Get Involved

The FOG Secretary is the lead person for organizing the team, facilitating meetings, taking notes, and working with officers on various aspects of the organization’s needs.

Monthly commitment: 4+ hours

The FOG Treasurer manages all FOG financial matters, including the organization’s bank and other financial accounts. The treasurer disburses funds as needed and keeps financial records of both expenditures and income, summarizing it for officer meetings.

Monthly time commitment: 4+ hours

The FOG Membership Director is responsible for tracking members, maintenance of membership lists, and promoting the growth of members.

Monthly time commitment: 4+ hours

The FOG Communications Director maintains communications regarding Friends of Guinea, including correspondence with members and other interested parties, and providing updates and information to FOG members. The Communications Director will maintain the Friends of Guinea social media sites and other means of communications (blog, newsletter, additional initiatives, etc.) 

• Monthly time commitment: 4+ hours

*This position can be shared, so co-communication officers can divide duties if they have particular strengths/interests, whether it is social media, newsletter/blog, and/or general communications.

The advocacy director is responsible for coordinating broad goals which the group will be involved in. This may include assessing policy needs in Guinea through regular communication with FOG members, Peace Corps-Guinea, and NGO’s in Guinea. Based on such an assessment, the advocacy director may develop and implement a yearly action plan for advocacy. From time to time an issue may arise which Friends of Guinea may want to support. The advocacy director can present such an issue to the FOG board and offer a recommendation for action, which the board may vote on. An example would be the decision of FOG to voice protest (via a public statement or editorial) on a USAID decision in Guinea. This position is important to create a link to engage members who are interested in advocacy issues.

Monthly time commitment: 4+ hours

The Project Director (PD) is the liaison for matters concerning funding current or ongoing projects (mostly PCV-initiated) that are of interest to the FOG community. For example, the annual Gender Conferences are an important project and a source of pride for FOG. Each year, in close collaboration with PC/Guinea, we help raise significant amounts of money to ensure that these conferences can take place.

The primary duty of the Projects Director is to correspond with volunteers, donors, Peace Corps, and FOG officers/members about project-related matters. The PD reviews and makes recommendations to the FOG board about new project proposals that s/he has received. Recommendations are based on the perceived quality, impact, and sustainability of the project. If necessary, the PD will coordinate votes among FOG officers about whether or not/how much to funding to provide.

The PD also advertises projects via the newsletter, website and listserv to reach members and potential donors.

Monthly commitment: 3-5 hours

The technology director is in charge of maintaining the website and emails. Generally this is about once a month, with periodic overhauls. This generally includes updating content, or creating donation pages for new projects.

Monthly time commitment: 5-10 hours

The Newsletter Coordinator will be responsible for editing, designing, producing and mailing a quarterly newsletter of 4 – 6 pages which will be distributed to members of the organization and such outside parties as the Communications Director may indicate. Funds for duplication and distribution of the newsletter will be allocated from the general budget of the group.

The primary objective of the newsletter will be to inform members about the activities of the organization. Secondary objectives will be to inform members about conditions and events in Guinea, to spur discussion of development issues as they relate to Guinea, and to inform members about the personal and professional activities of other members.

Because the newsletter is a primary communication tool of the organization, the coordinator will work closely with the Communication Director and tailor the newsletter as closely as possible to the Communication Director’s priorities. All material appearing in the newsletter will be submitted by the coordinator to the Communication Director for approval. The coordinator will solicit newsletter articles from other officers of the organization; every issue will have at least a short message from the president or vice president regarding overarching issues, and updates from the group secretary and the communications, advocacy, financial, projects and membership directors covering their respective areas of activity.

The coordinator will also solicit material from members in three areas:
contemporary development issues (e.g. sustainable development, women in development, AIDS awareness, etc.), memoirs of life as a volunteer in Guinea, and what they are up to now (new jobs, families, travels, accomplishments). The coordinator will make use of such outside news sources as are available on Guinea, reprinting articles with permission and attribution. Contributions will be encouraged from NGO’s working in Guinea and also from Guineans inside and outside the country. Letters to the coordinator will also be encouraged.

The coordinator will also maintain communication with in-country Peace Corps staff and the American Embassy in Conakry, soliciting their input on the changing conditions in Guinea and Peace Corps’ evolving role there. The primary distribution of the newsletter will be by 1st-class mail according to mailing labels supplied to the coordinator by the membership director. E-mail distribution of text only will be an option for those who wish it. Each issue of the newsletter, with both text and graphics, will also be posted on the group’s web site.

Monthly time commitment: 4-7 hours