Inclusion Advisor- Gender and Disability At Light for the World

About Light for the World

Light for the World sparks lasting change on disability rights and eye health. We believe in a world where people with eye conditions and disabilities can fully exercise their rights to health, education, work, and protection in emergencies. Over the last three decades, Light for the World has contributed to improving eye health systems and amplifying the voices of people with disabilities.

Our programmes include:

• Eye Health – preventing blindness and promoting eye health for all.
• Inclusive Education – ensuring children with disabilities receive quality, inclusive education.
• Inclusive Economic Empowerment – ensuring that barriers are removed for men and women with disabilities to access decent work.

In Kenya, Light for the World promotes the socioeconomic inclusion of people with disabilities. We focus on empowering people with disabilities by helping them build skills and access opportunities for growth. At the same time, we influence systemic changes to ensure people with disabilities thrive in inclusive environments. Our dual approach emphasizes on the empowerment of people with disabilities alongside broader social transformation

Through our programmes, we create opportunities for inclusive business and employment. Our Inclusive Business approach equips entrepreneurs with the tools and networks they need to succeed in competitive markets, while advocating for a business environment that embraces diversity. We also partner with organisations and institutions to foster inclusive workplaces by addressing barriers such as a lack of accessibility, negative attitudes and policies.

Light for the World is seeking to hire an Inclusion Advisor for Gender and Disability who will be responsible will championing the integration of gender and disability inclusion principles, with a focus on addressing systemic barriers across all programme activities, partnerships and outcomes to drive system change for the realization of socio-economic inclusion for women and men with disabilities.

Role profile:

Reporting to the Head of the Disability Inclusion Advisory Unit, the Inclusion Advisor for Gender and Disability will play a key role in advancing equitable, inclusive and transformative programme outcomes for Light for the World Kenya. S (he) will champion the integration of gender and disability inclusion principles, with a focus on addressing systemic barriers across all programme activities, partnerships and outcomes to drive system change for the realization of socio-economic inclusion for women and men with disabilities. The role emphasizes designing, implementing, and monitoring strategies that address overlapping barriers faced by women and men with disabilities, to ensure equitable access to project benefits and decision-making opportunities.

S(he) will play a key role in nurturing partnerships with actors in civil society, private & public sector and provide hands on technical support in the form of training and coaching, and policy input. Whereas the Inclusion Advisor will be responsible for training and advising different stakeholders on gender and disability inclusion, (s)he will work primarily as a technical advisor on gender and disability inclusion within the organization’s activities, and support partners and OPDS.

The Inclusion Advisor will support the Disability Inclusion Facilitators to effectively tailor their interventions to the needsof the organizations they are linked to. The Inclusion Advisor is a powerful ambassador for gender and disability inclusion, a natural networker, an inspirational communicator, as well as a role model and changemaker.

Key responsibilities:

Networking and Partnerships

• To represent Light for the World in networks of NGOs and/or government bodies, as required, and provide expertise on gender and disability inclusion services to organization of persons with disabilities and public and private sector.
• Build and sustain strategic partnerships with organizations of persons with disability, women rights organizations, civil society and the private sector stakeholders while exploring how to build their capacity and how well the Disability Inclusion Facilitator model can be of value at the community for the OPD members within the larger space of advocacy and mainstreaming of gender and disability inclusion.

Strategic Leadership and Implementation

• Provide guidance on revising project curricula to incorporate gender and disability perspectives, ensuring inclusive and participatory methods.
• Support the integration of safeguarding measures to address Sexual and Gender-Based Violence within project activities and workplace environments.
• Provide leadership in aligning project objectives with global and national gender and disability inclusion frameworks, including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Identify and address systemic and cultural barriers that hinder equitable participation and inclusion of women and men with disabilities in project activities, aligned with organizational priorities and donor requirements.

Advising and training

• To coordinate learning sessions and working groups; to bring organisations together in learning platforms; to develop and deliver trainings and workshops on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in development programming, workplaces, and policies; To provide coaching and technical advice on the same.

Capacity Building and Technical Support

• Lead and facilitate capacity building efforts on gender inclusion, disability intersectionality, and safeguarding for project teams, consortium partners, and stakeholders.
• Design and lead workshops focused on self-advocacy and confidence building for women and men with disabilities.
• Support the capacity-building efforts of financial institutions and e-waste businesses to promote gender-responsive and disability-inclusive practices.
• Develop targeted training programs for Micro-entrepreneurs with disabilities in the programmes, focusing on building resilience and overcoming gender- and disability-based barriers.
• Provide technical assistance to programme teams to ensure disability-inclusive gender-responsive budgeting and resource allocation

Research, Monitoring, and Learning

• Conduct gender analyses to identify barriers and opportunities for inclusion within programme activities.
• Collaborate with MERLA to track gender-disaggregated data and measure progress on inclusion indicators.
• Collaborate with MERLA teams to design tools for collecting and analyzing gender-disaggregated and disability-focused data.
• Conduct assessments to measure the impact of project interventions on gender equality and inclusion.
• Document and disseminate lessons learned, best practices, and success stories in promoting gender and disability inclusion.

Consolidate and further expand the Pool of Disability Inclusion Facilitators

• In close collaboration with the Head of the Disability Inclusion Advisory Unit and the rest of the team, provide training and support to a growing pool of Disability Inclusion Facilitators; To coach them on specific aspects of training, etiquette, self-expression, communication skills, understanding diverse disabilities, and the business case for inclusion.
• To be the principal coach for Disability Inclusion Facilitators, support them with preparation of their career in disability inclusion and beyond, coaching them on how to conduct professional training and ensuring continuous quality and consistency of all the activities of the pool of Disability Inclusion Facilitators by monitoring, facilitation of continuous learning and refresher trainings.

Training material and tool development

• To lead and provide input to co-creation processes, building on principles of human centered design and gender responsive principles; to provide content to training manuals and tools; Proactively identify the need for additional training materials and tools, and support the development of those.

Inclusive Programming and Safeguarding

• Develop tailored interventions addressing business development, record-keeping, and formalization challenges faced by women and persons with disabilities in both projects.
• Ensure safeguarding compliance and foster a “Do No Harm” culture in all programme engagements.
• Collaborate with teams to create interventions addressing gender disparities in e-waste entrepreneurship, access to funding, and market linkages.
• Support implementation of inclusive mentorship and coaching programs that cater to the unique needs of women and persons with disabilities.
• Lead gender-sensitive and disability-inclusive advocacy initiatives, fostering participation from OPDs (Organizations of Persons with Disabilities), women rights organizations, and other local stakeholders.

Knowledge and information management

• To gather and disseminate relevant information regarding gender and disability mainstreaming; To document lessons learned, case studies and stories of change. This information is used in the advocacy space with mainstream and OPD players to influence policy.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Gender and Development Studies, Disability Inclusion, Development Studies, Human Rights, Law or a related field. Master’s degree is preferred.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in gender and disability inclusion programming in development or humanitarian contexts.
• Proven track record in advocacy, capacity building, and stakeholder engagement.
• Familiarity with designing gender inclusive entrepreneurship models.

Skills:

• Strong expertise in gender analysis and intersectionality frameworks.
• Proficiency in data collection and reporting, including gender-disaggregated metrics.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for engaging diverse stakeholders.

Knowledge:

• Understanding of feminist leadership principles and safeguarding principles and frameworks like the CRPD and SDGs.

Awareness of e-waste management or entrepreneurship ecosystems is an added advantage