ITF is looking for a consultant to conduct an impact evaluation of the International Trans Fund (ITF)

BACKGROUND
The International Trans Fund (ITF) is a participatory grantmaking fund consisting of trans activists and donors. The ITF aims to increase the capacity of trans movements to self-organize and effectively advocate for trans people’s freedom from violence and discrimination, social inclusion, access to justice, self-determination, and well-being. The ITF’s long-term goals include:

1. Build & Sustain the Fund | Build and sustain a mechanism to support trans-led groups of different sizes working on a range of issues at the international, regional, country, and local levels, with a particular emphasis on groups with access to fewer resources.
2. Resource Trans Movements | Increase resources and enhance access to resources to support trans movements, including:
   • Access to financial resources dedicated to trans-led organizations and networks, through grant making.
   • Access to non-financial resources for trans organizations, such as skills building, organizational strengthening, leadership development and activist support.
   • Access to other and new donors for trans organizations, beyond the ITF’s direct support.
3. Educate Philanthropic Community | Educate peers in the philanthropic community on trans issues and influence other funders and strategic allies in trans-related commitments and strategies.

The ITF is the only global participatory grant maker that is exclusively dedicated to supporting trans-led groups to secure rights for trans people and improve the lived realities of trans individuals. The ITF is led by well-established and respected trans activists that have strong links to trans-led groups in all regions. Since its founding in 2015, the ITF has leveraged more than $10 million for the global trans movement. Resourcing trans movements means supporting, sustaining, and amplifying the work its leaders are already accomplishing. Over five grant cycles, the ITF has allocated $3.877M to 134 trans-led groups in 80 countries. The Fund continues to engage funders and bolster our long-term sustainability.

The ITF is currently in its 6th year of implementation and seeks to conduct an impact evaluation study of the organization and its past 5 grant making cycles.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project is to enable the International Trans Fund (ITF) assess its impact over the past 5 years bearing in mind its expanded areas of intervention with a view to strengthen and enhance the ITF’s impact in delivering on its mandate.

SCOPE OF THE CONSULTANCY

The Consultant will be required to utilize appropriate quantitative and qualitative tools and methods to achieve the objectives of the consultancy services. The scope of the consultancy will include:

• Review the structure, activities and working methods of the ITF and its governing structures. 
• Conduct an assessment of the impact of the work, activities and working methods of the ITF vis a vis its mandate including a review of its grantee portfolio. 
• Produce a report of its findings and recommendations on the Assignment.
• Dissemination meeting for the Fund’s secretariat and Steering Committee.
• Develop a Plan of Action for the implementation of the recommendations in the Impact Assessment Report.

KEY DELIVERABLES

1. A detailed Report that highlights the impact that the ITF and our grantee partners have had from 2017 – 2022.
2. Availability of a scientific basis upon which the structure and working methods of the Fund can be reviewed and revamped to enable the ITF to deliver better.
3. Information generated on the ITF’s areas of strength, best practices, and areas for improvement.
4. A Plan of Action with time frames for Implementation of the Recommendations.

The consultant shall:

• Work remotely 
• Submit to the ITF the methodology to be used to conduct the consultancy as well as the work plan indicating timeframes for the assignment.
• Prepare and submit a draft report for review and validation by the ITF.
• Organise a validation workshop in collaboration with the ITF’s Secretariat to review and validate the report of its findings and recommendations and plan of action. 
• Act as a resource person in the validation workshop for the staff of the secretariat and the Fund’s Steering Committee.
• Prepare a final report which incorporates the observations and comments made to the draft report and plan of action and submit them to the ITF’s secretariat.
• The report shall be validated only if it is satisfactory and meets the requirements of the ITF. Thus, the Consultant may be required to improve on the document until it meets the requirements of the ITF. 

METHODOLOGY

The methodology of the consultant will be guided (but not limited to) by the following assessment questions and criteria: 

Grantmaking 

• How has the funding that the ITF has disbursed through grants and other means to trans-led groups made (or not) tangible, positive change in communities?
• Is the ITF funding reaching groups with limited resources that are engaged in movement building activities?
• Has the ITF contributed to strengthening trans movement building across the globe over the 5 grant cycles?
• How effective and efficient is the ITF’s grant making mechanism and processes and has it registered any improvements across the % grant cycles?
• To what extent is the ITF’s participatory grant making model an effective and an efficient use of its resources?

Institutional Strengthening

• How has the ITF grown as an organization over the 5 years? 
• How effective has the ITF been in stewarding and mobilizing resources? 
• What has the investment in trans leadership and decision-making meant to the organization?
• What role has the ITF played in developing the skills/capacities of its governing bodies (e.g., Steering Committee and Grant Making Panel)? 

Capacity-Building/Accompaniment

• Have the activities designed and implemented by the ITF addressed the identified capacity needs and improved the skills of participants? 
• Has the ITF provided meaningful support/accompaniment to grantee partners? What could be expanded and improved?
• To what extent has the ITF played a meaningful role in ensuring that trans-led groups are able to access other funding/funders or leveraging new (non-ITF) funding?

Philanthropic Advocacy

• • Has the ITF played a positive role (or any role) in shifting how donors fund trans movements? What, if anything, has changed since the ITF’s inception in philanthropy, specifically the LGBTQI philanthropic space?

• What is the unique role that the ITF has played within philanthropy as the only international trans participatory grant maker?

Assessment questions and criteria will be fully developed and finalised by the consultant(s) together with the ITF. 

The Consultant(s) will work under the supervision of the ITF Deputy Director.

DURATION OF THE CONSULTANCY

The duration of the consultancy is a maximum of 30 working days between 20th March and 30th August 2022.

PROPOSED BROAD TIMELINE

• Publication of Call: 5th February 2022
• Expression of interest close: 4th March 2022
• Appointment of consulting partner: 20th March 2022
• Evaluation study: 20th March to 1st August 2022
• Publication of the study by ITF 1st September 2022

TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Technical and professional experience 

• Proven experience in working with marginalised and excluded populations. Experience in conducting research with trans people and communities will be an added advantage. 
• Proven experience and expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods. 
• Proven experience of successfully undertaking project/program baseline, midline or endline evaluations.
• Proven experience of conducting surveys of similar set-up, size, and scope on a regional or international scale. 
• Knowledge and experience of participatory assessment / development approaches will be required
• Broad experience in conducting large surveys (data collection, validation, entry, analysis, and report writing) using multiple mediums and approaches. 
• Experience of working in complex donor/funder settings. 

LANGUAGES

Proficiency in written and spoken English is required. Knowledge of Spanish and other ITF working languages would be an added advantage

DESIRED EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

• Consultant should have experience and knowledge of the funding challenges that exist within the trans community, especially the funding gaps experienced by trans groups and movements. 
• Consultant must have international experience in assessing the impacts of grants and knowledge of the grant making and the philanthropic sector.
• Consultant must have experience and knowledge on gender analysis and integrating questions of gender and diversity in their evaluation and analysis (and ideally have experience in feminist research and analysis).

SELECTION CRITERIA

This Call for Expression of Interest will lead to the preparation of a Short List of consultants. For evaluation of the expressions of interest the following criteria will be applied:

HOW TO APPLY 

To apply e-mail one document containing:

• Cover letter including daily rate 
• CV/Resume including three contactable references 
• Proposed approach to assignment (2 pages max)
• Two samples of previous related work 

To [email protected]  on or before the 5th March 2022