REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Evaluation Consultant
Foundation for Louisiana (FFL) invites proposals from qualified consultants to support learning and evaluation efforts for our Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) initiative. With support and partnership from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and other TRHT sites, we are embarking on an ambitious and bold endeavor in pursuit of a Louisiana in which all people are free, respected, and loved. The TRHT program focuses on New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Both cities share a set of goals but have different objectives based on the political context, socioeconomic needs, opportunities, strengths and struggles in each location. While the program is staffed by FFL, it unfolds in partnership with our advisory council which is a diverse, cross-sector group of leaders and activists from both the New Orleans and Baton Rouge communities.
Foundation for Louisiana seeks an evaluation consultant to support FFL staff and partners in identifying and understanding areas of the THRT initiative that are successful, areas of challenge, and areas for strengthening, growth, and/or pivot in order to maximize community impact. We appreciate that there are many ways of knowing and being in this world and are open to both creative and more traditional approaches to learning and evaluation. Activities taken up by the external evaluator for this program may include but are not limited to the following:
- Creation of developmental evaluation tools and processes to help us understand the work as it unfolds in real time
- Development of process evaluation tools to help us understand the implementation of our values in our work
- Updating our existing program theory of change
- Development of a healing justice indicator framework
- Storytelling and story capturing work to help us elevate the voices of Louisiana people helping forge a better and more just state
- Observation of advisory committee meetings
- Production of an annual summative evaluation report
- Monthly meetings with FFL staff
Key questions we would like to understand over time include the following:
- Is there a stronger ecosystem for racial justice organizing and power-building in Louisiana as a result of our TRHT efforts?
- Are recipients of healing justice practitioner grants in a better position to serve their communities and sustain themselves?
- Are technical assistance grant recipients able to increase their capacity and achieve desired impact related to racial justice and healing in their communities?
- Are participants of civic leadership and coalition building activities, rooted in the TRHT framework, better able to advocate for policy changes and produce wins?
This work builds on the first phase of the TRHT initiative which ran from 2016 - 2021. The budget for this 15-month contract (April 1, 2023 - July 31, 2024) is $35,000 with the possibility for renewal for two additional years at a contract value of $28,500 per year.
Desired Competencies
We anticipate the successful applicant will demonstrate a significant number of the following competencies and skills:
- Demonstrated commitment to racial equity and justice practices broadly as well as specifically in terms of evaluation and learning
- Significant experience (5+ years) as an evaluator on grant-funded projects utilizing a variety of evaluation tools and approaches
- An active awareness of the many systems and issues that impact the ability of Louisiana’s people to thrive and the way these systems and issues are experienced differently on the basis of race
- Familiarity with healing justice and/or racial healing
- Excellent oral and written communication skills that are responsive to the needs of varied audiences
- Ability to effectively facilitate online and in-person meetings, convenings, and other gatherings of diverse stakeholders to ensure equity and inclusion for all participants and attendees
- Commitment to FFL’s values of integrity, community wisdom, courage, and commitment
Selection Criteria
Applications will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Priority will be given to applicants based in Louisiana
- Demonstrated experience working with organizations led by and/or initiatives centering the experience of people of the global majority, LGBTQIA+ people, immigrants, and people with disabilities
- Effective incorporation of FFL’s values into proposal materials
- Demonstrated ability to work successfully with many different types of stakeholders, which include TRHT Baton Rouge and New Orleans Advisory Committees, FFL’s Board, staff, community leaders and members
- Reasonableness of proposed cost
Timeline
- February 23: RFP announced
- March 17: Applications due by 12:00pm CT
- March 15 -March 23: Review period
- March 24: Notifications
To Apply
Please submit a proposal including a narrative description of qualifications (be sure to include how you have centered racial justice in all areas of your work) that will support the achievement of the activities and outcomes listed above. Please also include detailed information about fees and billing structure and a resume/CV, contact information, and/or brief bios of key staff members. Proposals should not exceed 10 pages. Please send application materials to Wankeeta Jackson at kjackson@foundationforlouisiana.org.
About Foundation for Louisiana
Foundation for Louisiana is a social justice philanthropic intermediary founded in 2005 as the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation to invest in the immediate recovery of Louisiana’s communities after Hurricane Katrina. While FFL was established in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, our founders recognized the need to address the longstanding inequities that have shaped life outcomes for the most marginalized of Louisianans. Our programs grew in response to these needs, and today FFL focuses on racial justice, climate justice, criminal justice reform, economic opportunity, LGBTQ organizing, and support for Louisiana's vibrant arts and culture.
Since inception, FFL has invested $55 million in more than 250 mission-critical nonprofit organizations working across the state towards building a more just Louisiana. As a social justice philanthropic intermediary, FFL’s work unapologetically advances racial justice while moving Louisiana forward. The foundation engages communities in both program co-design as well as its grant-making process, in order to expand opportunities and move communities towards a more just future.
For more information about Foundation for Louisiana visit our website at www.foundationforlouisiana.org.
Our Values
- COMMUNITY WISDOM: We are guided by the experience of those most impacted by injustice. They are also best informed to lead positive change in their communities.
- COURAGE: We persist in the face of fear.
- INTEGRITY: We are clear, open, and honest about our goals, values, and strategies.
- COMMITMENT: We are steadfast and consistent in our pursuit of FFL’s mission
Equal Opportunity Employment Policy
Foundation for Louisiana follows an equal opportunity employment policy and employs personnel without regard to race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, criminal justice background, and marital status.
This policy also applies to internal promotions, training, opportunities for advancement, terminations, outside vendors, members and customers, service clients, use of contractors and consultants, grantees, board members and dealings with the general public.