DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW STRATEGIC PLAN, 2025-2029

1. Introduction

The Anglican Development Services (ADS) Kenya is the development arm of the Anglican Church of Kenya. ADS Kenya is the national coordination and facilitation office for all the development work of ACK. It is also the secretariat to 10 ADS Regions that cover the 47 counties of Kenya. These regions are: Pwani; Eastern; NAIKA (Nairobi, All Saints and Kajiado); Mt. Kenya; Mt. Kenya East; Central Rift; North Rift; South Rift; Western and Nyanza regions. ADS Kenya’s vision is a sustainable organization, that works with communities to attain Godly and dignified living. While its mission is building partnerships with communities and enabling them to exercise their God given potential in addressing their needs. Thematically, ADS Kenya work targets interventions in the following areas: Community development, Advocacy, institutional strengthening & sustainability and research & knowledge management. The current 2020 to 2024 strategy is coming to its end thus ADS Kenya has undertaken an end evaluation of its strategic plan with support from Welt Hunger Hilfe (WHH). Consequently, ADS Kenya plans to develop a new strategic plan covering 2025 to 2029. The ADS Kenya would therefore like to engage a reputable consultant/consultancy firm to develop the next strategic plan 2025 – 2029.

2. Purpose of the assignment

The purpose of this consultancy is to develop a new strategic plan (2025 – 2029) to advance the ADS Kenya’s sustainability within a changing operating environment. The new strategic plan will build on the successes of the previous plan and the opportunities provided by the existing and future internal and external operational environments. The strategy is anticipated to improve the ADS Kenya’s efficacy in creating a sustainable organization, that works with communities, to attain Godly and dignified living.

3. Scope of Work

The consultant is expected to:

• Facilitate planning workshop to enable staff and stakeholders to reflect on the outcome of the 2020 – 2024 strategic plan review and formulate 2025 to 2029 Strategic plan.

• Carryout a desk review of ADS Kenya’s work, analyze the socio-economic and political environment – using Political Economic Analysis (PEA) lens – within which ADS Kenya has been operating during the review period and the overall situation of community development, advocacy, institutional strengthening & sustainability and research & knowledge management.

• Facilitate strategic planning and engagement workshop(s) with the board, staff, ADS regions and stakeholders.

• Use the generated evidence to design ADS Kenya’s theory of change and design the next round of the ADS Kenya Strategic Plan that will spell out ADS Kenya’s comparative advantage and competitive niche and provide beacons for future community development, advocacy, institutional strengthening & sustainability and research & knowledge management.

• Facilitate development of strategy on how to engage generational groups including Generation Z and Alpha

• Facilitate development of strategy on how to leverage on technology.

• Draft a five-year strategic plan covering the period 2025-2029. This will include:

• A business model that will support ADS Kenya’s structure and capacity to efficiently and effectively deliver on its mission – assessing the level of human, technical and financial resources ADS Kenya will require for the next strategic period.

• Detail means of engaging generational group including the generation Z and Alpha

• Highlight opportunities to leverage technology in strategic focus areas.

• Development of a robust MEL framework.

• Facilitate a validation workshop with ADS Kenya stakeholders for the new strategic plan 2025-2029.

  4. Key deliverables

Expected deliverables of the assignment include:

• Inception report outlining the procedures, methods, strategies, and timelines involved in development of the Strategic Plan 2025 – 2029.

• A five-year strategic plan covering the period 2025-2029 alongside a theory of change, SWOT/PESTEL analysis, detailed implementation matrix, corresponding implementation budget and an organogram.

• A detailed donor map and resource mobilization plan relevant to ADS Kenya.

• An operational plan detailing strategy for implementation.

• A robust MEL Framework, with clear monitoring, evaluation and learning activities for the strategic period.

• A consultancy report including the major activities of the consultancy, highlights of the strategic planning and validation workshops.

  5. Proposed Methodology

The consultant is expected to propose a methodology that effectively results in the expected deliverables as outlined in this Terms of Reference. A participatory approach and critical reflection by the Board, Management, Staff and key stakeholders will make the process meaningful. The following steps are recommended:

• Carryout an inception meeting with ADS Kenya management to review the guidelines and prepare an inception report detailing the development of the strategic plan 2025 – 2029.
• Development of the data collection tools, workplan and other guidelines for strategic planning process.
• Review and analysis of existing documents, including ADS Kenya’s 2020 to 2024 Strategic Plan, key project documents and reports, relevant sector/partner/donor publications, and critical research on ADS Kenya as well as the ADS Kenya 2020-2024 Strategic Plan Review and annual Reports. Thus, gathering insights that will contribute to identifying focus areas and developing strategic objectives and key result areas in addition to key prospects and gaps, national and global priorities concerning ADS Kenya’s work.
• Conduct focus group discussions and key informant interviews with ADS Kenya board, management, ADS Regional Offices, staff, partners and other key stakeholders to identify the critical strategic areas, issues, opportunities, and shortfalls to address in the new strategic plan.
• Develop the first draft of the strategic plan for review by ADS Kenya and stakeholders.
• Review and validate the draft strategic plan in liaison with the ADS Kenya Board, ADS Regional Offices, management, and stakeholders.
• Finalize the strategic plan, including the theory of change, implementation and evaluation framework and budget.

6. Timelines for the Assignment

The assignment will be carried out between August and September 2024. The duration of the assignment is 25 working days.

7. Supervision

The ADS Kenya Executive Director with assistance of the programme manager will be the liaison person for this work and will provide all documents needed on time and coordinate all the necessary participatory meetings.

8. Qualifications and Expertise

• The lead consultant should hold at a minimum of a Master’s degree either Social Studies, Organizational Development, Strategic Planning, Political Science, Education, Governance, or a related field.
• The lead consultant is expected to have at least 10 years of professional work and consulting experience in the civil society sector in organizational development, undertaking evaluations and facilitating strategic planning processes for comparative organizations.
• Experience with participatory approaches and facilitating strategic planning and organizational development processes in the development field in Kenya and beyond.
• Portfolios of similar assignments in Kenya and demonstrated an understanding of this assignment and expected deliverables.
• Ability to understand and conceptualize diverse development programmes and demonstrate understanding of community development challenges at grassroots levels.
• Broad knowledge of the fundraising landscape (local and international) and faith-based development approaches.
• Fluency and exceptional drafting and reporting skills in English and excellent facilitation skills.