Learning and Evaluation Consultancy

Applications considered on rolling basis until April 16th, 2021
About Astraea:
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice (Astraea) works for social, racial, and economic justice globally. Our grantmaking and philanthropic advocacy programs support and enable LGBTQI organizations to challenge oppression and claim their human rights. In pursuing our mission, Astraea engages in grantmaking by raising and distributing funds to social change programs, capacity building and leadership development through strategic programmatic support, philanthropic advocacy by expanding the community of donors that support LGBTQI issues, and media and communications to increase visibility and break isolation of our constituencies.

Consultancy Profile:
Astraea developed its current Theory of Change and Learning and Evaluation Framework in 2017. Since then we have launched new complex partnerships, and experienced significant organizational growth and change. Our L&E Systems need an aligned upgrade, including implementing an integrated information collection and analysis system across Astraea’s functional teams. We seek to contract a consultant based on their experience in learning & evaluation, and excellent knowledge of feminist evaluation approaches, as well as other complementary evaluation approaches. Experience in managing feminist evaluation systems for a range of reporting environments, including to movements and complex bilateral funding agencies, is a strong plus.

Scope of Work:

• Review existing documents including Astraea’s L&E Framework, Theory of Change and program assessments;
• Provide assessment of L&E processes currently implemented in each team;
• In consultation with relevant team members, facilitate processes and procedures for both interim data collection and long-term systems upgrades and integrated knowledge management;
• Design, test/pilot and refine recommendations for a cohesive L&E approach at the organizational level that can be streamlined across each team/department

     o include methods of data collection and analysis grounded in Astraea’s exciting L&E framework;

     o include internal structures for how to institutionalize L&E in systems, processes and procedures;

     o include recommendations for cross-team/functional working units;

     o Gather feedback, iterate as required

• Align the L&E design & deliverables (for both new proposal development and ongoing projects) at multiple levels: for the organization, for specific funding sources (including government funds from multiple bilateral entities), for each team;
• Provide input on and implement recommendations in alignment with Astraea’s integrated IT/infrastructure project, especially to in regards to secure data collection and data management;
• Design L&E training modules for Astraea staff (for both onboarding and continuous improvement), including guidance & training on data analysis & dissemination tools;
• Co-facilitate learning discussions and reflections at team and institutional level; and
• Make recommendations for how to staff an L&E team that takes into consideration the need to streamline L&E across functional units of the organization. Applicant Qualifications and Skills
• Minimum 5-7 years experience with monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) work, particularly in social justice, human rights, feminist and/or grantmaking institutions
• Strong knowledge of feminist evaluation approaches, including feminist/progressive research design and methodologies
• Experience managing learning objectives and sharing learnings across a variety of reporting environments, including reporting to activists & movements, and reporting to complex bilateral funding agencies
• Experience with databases and data management, including grantmaking & MEL systems, dissemination/visualization tools, and day-to-day project management and collaborative work applications such as Asana and Box
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to handle multiple and often competing deadlines
• Ability to work independently, remotely, and with teams, with members across different time zones
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and liaison skills to manage a wide variety of internal and external relationships

Duration of Contract: This consultancy is initially for a one-year engagement. Future contracts may be negotiated with touch-points every year depending on scope of work needed alongside growth of an L&E team on staff, consultant performance and availability of funds.

Location and Reporting: The consultant will be based remotely and will report to Astraea’s Deputy Executive Director.

To Apply:

In addition to your CV, please submit a cover letter that includes a brief summary of how you will approach the work and your proposed daily rate. Please also submit three organization/client references with name, title and organization, and contact information.

Please submit these documents via email to [email protected] with the subject line “L&E Consultant.” Proposals will be considered on a rolling basis until April 16th, 2021. Astraea will contact selected candidates for an interview before making a final decision and offer. We encourage proposals from LGBTQI women and people of color, people from the Global South & East.