NGO Recruitment : Tara

Client: Tara Foundation

Service: Exclusive Executive Search

Role: Senior Regional Strategist Finance, Asia

Placement: 2024

Tara Climate Foundation is a philanthropic climate foundation dedicated to fostering a future where Asia’s unwavering commitment to climate action paves the way for just, thriving, and resilient societies. Since establishing its headquarters in Singapore in 2021, the foundation has provided grants to more than 300 organisations across the region. Over the last 2 years, Tara has experienced significant growth, expanding its funding base to include more than a dozen philanthropic foundations.

Challenge

NGO Recruitment was commissioned to search for a senior regional strategist finance in Asia. The role’s purpose is to shift Asian financial markets out of fossil fuels and into clean energy.

The brief was to find a candidate with finance sector expertise who could strategise like a campaigner, to advocate for the clean energy transformation with major finance organisations. The candidate would require a deep understanding of the drivers and barriers to shifting financial markets in Asia, and the drivers of capital markets, including environmental, social, and governance framework (ESG).

This candidate needed to be highly credible to finance sector decision makers, but also understand the role of civil society organisations.

Solution

NGO Recruitment conducted mapping and an international search and selection process to identify candidates who possessed a rare combination of both campaign strategy and finance sector expertise and networks.

We reached out to over 300 individuals from all sectors to identify finance professionals who had a demonstrated understanding of the drivers and barriers to shifting financial markets. We also used advertisements, social media and EDM campaigns to create awareness and generate referrals, and over 170 applications were received.

The successful candidate had both a sustainable finance and a legal background, with experience developing advocacy strategies for financial institutions to accelerate corporate climate action. They could demonstrate solid corporate engagement expertise in the finance sector and had the networks and strategic skillsets required.

Results

Around 300 professionals from all sectors were contacted
170+ formal applications were reviewed
A Singapore-based candidate was successfully appointed
The appointment helped to build Tara from start-up stage into a leading Asia-headquartered climate philanthropic foundation