REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL – Anti-Black Racism Consultant

Overview

Request for Proposal

Anti-Black Racism Consultant

Deadline: February 19, 2024

Request for Proposals
Background

Purpose

Prosper Canada is requesting proposals for the expert assistance of a Black consultant to create and facilitate a tailored anti-Black racism training for our staff of 30 individuals and guidance on how to orienting/train future Prosper staff.

The information in this document is to facilitate the preparation of your proposal. We are open to adapting the conditions of this RFP based on feedback received from respondents and are receptive to adaptations to your proposal based on what you believe is feasible given time and budgetary constraints. If you require any additional information or clarification of the content of this RFP, please contact us (see contact details at end of document). All information provided will be shared with all firms who respond to this RFP.

About us

Prosper Canada is a national charity working to expand economic opportunity for people living in poverty through program and policy innovation.

Our vision is a Canada in which everyone has access to the financial programs, policies, products, and advice they need to build their financial well-being.

As Canada’s leading champion of financial empowerment, we work with business, government, and community partners to develop and advance financial policies, programs, and resources that transform lives and foster the prosperity people living in Canada. We help service systems and organizations in all sectors to build proven financial empowerment approaches into their operations in ways that are sustainable, help them achieve their goals, and tangibly increase the financial well-being of the people they serve.

Context for this RFP

Recognizing the value of and need for, diverse voices and perspectives to combat issues of racism, discrimination and exclusion, Prosper Canada embarked on a process of prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion in the organization.  In July of 2020, we engaged a consultant to facilitate a 4-part interactive Anti-Racism and Inclusion workshop series.  Following the workshop series, we continued working with the consultant to establish a shared understanding of key terms, concepts, relationships, and frameworks; apply them to Prosper Canada’s context and set the groundwork for an Inclusion Statement and Guiding Principles for Inclusion in the organization.  A key outcome was a shared understanding of how this work is fundamental to the success of our core mission as systemic racism and discrimination are contributing significantly to the poverty of many of the people we aim to support.

In early 2022, Prosper Canada set Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) as one of its two 2022-23 organization-wide priority objectives. We recognized that to be successful in achieving our mission, we need to start exploring how to approach the embedding of anti-racism and anti-discrimination thinking into our impact work and how we operate as an organization. In October 2022, we hired an EDI firm to help us create an internal EDI action plan to identify and address areas where Prosper Canada could do better to create an inclusive environment, facilitate staff learning, and create or revise internal policies related to EDI.

Alongside this broader EDI work, Prosper Canada began exploring what it might mean to have a dedicated focus on Black Canadians.  This exploration began due to:

• Conversations with funders that have identified their desire to support financial empowerment services for Black Canadians

• Recognition of the disproportionate impact of systems of oppression on Black and Indigenous peoples in Canada

• Conversations with a limited number of Black staff at Prosper Canada and Black members of our network that identified the potential impact that Prosper Canada could have on supporting financial empowerment services for Black Canadians.

The combination of this exploration and the EDI action plan unveiled a need for staff to undergo Anti-Black Racism training.  In order for staff to learn more about the systemic factors that Black Canadians face and acknowledge these factors in their financial empowerment work, it was felt that Anti-Black racism training was necessary.

Deliverables, timeline, and budget

Through this RFP, we are seeking expert assistance from a Black consultant to deliver anti-Black racism training to staff and guidance on how to orienting/train future Proser staff sometime between April 1, 2024, to June 30th, 2024.

What we are looking for

Proposal content

In your proposal, please include:

1. A profile of your firm that includes your experience working with organizations to produce and deliver anti-Black racism training to staff.

2. The proposed project team with a brief bio of each team member.

3. An outline of your team’s proposed approach (key activities and milestones) to support our staff to achieve the following objectives:

· Learners will be able to understand the history of anti-Black racism in Canada.

· Learners will have an overview of the diversity of the Black experience in Canada.

· Learners will be abler to understand how anti-Black racism can show up in organizational contexts and what allyship looks like in those contexts.

· Learners will be able to understand how anti-Black racism can show up in our work with Black clients and partners and what allyship looks like in those contexts.

· Learners will be directed to relevant resources for further education.

Please adapt your proposal to what you believe is feasible given the time and budget constraints. This includes detailing the number of hours you believe the anti-Black racism training will take, the format (in person or virtual), and other factors that you deem pertinent.

4. An estimated total cost and budget breakdown.

5. References from three clients your firm has supported within the last three years.

6. The name, title, and contact details of the individual(s) to be contacted in the event your agency is selected, or if further information or clarification about your proposal is required.

Evaluation Criteria

Prosper Canada will select the firm we deem to be the best qualified and most suitable to provide the services requested. We will evaluate proposals that meet the above requirements against the following criteria:

Criteria                                                                                                                                                        Weight
Firm’s experience and successes in delivering anti-Black racism training to staff.                            30%
Thoughtfulness of approach to delivering on the project objectives and deliverables                      40%
Demonstrated creativity and flexibility                                                                                                      20%
Value for money/pricing structure                                                                                                              10%
RFP Conditions

Fixed price and term

Prosper Canada will hire the successful proponent (firm) on a fixed-price contract basis, where the duration and amount of the contract will be agreed at the outset of the project, based on the quote prepared in response to this RFP and any subsequent mutually agreed upon amendments.

Prosper Canada may offer the option to expand the scope and amount of the contract later by mutual written agreement, but Prosper Canada does not guarantee this will be the case.

Tagged as: Consulting

Compensation

Our budget for this contract is $10,000 including Incidental expenses and excluding HST.

How to Apply

How to submit your proposal:

Please submit your proposal electronically by 5:00pm, February 19, 2024, to:
David Ike- Senior Officer, Program Delivery and Integration, Prosper Canada
[email protected]

RFP schedule

The RFP will proceed according to the schedule below:
Closing for proposal submissions: February 19, 2024
Online interview: Week of February 30, 2024
Award contract: Week of March 12, 2024
Contract commences: March 19, 2024
Deliver Anti-Black Racism training : Sometime during the month of April 1, 2024, to June 30th, 2024.