Pratham Books is a not-for-profit children's book publisher that was set up in 2004 to publish good quality, affordable books in many Indian languages. Our mission is to see ‘a book in every child’s hand’ and we have spread the joy of reading to millions of children in India. We are now looking to expand out Outreach Team to make our impact wider and are on a lookout for a passionate individual based out of our Delhi office.

Image by Sonal Gupta from 'Why Does a Poori Puff Up?' 

About the Project

StoryWeaver is a digital platform that hosts children’s stories in multiple Indian and international languages, so that children have access to reading resources in their mother tongues to learn and practice reading. All the stories are available under open licences and not only can they be read for free, they can also be translated or versioned, using simple tools embedded on the platform. StoryWeaver is being recognized as an emerging innovation that can transform the early literacy reader ecosystem globally. Recently, StoryWeaver was featured in the World Bank's report on 20 innovative EdTech projects from around the world, and was also the recipient of the prestigious Library of Congress Literacy Award 2017 International Prize. 

Job Description

We are looking for a Partnerships Manager who can forge strategic partnerships to facilitate the use of StoryWeaver’s digital resources with organizations that have programs which promote reading and learning among children, specifically in the North and East of India.

The Manager will be responsible for strategizing and executing plans to increase the user base of StoryWeaver and also provide the necessary training and support to the partner network and work closely with internal stakeholders

Key Responsibilities

• Identify potential partners and strategize, design and execute plans to onboard them as StoryWeaver users.

• Create and execute robust work plans for achieving monthly, quarterly and annual goals including specific targets.

• Build and nurture networks of partners working in the field of Education/ with Children / Ed-Tech.

• Provide training and support to the partner network.

• Provide information and feedback to the internal team based on partner feedback and essentially be a bridge between the internal and external stakeholders

• Help with research and documentation for impact assessment

• Plan, execute and own book/event specific campaigns, on-ground events and CSR volunteering activities.

• Help build strategy for the function, contribute in new ideas for both the function and platform.

Qualifications

• A Post Graduate Degree preferably in Marketing and Management

• 3 to 5 years work experience in Sales, Marketing, Outreach, Partnerships or related areas.

• Experience in a programmatic function in the development sector (preference for experience in Education)

Competencies

• High level Communications Skills :- Exceptional interpersonal and verbal/written communication skills

• Organisation/Time Management Skills – Planning, working systematically & efficiently and keeping information organized and accessible

• Project management skills – Multi-tasking and prioritising, planning and organizing, perseverance, working with multiple teams that are interdependent, ability to work with timelines and targets.

• Ability to gather data, analyze information, and prepare reports and documents

• Experience in classrooms and/or working with Education Orgs

Good to have

• Ability to network and make connections

• Interest in books, education and publishing.

• Should be open to travel

Location: This role is based out of Delhi and is full-time.

Salary: Compensation will be commensurate with experience.

How to Apply: Interested candidates are requested to send in their resume to [email protected] with the subject line – Partnerships Manager_North and a short note outlining why they are suitable for this position.

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Over the last couple of years, our team at Pratham Books has been focussing on creating simple and engaging picture books that explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts. There is a dearth of interesting information books for early readers in India - especially across Indian languages – and we have actively been trying to bridge that gap. Within two years, we have created around 300 multilingual STEM books (available for free on www.storyweaver.org.in), and also set up STEM libraries around the country.

Having had such a strong focus on STEM, we were delighted to be invited by The Asia Foundation to participate in their e-book hackathon in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which was aimed at creating openly-licensed STEM books in their local language. Like in India, there are very few children’s books in Cambodia that explore STEM topics imaginatively, and the hackathon was a step towards reducing that gap. Over two days (Aug 19-20, 2017), several local writers, illustrators and designers collaborated to make picture books that were centred around STEM topics. The ‘Let’s Read E-book Hackathon’ was also an attempt at identifying young professionals in the publishing sector, and nurturing their skills.

 

My role, as an editor from Pratham Books, was to offer editorial guidance over the 2-day event. I got the opportunity to discuss some of the key observations that we had made at Pratham Books while creating STEM-based picture books. In essence: what are the crucial things to bear in mind while creating STEM books for early readers, and what works. Here's what Melody Zavala (Director, Books for Asia) said about the hackathon, "The Asia Foundation uses 'e-book hackathons' to drastically reduce the time and resources needed to produce beautiful, illustrated children’s books on topics missing from the commercial market. We were thrilled to draw on Pratham Books’ experience with STEM titles. In Cambodia, only 3 percent of university students choose to study STEM subjects, according to the Ministry of Education, Youth & Sport. We hope this can be changed by stimulating interest at a young age through fun storybooks."

It was fascinating to watch writers and illustrators work so closely, constanly exchanging ideas and refining the narrative as they progressed. We watched as illustrators brought characters to life, developed storyboards along with their writers, and sketched eye-catching book covers. While the foundations of the book were being laid out, many fundamental questions were tossed around, which eventually helped each story evolve: Is the the title too revealing? Did the perspective of each illustration make sense? Is the illustration merely reflecting the text, or is there scope for additional detail?

 

Interacting with an enthusiastic group of writers, editors, illustrators and designers gave me plenty of time to reflect on the entire book-creation process, and I returned home feeling rather inspired and rejuvenated. Helping create simple and fun STEM books at Pratham Books has been both challenging and full of discovery, so it was gratifying to be able to share those experiences with others who are also trying to make reading more inclusive. It was also heartening to see some of the Pratham Books titles being distributed at the event and that too, in their local language! The Asia Foundation team had translated several of our titles into Khmer. As a multilingual publisher, nothing gives us more joy!

 

The 8 local-language books that were created during the 2-day Hackathon will soon be available for free on Let’s Read! - a digital platform that empowers underserved communities in Asia to build digital libraries in their own languages.
You can read more about the STEM hackathon here.

This post was written by Yamini, a Consultant Editor at Pratham Books who represented Pratham Books at the 'Let's Read! E-book Hackathon' in Cambodia.

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UPDATE: This position has been filled

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About Us:

Pratham Books (www.prathambooks.org) is a not-for-profit children's book publisher that was set up in 2004 to publish good quality, affordable books in many Indian languages. Our mission is to see ‘a book in every child’s hand’ and we have spread the joy of reading to millions of children in India. As a publisher serving every child in India, Pratham Books has always pushed the boundaries when it comes to exploring innovative ways in which to create access to joyful stories and have been fortunate in finding partners to collaborate with who share this vision.

In 2015, Pratham Books increased its footprint by going digital. StoryWeaver, is a digital platform that hosts stories in languages from India and beyond so that every child can have an endless stream of stories in her mother tongue to read and enjoy. The stories can be read, translated, versioned, or downloaded for free. All stories on the platform are openly licensed.

Illustration by Vibha Surya from Shruthi Floats an Idea, written by Navin Dorairaju, published by Pratham Books

We are looking for a Partnerships Manager - StoryWeaver

In the last few years, we have increased our impact by investing deeply in technology-based initiatives to further our mission. At StoryWeaver, we aim to do this by reaching out to more organisations, more educators, and many more children across the world - through our digital content. 

We are looking for a passionate individual to lead the StoryWeaver Partnerships function to make our impact wider by forging strategic partnerships with organisations that promote reading and learning among children. The Partnerships Manager will be responsible for strategising and executing plans to increase the user base of StoryWeaver and also provide the necessary resources, support, and training to the partner network.

 Key Responsibilities:

 New Partnerships and Key Account Management:

• Build and manage accounts with governmental and non-profit organisations and strategise, design, and execute plans to nurture sustained partnerships with them
• Expand and nurture networks of partners working with children and/or educators in the field of ed-tech 
• Identify and engage in-depth with key high-stake partners to understand their programmes, their impact, and provide content resources/training/support tailored to specific needs of partners 
• Implement strategies and initiatives to ensure large-scale adoption of new offerings through the network of partners
• Represent StoryWeaver at relevant platforms and events while being the SPOC for government and large-scale partnerships
• Analyse and interpret platform and partner data from the platform to devise and develop the strategy for the vertical

 Content Curation and/or Development: 

• Project manage collaboration with partners and external subject matter experts to curate and/or develop curriculum-based offerings for existing and prospective partners 
• Liaison with educational organisations, governmental partners, and teachers on curating content based on curriculum and structured frameworks

Others: 

• Provide information, feedback, and support to the internal product team for the development of new product offerings
• Maintain documentation for the various processes under the Partnerships function and to help with research and documentation for impact assessment
• Lead and manage a team to ensure a wide network of Indian and International partners 

  Required skills and experiences: 

• 7+ years of work experience in Education, Outreach, Partnerships, or related areas
• Direct experience working with teachers and/or in classrooms
• Experience in content design/development and training in the areas of literacy and primary education
• Exceptional communication and project-management/organisational skills 
• Proven ability to build consensus and work effectively within a cross-departmental team     
• Ability to network and make connections

Nice to have but not mandatory: 

1.      Experience working with non-profits     

2.      An interest in children’s literature, languages, and publishing

3.      Experience or interest in researching/documenting education/literacy programmes

Location: 

This is a full-time position is based out of Bangalore

Compensation: 

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

 Write to us:

Email your resume with Partnerships Manager- StoryWeaver in the subject line to [email protected]. Also, send us a short paragraph on why you think you are suitable for the position.

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