Coordinator Role

Role of a WCE City Coordinator

World Computer Exchange is an international education non-profit organization with headquarters in the USA that was founded in 1999 and incorporated in 2000. The supply side of WCE operates through Offices in 12 cities and through Representatives in 20 other cities.

The WCE Board of Directors votes to establish or close WCE Offices in cities where we have the following: someone willing to take the lead, a team of volunteers, a storage space for computers, a mailing address, and a strategic ally or university or high school willing to help, and a WCE Board or Council member agreeing to chair the local Steering Committee, and a local Steering Committee initially approved by the Board.

The role of a WCE Office is to gather, test, and inventory donated used computers and recruit sister-schools and volunteers and to help with related logistics, funding, and press. Each WCE Office is asked to host at least one public computer-donating event in their city each year. Each Office is also asked to take on an international administrative and geographic focus. (Requests from potential Partners in developing countries are forwarded to headquarters and distributed from there.) Each Office can also undertake its own projects so long as the WCE president pre-approves any fund raising proposal.

Each office is guided by a Steering Committee with a Chair and a Coordinator. Occasionally an office that has been successful in gathering computers receives a budget for paid help to do portions of the logistics work that needs to occur during regular work days like contacting companies for donations and picking up computers from companies during the week.

The Coordinator's role is to develop a WCE presence in a city and is charged with shaping the content and assuring the relevance, integration, planning, implementation and effective delivery of WCE activities in the area. We seek Coordinators who will remain in this volunteer role for at least two years. It usually takes about 8 hours per week to fulfill this role. The Coordinator submits a brief monthly report on the activities of the Office to the president and Director of Operations. A Coordinator remains in the position until he or she resigns, the Steering Committee and president agree on removal, or the Board of Directors votes to remove.

The Coordinator recruits, encourages, and guides the team of volunteers in the area to help gather, test, palletize and inventory the computers, located storage and pallet warehouse space, sister-schools, volunteers (for the Office and for WCE's international work), press, and funds. Usually WCE seeks about 430 computers from each WCE Office per each nine months.

Usually a WCE Office has a small Steering Committee of 5-9 people and a lead group of about 5 volunteers who each take on one of the following roles: seeking computers, testing & packing computers, recruiting volunteers, marketing and public events, and fund raising. Usually there is also a team of about 15 volunteers who help regularly and then a larger group of volunteers who only help with the annual public computer-donating event or with the actual packing of pallets or of a container for one of the WCE partners.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as capacity and strong interest in working in a team
• Well-organized, skilled at handling multiple tasks
• Strong interpersonal skills especially in verbal and written communication
• trong negotiation skills
• Experience in business development and in project management would be an advantage
• Enthusiasm for technology and social work
• Proactive
• High level of enthusiasm and motivation
• Reliable in his/her commitments