Weeknote: Hiring globally, managing a budget in three currencies and supporting talent

Running impactful global campaigns and teams needs operational nous. This week, meet Digital Action’s Director of Finance and Operations, Rachael Gibbons .

The operational challenge of Digital Action is what excited me to join the team 11 months ago. Here was a small nonprofit that was delivering ground-breaking global campaigns and strengthening democratic fights in an era of Big Tech. Fascinating.

Managing a fiscally sponsored organisation

Added to that was the fiscal sponsorship operational model, something rarely seen in Europe.I knew there’d be lots to learn. It brings up questions like how do you build a strong inclusive culture with a diverse, remote and global team? How do you realise operational and financial efficiencies through fiscal sponsorship? And what about our long term future - what kind of entity should we strive for, nonprofit or corporate or something in between, and then where do we register, the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere or in several places? Navigating these strategic challenges alongside being responsible for people, money, contracts and operations has kept me busy and constantly challenged.

Attracting global talent

Digital Action is only too aware of the inequity between Global North and Global South when it comes to Big Tech safeguarding communities from digital harms. So it’s vital that our hiring practices are as equitable as possible. Why restrict your talent hunt to one country when you can draw from experience and expertise globally? Today I’ve been working on contracting with an employer of record, a service that allows us to hire all around the world without being registered in those countries. It’s enabled us to open our talent search globally and we’ve secured some great global hires in Kenya, Zambia, Brazil and Palestine as a result. Look out for announcements coming up.?

As a small non-profit, our budget is tight and I often have to ‘find’ money, so a few spreadsheets later and conversions across our three currencies and I’d squeezed out enough funds to maximise our opportunities at an upcoming conference and sponsor a global relocation for a new recruit.

Nurturing a global mission-driven team

And then I’ve spent time on the behind the scenes part of my job, the informal looking after people bit. When you have such a mission driven group? who carry high workloads at high pace the risk of burnout often needs mitigating. Spending time reading between the lines and having informal chats to ‘temperature check’ has taken some of my time today. Making sure that everyone is able to thrive, to feel seen and supported is something I’m hugely passionate about. And sometimes, as this week, it involves softly influencing people who don’t report to me to take time off and replenish.

Our team is our greatest strength and greatest asset. Our mission is impossible without them. And our team needs an operational environment that enables them to deliver our mission and that’s complex, at best, under fiscal sponsorship. And that’s why I love my job working behind the scenes designing and holding up the scaffolding of this ambitious, globally respected organisation.