Issue Date: July 7, 2023
Proposal Due Date: July 18, 2023
Anticipated Award Date: July 21, 2023
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Project Description:
IREX (International Research & Exchanges Board) is seeking quotes from qualified vendors to manage the Community Solutions Program’s (CSP) virtual Communities of Practice, an alumni engagement initiative, from August 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024. CSP is a professional leadership development program for early to mid-career civil society leaders ages 25 to 38 years old and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by IREX. CSP alumni are international professionals ages 26 to 50 working in one of four thematic areas: environmental issues, peace and conflict resolution, transparency and accountability, and women and gender issues.
The role will be responsible for the coordination and management of 10 distinct, virtual Communities of Practice, an alumni engagement initiative within CSP. Communities of Practice are collaborative and strategic assemblies of CSP alumni that will consist of a group of 10 to 15 CSP alumni from that region or thematic area and aim to promote skills-building, knowledge sharing, professional networking, and cross-sector collaboration within the CSP alumni community.
Responsibilities:
Responsibilities for the role include:
Design dynamic and highly member engagement methodology and approaches for conducting the Communities of Practice- Support recruitment and selection of Community of Practice members
- Collaborate with Communities of Practice members to identify goals, expectations, and vision
- Collaborate with Communities of Practice members to generate monthly meeting agendas
- Facilitate monthly Communities of Practice virtual discussions
- Coordinate with Communities of Practice members to create live workshops or guest speaker sessions
- Manage the coordination of Communities of Practice offline tasks and communication
- Design Community of Practice implementation and monitoring plan
- Submit a sustainability plan in preparation for the completion of the Communities of Practice
Anticipated Community of Practice Timeline:
- Complete Community of Practice member selection by August 23, 2023
- Conduct initial Community of Practice member information collection, including available times to meet, by August 30, 2023
- Hold the first official launch meeting of each of the 10 Communities of Practice by September 10, 2023
- Facilitate monthly meetings with each Community of Practice from September 2023 to May 2024
- Hold monthly check-ins with IREX September 2023 to May 2024
- Draft a Community of Practice Sustainability Plan by November 15, 2023
- Submit a finalized Sustainability Plan by March 1, 2024
- Proposal Requirements:
Interested parties must submit a resume and proposal, including a breakdown of costs, that demonstrates their capacity and plan to:
- Propose and implement a high-level member engagement approach and methodology that includes specifics tools and resources to be used throughout the year (ex: Miro, Mural, WhatsApp, Google Forms, etc.)
- Design a thorough Community of Practice implementation and monitoring plan that includes how the vendor will:
- Collaborate with Community of Practice members to identify the specific needs, interests, and expectations within each Community of Practice as well as the practice’s overall goals, vision, and intentions (ex: pre-meeting survey, Google form, or through live first session)
- Ensure the first Community of Practice meeting will be held by each of the 10 Communities of Practice by September 10, 2023
- Facilitate 10 monthly, virtual sessions with 10-15 global civil society leaders per Community of Practice
- Coordinate meeting preparation and offline communication of tasks to Community of Practice members
- Devise a Community of Practice sustainability or succession plan after completion
- Meet with IREX monthly to discuss implementation and feedback
- Effectively utilize cross-cultural communication and interpersonal skills
- Ensure organizational capacity through demonstrated expertise and prior experience
IREX will consider signing a contract with a qualified vendor based on overall price competitiveness, organizational capacity as demonstrated by past performances and experience implementing similar projects, qualifications of key personnel, sufficiency of methodology outlined in proposal, and demonstrated expertise in one or more regions or thematic areas.
The anticipated award will be a fixed price contract. IREX reserves the right to withdrawal this request for proposal at any time up to the award of the contract.
Previous Community of Practice Implementation Lessons Learned: as you draft your proposal, we encourage you to keep in mind the below learnings acquired from the first year of Community of Practice implementation:
Identify areas for collaboration and contribution early within each Communities of Practice- Use first Community of Practice meeting and time before/after to engage members to collaborate on identifying the practice’s values and purpose, goals and objectives, and member expectations and vision
- Ensure clarity of Community of Practice expectations and benefits (both in what the members expect and can offer as well as what IREX/vendor expects and can offer)
- Provide training on interactive collaboration platform for Community of Practice engagement and resource sharing
- Create a central discussion board, Facebook page, or Google folder for each CoP to share opportunities, store resources and tools, and advertise for collaborations.
Proposals must also include a list and resumes of key staff who will be assigned to support this project, a detailed description of the method staff will use to perform the tasks outlined above, and a brief description of at least two similar projects completed by the vendor accompanied by references with contact information.
Note: Proposals with total budgets over $30,000 will not be considered.
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Effective cross-cultural communication and interpersonal skills
- Organizational capacity through demonstrated prior experience
- Demonstrated expertise in one or more regions or thematic areas
- Previous experience managing and facilitating multiple groups of professionals, preferably in an intercultural setting
- Flexibility and adaptability working across multiple time zones
- Familiarity with and access to collaborations platforms, such as Miro
Proposal Submission:
If you are interested in furnishing the services described above, please email a proposal with all required elements to kwooldridge@irex.org. Proposals must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date indicated above. Late submissions will only be considered if in the best interest of the project, and then at IREX’s sole discretion. All proposals submitted must be valid for a period of not less than thirty (30) calendar days from the closing date indicated above.
Proposal Evaluation:
The criteria for evaluating proposals are listed below:
- Overall price competitiveness (25%)
- Organizational capacity as demonstrated by past performances and experience implementing similar projects (20%)
- Demonstrated expertise in one or more regions or thematic areas (20%)
- Qualifications of key personnel (20%)
- Sufficiency of methodology outlined in proposal (15%)
IREX will schedule calls with potential vendors as needed to further evaluate proposals.
Renewal
IREX reserves the right, based on availability of funding and vendor performance, to enter into subsequent contractual agreements with the winning vendor for a period of up to five years without issuing a new RFP.
** Please note that the above-mentioned events are funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of State and must comply with all U.S. government grant policies.
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