Consultant, Food for Education Program

MGD MEL SOW

The Scope of Work to be performed by Consultant under this Consultant Agreement is as follows:

Location of Work: Remote, with the ability to participate in a 1-week regional workshop

Background Information: Global Communities (GC) is preparing a bid in response to the anticipated USDA funding opportunity for the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program (MGD). GC is seeking a consultant to lead the development of the proposal’s MEL section. The consultant will be responsible for reviewing donor technical guidance, and existing GC documentation, consulting closely with country-based staff and/or consultants and supporting new inputs from formative work and project design, to develop submission-ready products in line with the SOW below. GC seeks a consultant for up to 40 days of effort to begin in late January 2025, with the heaviest LOE taking place during the live proposal period between approximately late-February and mid-May 2025.

Responsibilities

Scope of Work:

• Review and ensure familiarity with core USDA McGovern-Dole Technical and Proposal Guidance Documents, including:
  • USDA McGovern Dole Learning Agenda
  • USDA MGD Food Assistance Indicators and Definitions
  • USDA standard Results Framework for McGovern-Dole and LRP
  • Review USDA’s FY24 Results Framework
  • FY23 Monitoring Eval & Reporting guidance
  • RFP/NOFO for FY25 Proposals
• Review key past GC MGD Proposals and technical documents and identify areas for updating and/or strengthening. Review summary of USDA feedback on GC’s former proposal submissions and MEL documents, including evaluation reports.
• Lead analysis of formative assessment data, collaborating with in-country consultants and/or GC MELI team as necessary. Summarize and prepare formative assessment results for use in proposal design activities.
• Participate in the full design workshop (potential to be held virtually or in the region). Plan for and lead M&E sessions in the design workshop, including presentation and dissemination of formative assessment results, overview of USDA learning agenda questions and M&E requirements, development of results framework, creation of Theory of Change (ToC), creation of learning agenda.
• Draft M&E and proposal components, in collaboration/coordination with the proposal design team, including Results Framework diagram and supporting narrative, project indicators and targets, including Indicator Table, Evaluation Plan (including the learning agenda); and define key resources needed for M&E budget, including:
• Review existing M&E systems and recommend any required changes if necessary to platforms, tools, and /or approach
• Participate in ongoing coordination calls and meetings with the proposal design team and GC MELI team.

Deliverables:

• Participation in team and/or partnership calls and meetings, as determined necessary by program design leads and the proposal team.
• Participation in design workshop (any travel to be approved by GC)
• Development, editing, and revision of MEL proposal sections in line with NOFO guidelines:
  • Results Framework
  • Evaluation Plan
  • Indicator Table
  • Recommended inputs into budget/resourcing

Qualifications

• 5+ years of proposal development experience, including leading the development of MEL plans for multisectoral development programs
• Demonstrated experience designing and drafting USDA McGovern-Dole MEL proposals / programs sections preferred, including Results Frameworks, Indicators, and Learning Agendas
• English fluency required.