Volunteer with Janaagraha

Janaagraha has a core group of paid permanent staff and 200 volunteers who satisfy our HR requirements at any given point in time. Volunteers are important to Janaagraha in two respects: they infuse the organization with new ideas and creativity, and play a critical part of the ethos of the organization. 'Practical Patriotism' and 'Professional Volunteerism' are drivers in Janaagraha's approach to volunteers

As engaged citizens, YOU can be a part of Janaagraha and build on the opportunities to improve our public governance. Please find below an overview of different programs and related volunteer opportunities.

BALA JANAAGRAHA

The Bala Janaagraha programme is designed to create within our children, a strong moral and social compass that will guide them towards being responsible citizens in society. It seeks to equip children with the know ledge of how local governments operate and makes the students understand their role as future citizens in a democracy. Through a ‘citizenship course’ and structured activity-based projects , Bala Janaagraha also engages children in exploring civic issues directly related to their neighbourhoods.

The responsibilities include:

• Assist or conduct Bala Janaagraha classes.
• Guide and mentor students with projects.
• Accompany and ensure children's safety during all outdoor activities
• Assist core team conduct and organize Bala Janaagraha events.

Skills: Public speaking, project-management, event- management, volunteer management
Time commitment: 3 hours a week
Location:Bangalore

We need volunteers to present Bala Janaagraha to various schools to enroll them in the Bala Janaagraha program and further partnerships with existing new schools.

Time commitment: 3 hours a week.
Location:Bangalore

Volunteers will assist, guide and mentor children with their civic project work. They will be required to review their projects periodically. In addition, they may need to help Janaagraha organize civic fests.

Skills: Fluent in English & Kannada. Good communication, teaching & training skills.
Time commitment: 3 hours a week.
Location: Bangalore

Volunteers will assist in conducting the Bala Janaagraha programme at various schools. It is an experiential programme where children explore civic issues directly related to their neighborhood and their role in shaping their communities. Volunteers are required to participate in the class room sessions - interact, teach and guide the children in discussions, guide them with their civic project work and organize an event like the civic exhibition. They will put together written programme material and instructions and coordinate with school management, teachers and Janaagraha to run the programme.

Skills: Public speaking, fluency in English and Kannada. Project management, event management and community mobilization.
Time commitment: 10 hours a week
Location: Bangalore

CITIZEN AWARENESS PROGRAMME

Based on the belief that each individual can play a role in our democracy, the CAP was created to give citizens the knowledge, motivation and tools necessary to participate in the political process/governance of their city. The program is conducted by trained facilitators with small groups of participants.

Through multimedia presentations participants learn about the structure of the union, state and local governments, the infrastructure of service providers and the strengths and challenges of our democracy. Role-playing and team and individual exercises reinforce key concepts.

The final phase of the CAP introduces tools and methods for community engagement that enable individuals to contribute to the quality of life in their community. Participants become part of a growing network of committed citizens who feel a sense of ownership towards their city.

CAP Facilitators will undergo training and exposure to the program, before being permitted to train program participants. Facilitators must be willing to modify and develop their delivery based on regular evaluation and feedback.

Skills: Public speaking, documentation, content development, training.
Time Commitment:8 to 10 hours a week.
Location: Bangalore

WISA

Ward Infrastructure & Services Assessment (WISA) project is a unique initiative to assess an urban citizen’s quality of life through the measure of local public goods delivery in a citizen-centric manner. This will be done through a ward level measurement of a set of infrastructure and service indicators that are objective, quantifiable and unchallengeable. Besides being a powerful tool providing valuable information to urban planners and decision makers, WISA will also facilitate a direct accountability of local administration and elected representatives to the urban citizens.

The responsibilities of the Ward Champion include:

• Coordinate periodic data collection on field for water, electricity, air etc.
• Collect half-yearly feedback from various communities in your ward on safety, satisfaction with public amenities such as parks and playgrounds, etc.
• Conduct quarterly surveys to assess crime incidences, quality of public toilets etc.
• Enter data pertaining to your ward ONLINE to generate your ward’s WISA score.

Time Commitment: 2 full days a month.
Location: Bangalore

The responsibilities of a WISA Volunteer include:

• Conduct surveys in communities to assess safety and satisfaction with public amenities such as parks, playgrounds etc.
• Conduct ground surveys to assess the quality of lane markings and other feature of major roads in Bangalore.
• Conduct studies to determine crowding in buses across Bangalore during peak hours.

Time Commitment: 12 to 15 hours a week.
Location: Bangalore

COMMUNICATIONS

The Communications Program facilitates the information exchange and dialogue across stakeholder groups with the goal of positioning Janaagraha’s value and work in the context of Urban Governance and Citizen Participation.

The responsibilities of a Volunteer Anchor include:

• Assist in communication work within the designated program.
• Develop communication plans for each program: message mapping for stakeholders, content writing and media communication.
• Role play of communications volunteer.

Time Commitment:This is a part-time role and requires an input of 1 to 2 days a week at Janaagraha.
Location: Bangalore

We require Communication Volunteers with good writing skills and an ability to understand the Program. The volunteer will have to send weekly written updates of the Program which will be used on the website and in our monthly magazine. They will have to cover the YJ events and write articles on the progress of the Program.

Time Commitment: 2 to 3 hrs per week.
Location: Bangalore

The role includes content development and updating the website. S/he will be responsible to follow up with coordinators and collate updated content on a rotational basis. Interactive pages will have to be reviewed regularly and information kept current. S/he will build appropriate groups on the site and moderate them to move the dialogue forward meaningfully.

Time Commitment: 7 to 10 hrs per week with one meeting in the office.
Location: Bangalore

The responsibilities of a Design Volunteer include:

• Deliver specific design requirements using a brief given by the program
• Design and assist in work on posters/brochures/flyers/ etc.

Skills: Adobe software, photography, web design.
Time commitment: 8 to 10 hours a week.
Location: Bangalore

TECHNOLOGY

One of Janaagraha's goals is to effectively utilize the power of technology as an enabler in the urban governance landscape. Technology at Janaagraha encourages citizens to participate in improving their quality of life in their city through ward maps, Ward Online, discussion forums and opinion polls.

We need volunteers to help support the redesign of the website by supporting the technology team. This could also be a paid position if it is on a contract for a period of one month or more.

Skills: Web design, website development, DRUPAL CMS.

We have re-designed the homepage and inner pages of our website. Since our website is based on Drupal Content Management System we need the existing design to be converted to Drupal.
Skills: Web design, website development, DRUPAL CMS, PHP programming.
Time: Commitment: 10 hours a week.
Location: Bangalore

Jaago Re! One Billion Votes

Jaago Re! One Billion Votes is a non-partisan nationwide movement launched by Janaagraha and Tata Tea to awaken and enable the citizens of India, especially the youth, to register for voting. The mission is to register One Billion Voters to vote in the next five years for a more robust democracy. The campaign focuses on empowering the youth of India to lead this change.

The campaign will reach out to 11 key cities. Beginning 1st November 2008, talks will be organized in more than 200 of India's largest colleges and companies, to spread the message of the campaign and organizing ON THE SPOT voter registration drives using innovative technology.

Outreach will be managed largely by volunteers. The campaign will give opportunities to Institutions and Individuals (especially youth) to participate.
Institutions who have committed their support include Infosys, Wipro, St. Xaviers Mumbai, St Josephs Bangalore etc.

The Jaago Re! One Billion Votes campaign is looking for volunteers to join the Bangalore city team.

City Team Member: Role for Volunteers

You will need to spend one working day per week for the next 3 months,
playing these roles:
1. Outreach campaigner (mandatory)
2. Sunday campaigner (optional)
3. Outreach facilitator (optional)
An Outreach Campaigner needs to approach Colleges and Companies, to bring them on board as Host Institutes.
A Sunday Campaigner will conduct creative outreach events in the city to get youth enrolled on Jaago Re One Billion Votes!
An Outreach facilitator, will need to address audiences during outreach drives

For further details, attend our Orientation program every Saturday at 4pm. You can also visit us at www.janaagraha.org  or contact us at 080-41277102/103.
Write to us at kavitha@janaagraha.org ,volunteer@janaagraha.org