SCOPE OF WORK – GENDER CONSULTANT – WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF
Task: Gender Mainstreaming and Integration
Dates: October 2024 – March 2025
Deliverable: Recommendations, systems and tools for gender transformative programming.
Job Location: Remote/home-based
1. INTRODUCTION
World Bicycle Relief empowers communities in marginalized regions around the world to thrive with life-changing bicycles. We envision a world where distance is no longer a barrier to education, health services, and economic opportunity. A catalyst for change, World Bicycle Relief helps people in need realize their goals by providing a tool, the bicycle, to help them thrive. Equipped with a purpose-designed Buffalo Bicycle from World Bicycle Relief, students, health workers, and entrepreneurs in low-income regions create opportunities for themselves, their families, and entire communities.
We are a mission-driven, global, not-for-profit social enterprise that manages a highly refined bicycle supply chain from design through final distribution. World Bicycle Relief uses an innovative business model to create sustainable bicycle ecosystems. Through World Bicycle Relief’s 501(c)3, we provide transport solutions to those who cannot afford them, and through Buffalo Bicycle Limited, we sell the rugged Buffalo Bicycle and spare parts. Through our comprehensive bicycle ecosystem, Buffalo Bicycle Limited also offers users repair and maintenance services via trained local mechanics and a retail network of more than 100 shops. WBR has distributed more than 775,000 fit-for-purpose bicycles and trained 3,250+ community-based mechanics. Girls with Buffalo Bicycles are 19% less likely to drop out of school; dairy farmers earn 23% more income; and health workers reach 88% more patients.
2. ABOUT THE PROJECT
In 2024, WBR launched a three-year strategic plan focusing on scaling impact through growth, partnerships, and influencing. Through innovative mobility programming and scaling the bicycle ecosystem, WBR will increase access, ownership, and use of fit-for-purpose bicycles among last-mile communities needing access to goods, services, and markets. The strategy emphasizes improving health, education, and economic opportunity outcomes for youth, women and girls, and marginalized groups. The strategy will be achieved through organizational excellence factors of integrity, trust and transparency, people-driven, accountable empowerment, dynamic collaboration, and relentless learning. See our website for more information.
Emerging from a year with significant growth coupled with staffing and strategy changes, WBR seeks a consultant who will critically review the current status of gender mainstreaming and integration in the organization’s program and operating model (including social enterprise) against industry best practices. They will then provide recommendations and guidance towards becoming a gender-equitable and inclusive organization. WBR recognizes that our full potential and impact can only be realized with a knowledgeable team and supporting policies that drive gender equality.
This consultancy compasses three main pillars:
- Assess and evaluate internal practices towards mainstreaming gender, including a review of leadership and governance, people and culture, communication, brand image, policies and practices, donor acquisition, talent recruitment and retention.
- Assess and evaluate programming and social enterprise practices toward gender mainstreaming and equity, including a review of program standard operating procedures, analysis of gender-disaggregated program data and outcomes, partnerships, brand image and marketing, participant targeting, engagement, and participation.
- Provide recommendations, tools, guidance, and training on integrating and institutionalizing best practices in gender mainstreaming and integration in the organization’s programs and operations.
3. ABOUT THE CONSULTANCY
The objective of this engagement is to evaluate how gender considerations are being integrated into WBR and Buffalo’s activities and operations and to identify strengths and weaknesses in advancing gender outcomes as they relate to the focus of our new strategic plan and supporting operating model. The review will assess WBR’s status and plans to ensure a gender and socially inclusive approach to mobility programming and operations. The gender assessment will identify successes as well as critical gaps in gender integration and use the findings to inform the design and content of specific interventions and training materials to increase institutional awareness of contextual gender and social dynamics in programming as well as strengthen institutional gender capacity.
Findings from this gender assessment will serve as a baseline guide for monitoring progress towards WBR/Buffalo, strengthening its capacity to mainstream gender into its programs and operations. The operations and program assessments are envisioned as a participatory exercise involving the organization’s interconnected units. Based on the assessment findings, the consultant will work with WBR to execute activities on gender mainstreaming and integration and ensure the establishment of systems, tools, and plans towards high-quality implementation of gender transformative initiatives and approaches.
4. TIMELINE AND DELIVERABLES
The consultant will deliver and support execution of the following:
Phase one:
- Gender assessment/audit tools and methodology
- A report detailing the internal evaluation findings of WBR’s baseline approach to gender integration. The report is finalized with a preliminary review and discussion of the findings by the supporting team.
Phase two:
- Gender assessment/audit tools and methodology
- A concise report focused on design recommendations/adaptations for making WBR more gender-sensitive and gender-transformative. The report is finalized with a preliminary review and discussion of the findings by the supporting team.
Phase three:
- An organizational gender integration and capacity strengthening plan with suggested tools, methods, training, and a timeline for an implementation plan addressing the identified gaps.
The expected timeline: October 2024 – March 2025
The expected number of days will be discussed and determined with the consultant.
Organizational Operations Audit: 2 months
Program and Non-profit social enterprise evaluation: 1 month
Review, recommendations, capacity strengthening two months
5. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- Demonstrated experience accompanying organizations to mainstream gender equity in programs and operations.
- Evidence of tools and methods used to drive successful outcomes
- Tact and sensitivity in understanding and conducting evaluations
- Multicultural lens, sensitivity to cultural nuances, significant experience living, working and operating in global contexts.
- Advanced degree in gender and development studies. Women studies and related social sciences are a plus.
- Significant experience in implementing gender assessments and adapting projects or programs to be gender-sensitive and gender-transformative
- Demonstrated capacity to work with deadlines and pay attention to detail
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Fluency in English, knowledge of Spanish a plus
