Elevate Children Funders Group (ECFG) is seeking a consultant to support our Secretariat and network to ensure that our in-person 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) prioritizes Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging. The meeting will take place from 3-6 June in Nairobi, Kenya; local candidates will be prioritized. The consultancy would begin in February 2024 and conclude 30 June, following a post-event review with the team. Applications are due by 4 February 2024.
About ECFG
Elevate Children Funders Group is a funders affinity group, e.g., a network of grantmakers/funders. It is the leading global network of funders focused exclusively on the wellbeing and rights of children and youth. We focus on the most marginalized and vulnerable to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence.
We support children and youth by building a community of funders, and creating spaces for:
- Greater learning and effectiveness in how we use our individual resources
- More collaboration and alignment across our strategies
- Joint action for new resources and support for our field
Established in 2011, ECFG now counts 23 member funder organizations, including many of the leading global funders and philanthropic advisors funding the wellbeing and rights of children and youth. ECFG works on the premise that we are “better together.” We believe our potential impact as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts and that together we can drive greater sustainable change than as individual foundations working alone.
Context and Rationale
ECFG hosts a regular meeting of its members and partners approximately every 1.5 years. The next meeting will be held from 4-6 June 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. We expect about 90-130 participants, including both member representatives and external partners, with many from the Nairobi region.
ECFG’s members are primarily from foundations based in the Global North, although some individual member representatives are based in or come from the Global South. We currently have one member organization from the Global South, and interest from several more to join in early 2024. While we are actively working to decolonize our network to bring on more members from the Global South, the Secretariat team supporting the network lacks diversity, as all three staff members are white women from the US.
The network is also engaged in an initiative to better understand and practice meaningful child and youth participation. Our child and youth participation working group has developed a toolkit for funders and engaged in a deep-dive learning journey on the topic. We also are developing a program of youth engagement in the network to better include the voices and perspectives of young people in our work. While ECFG members’ funding focuses on children and youth, the vast majority of individuals participating in the network are adults.
During our last annual meeting, several microaggressions were experienced by young people and people of color. We have had feedback from some members that the space didn’t feel safe or inclusive for people of different backgrounds and our annual survey indicated that some members would feel uncomfortable referring funders from the Global South for membership.
We recognize and acknowledge in our Guiding Principles and Theory of Change that addressing intersectional oppression is critical to achieving the change we want for children and young people. We want to ensure that our space is worthy of including the people and communities our members ultimately serve, particularly given the challenges inherent in how the White and Northern philanthropic sector, and our network, operate.
As a first step in what we anticipate to be a much longer journey to increase our capacity to live the values of DEIAB within our team and network, we are seeking a consultant to help us design DEIAB interventions aimed at ensuring that our upcoming meeting is a safe and inclusive space for people of diverse backgrounds.
Consultancy overview
Purpose
- To ensure that the 2024 ECFG AGM reflects, in both design and practice, the principles of DEIAB
Objectives
- Secretariat team and AGM Planning Committee are supported in DEIAB in the design and conduct of the AGM
- All participants at the AGM, including young people, feel included and experience a sense of belonging in the ECFG space; feel able to engage in authentic and meaningful dialogue; and experience a welcoming platform to speak their minds, share insights, and practice leadership throughout the conference.
- The meeting cultivates a community that is aware of its power and privilege, and actively seeks to rebalance that power.
Proposed format & deliverables
We are open to conversations with potential consultants about the approach that they would take to this work. We have envisioned that it may include the following:
- Conduct a kick-off meeting with ECFG secretariat team to assess the current state of the network and meeting planning
- Design and facilitate a meeting with the AGM Planning Committee to understand their perspectives
- Design and facilitate pre-meetings with all members and with members and partners planning to attend the meeting
- Attend the meeting; design and facilitate DEIAB interventions at the meeting and help integrate DEIAB within the meeting
- Support the planning committee and secretariat to address any specific issues or incidents that arise
- Submit a final report, including a summary of work and next steps, as well as observations for the secretariat and network on additional areas for DEIAB improvement
Suggested Timeline
We are seeking a consultant to commence work in February 2024 and attend the meeting to provide support. The meeting will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 4-6 June 2024. The final report will be due by 30 June 2024.
Budget
ECFG has allocated up to $12,000 for this work. This budget is inclusive of consultant time, direct costs, travel time, and incidental costs (ground transportation, meals during travel, supplies, etc.). ECFG will arrange and cover the cost of printed materials for the meeting, of one economy-class ticket (if needed) and hotel accommodation (includes most meals).
Criteria
We are seeking applications from individuals, teams, or organizations that meet the following criteria:
- Experience designing & implementing DEIAB strategies for meetings/conferences
- Experience working on DEIAB issues with nonprofits, philanthropies, and/or philanthropic support organizations (PSOs)/funders networks
- Knowledge and understanding of the philanthropic ecosystem; experience working with philanthropic organizations or PSOs preferred
ECFG seeks to engage diverse consultants that are representative of the communities our members serve globally, so we encourage consultants/teams that include young people (up to 30 years of age), people from the Global South, and black, indigenous, and other people of color to apply.
To Apply
ECFG recognizes that there is increased reliance on consultants and firms led by BIPOC/people from the Global South, and that answering an RFP takes thoughtful time and energy. We would like to ease the submission requirements for this request for proposals. Rather than requiring a lengthy, unique proposal, we’re asking you to submit a cover letter and resume/capabilities statement that addresses the items below, so we can gauge your level of expertise and the quality of output without the burden of creating extensive new material for this submission.
Please submit your resume/firm capabilities statement and a cover letter that:
- Describes your/your firm’s capabilities relative to the criteria listed above
- Explains your proposed methodology and fee, including any suggested changes to process or deliverables
describing your qualifications for the project against the listed criteria;
- Links to or attaches at least one example of a previous piece of work that demonstrates your capacity to conduct the project (with the recognition that this may be in summary form only, due to confidentiality issues).
The application should be sent to Heather.Hamilton@elevatechildren.org by 4 February 2024. We expect to hold interviews starting the week of 12 February. Please reach out to Heather if you have additional questions when developing the application.
