#AfricaMonth: Chloé Bertrand is making a social impact with #AfricaJobsBoard

Chloé Bertrand, founder of Afrorama and #AfricaJobsBoard

Says Afrorama founder, Chloé Bertrand: "Essentially we are building an ecosystem to support talented individuals to drive change and impact in Africa through every stage of their career journeys."

The #AfricaJobsBoard platform "creates visibility around African-based and Africa-related opportunities, specifically aimed at the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which address issues that include poverty, quality education, decent work and economic growth, and reduced inequalities," she continues.

Here we chat to Bertrand further about the origins of the #AfricaJobsBoard, its development so far and future aspirations.

Tell us a bit about Afrorama...

Afrorama is a knowledge and resource hub of the African continent. We are a not-for-profit company registered in South Africa, and we have two main actions: (1) we have an encyclopedia of the African continent that aims to make African knowledge and resources more accessible to all, and (2) we have a jobs board called the #AfricaJobsBoard, which aims to make African-related and -based social impact opportunities accessible to all.

The organisation recently launched the #AfricaJobsBoard - tell us about its origins and development?

We launched the website of the #AfricaJobsBoard earlier this month. The #AfricaJobsBoard started from a personal experience. I was looking for a social impact job based on the continent in October 2021, and I found that there weren’t many opportunities published on LinkedIn. I found that there were different websites but no one centralised place where I could find all the information I was looking for. So, I posted around 20 different Africa-based and Africa-related social impact opportunities on Linkedin every Wednesday, and started growing a following!

After a year of receiving positive feedback, I started to think of ways in which I could grow the platform. I participated in three different programmes to help build the initiative and won two grants last year from the Africa Matters Initiative and Donors for Africa Foundation to scale the platform.

What has the reaction been like to the #AfricaJobsBoard so far?

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive! What has really helped the success of the platform is that I have been asking users to consistently provide feedback for the past two years.

Since launching on LinkedIn in prototype form, the #AfricaJobsBoard has:

• Won 2 pitch competitions
  
• Acquired 20+ clients, including the Clinton Health Access Initiative.
  
• Fundraised $1.3k
  
• Served 20k newsletter subscribers
  
• Gained 28k+ followers on LinkedIn
  
• Achieved 800k+ organic impressions

Since launching the website earlier this month, we have received overwhelming support which has motivated me to continue growing the initiative!

Tell us about the other initiatives and events you have running in the career and job prospecting space...

The ultimate aim of the #AfricaJobsBoard is to create a community and a one-stop-shop to support individuals throughout their careers. On the platform, you can:

• Explore tailored African-related opportunities on our website and through a dedicated WhatsApp platform (text hello).
  
• Write anonymous reviews on companies to help the community gain insights into companies (such as culture and salary scale).
  
• Find resources such as improving their CV, free courses on specific sectors, and information on industry trends in our resource hub.
  
• Participate in community initiatives such as our monthly Speed CV Reviewing initiative.

Our monthly Speed CV Reviewing initiative is an initiative to help individuals get their CVs reviewed by peers. Like speed dating, you are paired with a peer to exchange CVs and provide feedback in a short time-frame. The initiative has already started showing positive results! We have also started hosting small workshops on specific topics such as the CV Clinic (on 15 May) which helped individuals gain practical advice on how to improve their CV.

How is the platform funded - and how can interested donors get involved?

The platform is free to users, and therefore funding is crucial for us to fulfil our mission! Our launch was funded by two donors (Africa Matters Initiative and Donor for Africa Foundation), Afrorama’s paid posting revenue of 2023 as well as donations from our users in a crowdfunding campaign.

Going forward, the platform will be funded by revenue derived from our client’s paid posting and donations. If you are an organisation interested in posting a role to our audience, you can find our rates card here. If you wish to donate to our platform to help us amplify our impact, you can donate through PayPal or donate by card or bank transfer (South African cards only). We provide a detailed report of the use of funds to all of our donors.

Where would you like to see the #AfricaJobsBoard in five years?

In five years, I would like to see the #AfricaJobsBoard as the leading platform that connects individuals with African social impact organisations. I would also like to see the #AfricaJobsBoard as a self-sustaining community which supports individuals throughout their careers in social impact and on the continent. What I mean by community, is a place where members help each other achieve their goals!