Job Title: Relationship ManagerJob Status:

Full Time

Application Deadline:

May 20, 2009 (See Application Instructions)

About Gray Matters Capital Foundation:

Gray Matters Capital Foundation (GMC), the charitable arm of Gray Ghost Ventures

, usesphilanthropic capital to research and co-create initiatives with partners in developing countries to buildsustainable, replicable business models for the benefit of underserved populations. One of GMC’sfocus areas is to increase the access to and quality of primary and secondary education for the poorin India.

Focus: Affordable Private Schools (APSs) in Hyderabad, India

GMC believes that access to quality education can provide new opportunities and significantlyimprove lives. Many countries are facing severe problems with their government-run educationsystem due to limited resources and multiple layers of bureaucracy resulting in ineffective learningenvironments. As a result, privately owned schools for low-income families have been started byeducational entrepreneurs. Families become paying clients with rights to insist on quality. Theygenerate market demand and drive intense competition through school selection. Because theseschools are social enterprises, they put an emphasis on quality, efficiency and performance, justifyingthe modest tuition charged that allow them to become sustainable enterprises. The combinedbusiness and academic model makes these schools market-based solution to increase access andquality of education and provides parents with a viable alternative to ineffective government schools.

Approach: APS Ecosystem Development

GMC’s goal is to strengthen the ecosystem around the emerging affordable private school sector toensure that schools have access to affordable tools and resources that allow them to offer qualityeducation in a sustainable manner. We want to support schools in their quest to keep learning at theforefront of the business model, believing that quality is a key driver of viability

The ecosystemconsists of a network of stakeholders including school owners/principals, teachers, parents andstudents working with external partners such as education service providers, donors, investors, andregulators.We will fortify the ecosystem by focusing on the following strategic objectives: (1) Quality Teachingand Learning, (2) Management Leadership, (3) Infrastructure Development, (4) AdvancingKnowledge, and (5) Transparency.

Philosophy: Social Enterprise

Sustainability is the cornerstone of GMC interventions. Activities are prioritized according to marketdemand and will not undermine the market-based models. Over the long run, it is our vision thatschool owners will recognize the benefits and adopt these new methods as part of doing businesswell. Therefore, they will incorporate the costs of the tools into their expenses without compromisingfinancial viability.

Impact

By incorporating social enterprise philosophy into its ecosystem building initiatives, GMC aims toincrease learning outcomes in 1,000 affordable private schools in Hyderabad, AP by 2011. Once ascalable and impactful model is developed and tested successfully

Since 1996, Gray Ghost Ventures has worked to foster strategic innovation by incubating and investing in enterprises andtools to provide market-based solutions to social issues. Through the initiatives of its investment activities and charitablefoundations, The Rockdale Foundation and Gray Matters Capital Foundation (GMC), Gray Ghost Ventures has improvedcapacity of the microfinance industry in the Arab world, supported successful reform efforts in the Atlanta Public Schools, andcreated the first privately-held global microfinance investment portfolio and social venture capital fund, offering both financialand social returns.