SKIC Project Managers
Based in New York City, SKI Charities founder Shyam K. Iyer relies heavily on his project managers and field officers in Mutare, Zimbabwe and Lebu, Chile to monitor and maintain the charity on a day-to-day basis. Though he travels to both locations frequently, Shyam emphasizes that it is the project managers who make the decisions that keep SKIC moving forward.
“I make it very clear that every decision is made by our local project manager. She is in charge, she’s the quarterback, the chief executive,” Shyam says.
It is critical to Shyam that the project managers are all locals – and are all women. “They are daughters of the community we operate in,” he says.
“I want our project managers to know their way around, to be confident in their environment, but most importantly, they are the face of our organization. The beneficiaries need to respect the project manager, they need to listen to her, they need to want to please her. They need to understand that she’s in charge. That’s why it’s so important that she’s a local person – and that she’s a she! Because she’s also a role model for these women. It inspires our beneficiaries and their families to work harder because they know that we respect them, that they are our equals, and that we believe it’s a community project. This is not a top-down structure, but very much a bottom-up organization.”
Our project managers are both female and local to the community – but the they also must be able to handle the finances, share and analyze best practices with Shyam, and communicate at the grassroots level. Beyond this technical skillset, SKIC also looks for confidence and leadership in its managers. “If they’re challenged by local people, perhaps someone asking why they weren’t chosen for a project (especially in a place like Zimbabwe, which can be politically sensitive), they need to have that confidence to resolve the situation,” Shyam notes.
Having a strong network in both Zimbabwe and Chile helps Shyam determine who would be an ideal candidate for the role of project manager, and he relies on his trusted local associates to recommend nominees to SKIC. In addition to competence and the ability to handle administrative duties, SKIC project managers are women who are part of the same demographic as SKIC participants. In this way, beneficiaries can relate to their managers, see them as a source of support and advice, and aspire to similar modes of leadership and empowerment.
For more on SKI Charities project managers, click here and stay tuned for individual project manager bios!
