than 43 million people living as refugees worldwide with few options to achieve livelihoods and security. Many thousands have the skills and potential to qualify for jobs and skilled visas in Canada, just like talented people anywhere, but they’ve been historically excluded from recruitment and visa systems. This is changing as TalentLift and our partners drive more equitable access to these transformative opportunities.

TalentLift offers employers and the candidates they hire in-house services encompassing talent search, visa application, and settlement coordination. We believe that access to opportunities should depend on potential and not the privilege of living without fear.

Join Us!

As TalentLift continues to grow, we are recruiting two board members to join our governance board starting in May. We are seeking candidates with expertise in at least one of these areas:

• Networks and relationships – established networks and relationships including with Canadian employers, government, donors, and/or Canadian immigration policy decision makers, to help drive TalentLift’s strategic vision and growth
• Board governance – strong charity governance experience, especially in Chair or Vice-Chair roles
• Strategic planning – experience with non-profit strategic planning processes
• Scaling – experience scaling a charity beyond a $5M annual budget

In addition to these specific areas of current recruitment, we also look for the following skills, experiences, and qualities in the board as a whole:

• Personal experience with displacement, and/or working with displaced people
• Experience in the recruitment sector
• Strategic thinking and decision making skills
• Commitment to growing an impact-driven organisation
• Experience assessing and mitigating risk
• Management or human resources experience
• Commitment to operational excellence in a services-based organisation
• Legal expertise with immigration
• Government policy and advocacy experience

Roles and responsibilities

As board members committed to advancing the mission of TalentLift and building an effective governance team, together we:

• Seek the benefit of those displaced by war and disaster, both inside and outside our formal board duties.
• Commit to a three-year board term, with the possibility of renewal up to a total of seven years.
• Reserve at least four hours per month for board responsibilities.
• Take initiative to bring our perspectives to meetings while creating space for other members.
• Donate a personally meaningful amount to TalentLift.
• Attend all scheduled, virtual board meetings (currently the second Tuesday of odd months, 4-6 pm EST).
• Review board materials shared in advance and prepare well for each meeting.
• Participate in at least one committee which meets virtually (e.g. finance, legal, human resources, governance).
• Respond to board requests between meetings in a timely manner.
• Attend occasional events in support of TalentLift, which often includes an annual board retreat.
• Promote TalentLift to our networks.
• Refer potential employers and donors.

Application

We invite applications from people across Canada who have a passion for our mission and vision. TalentLift is committed to equitable opportunities. All candidates are welcome to apply and we warmly invite those who have lived experience in refugee or displacement circumstances, Indigenous backgrounds, and different abilities.

Please apply here. Applications are open until March 17. We will respond with next steps by March 31.