Overview
Global Ties U.S. is seeking a consultant to support the MENA-USA Empowering Resilient Girls Exchange (MERGE) program. MERGE is a virtual exchange program that connects girls from the United States and the MENA region and helps them to develop emotional resilience skills. Two iterations of the program were successfully implemented during the 2021 – 22 academic year, and we will be implementing two additional cohorts during the 2022 – 23 academic year. The role of the consultant will be to review the existing materials, which are housed in a Google Classroom, and make any necessary updates to both content and delivery. There may also be some tasks to support the day-to-day implementation of the program.
Background
MENA-USA Empowering Resilient Girls Exchange (MERGE) brings together girls ages 15-19 from the United States and MENA region in a supportive virtual space to learn about their own mental health, develop emotional resilience skills, and share this knowledge with their communities. Participants discuss and experiment with a variety of stress-relief and coping techniques while guided by trained facilitators, engaging in both synchronous (live) and asynchronous exchange. MERGE helps girls from diverse communities and backgrounds build skills and techniques to cope with stressors related to poverty and trauma, empowering them to share these tools with their communities through the program’s culminating mental resilience strategies website.
The program is hosted on Google Classrooms and utilizes additional learning tools such as Padlet. Each weekly module contains approximately three hours of material with the entire program lasting 8 weeks. There are also two or more synchronous sessions, which typically take the form of presentations by experts in the field.
At the conclusion of the program, participants work in groups to design a project to share one or more of the techniques they have learned with their broader communities.
Scope of Work and Timelines
The primary responsibility of the consultant would be to review the existing material in Google Classrooms to see if there are areas that can be strengthened or refined. These modifications would relate to both content and delivery. Specific modifications could include, but are not limited to:
- Adjusting content to more accurately reflect best practices and current research on emotional resilience
- Adjusting content to be more relevant to U.S. and MENA cultural norms
- Adjusting program delivery based on instructional design principles
- Adjusting program delivery to take advantage of more aspects of Google Classroom
We anticipate that the bulk of the work would take place from roughly August 1 – August 30, 2022. MERGE Cohort III is scheduled to begin in mid-September, 2022, and we would like to have all changes finalized prior to start.
Depending upon the needs of the program and the desires of the consultant, the period of performance may extend to cover Cohort III (approximately mid-September through mid-November) so that the consultant can support program implementation.
Similarly, some additional work may take place prior to Cohort IV, which launches in February 2023, to reflect feedback from Cohort III participants.
Proposal Guidelines and Deadlines
To be considered for this consultancy, please submit a brief statement of interest along with a CV highlighting relevant experience. Please be sure to include a requested daily rate in your statement of interest. The deadline for proposals is Friday, July 22, 2022.
Please submit proposals to Marc Weinstein, Director for Exchanges, at mweinstein@globaltiesus.org.
Evaluation Criteria
Applicants will be evaluated based on relevant experience and their expertise in and knowledge of the following areas:
- Best practices for building emotional resilience in young women
- Relevant cultural issues in both the United States and the MENA region
- Instructional design for virtual learning
- Instructional design for non-native English speakers
- Google Classroom
In addition to relevant experience, the requested daily rate will be a key factor in our evaluation and selection.
Compensation and Level of Effort
Compensation will be based on the selected applicant’s requested daily rate and required level of effort. We estimate that the consultancy would require approximately 10 – 15 days of effort, but this amount can be negotiated once a consultant is selected.
Questions?
The deadline for submissions is Friday, July 22, 2022. Please contact Marc Weinstein, Director of Exchanges, at mweinstein@globaltiesus.org with any questions.