Strategy Consultant – Using A Collective Voice For Advocacy And Communications

Terms of Reference

Equal Measures 2030 is seeking an exceptional strategy consultant/s to guide the co-creation of a new strategy for collective advocacy and communications for the EM2030 coalition.

Who we are

Equal Measures 2030 is a collaboration of national, regional, and global leaders from feminist networks, civil society, international development, and the private sector. We connect data and evidence with advocacy and action on gender equality, to transform the lives of women and girls and realize the SDGs. The coalition is currently made up of 15 organizations, supported by a Secretariat.

EM2030’s ‘Collective Voice’

The 2020-2025 Strategy for the Equal Measures 2030 coalition has as its third pillar ‘Advocacy in Partnership: supporting and funding feminist organizations and using the collective voice of our local to global partnership to raise gender equality up the political and policymaking agenda at all levels’.
We have recently revised our partnership model to become a coalition, which impacts on how we define and execute the ‘collective voice’ pillar of work and how we communicate and advocate.

Process to date

Joint advocacy and communications by the EM2030 coalition have taken place since its founding in 2017, largely focused on use of our flagship SDG Gender Index and associated products. With the new coalition model being finalized in Sept/Oct 2023, now is the right time to work across the coalition to arrive a jointly defined strategic approach to advocacy and communications. Several options have been discussed to date, and with the support of the consultant/s, we aim to co-create a strategy for this work going forward. Focus Group Discussions amongst coalition members and the Secretariat begin in October 2023. We seek support from the consultant/s for the continued process through the autumn of 2023 and early 2024.

Scope of work

• Desk review of existing written and recorded discussions/content/commitments/learning on collective advocacy and communications within EM2030 coalition
• Advise on and design process to co-create strategy with coalition partners and Secretariat, including dovetailing into existing cross-partner processes and discussions in order to minimize time burden on coalition
• Transcribe all partner discussions to serve as reference and to ensure all viewpoints are accurately captured in the larger documentation of the process
• Create content and use digital tools to engage coalition partners in strategy development (e.g. briefings, notes, Miro boards, surveys, word clouds)
• Execute all aspects of the strategy co-creation process as agreed with the Secretariat, including but not limited to: project management, scheduling and facilitating virtual discussions (including across timezones and languages), identifying and resolving outstanding questions, drafting the strategy components, managing interpretation and translation, and managing the strategy document review and feedback process.
• Arrive at a co-created, high quality strategy for collective advocacy and communications with strong buy-in from all partners and Secretariat staff

Outputs

• A co-created, high-quality strategy for collective advocacy and communications with strong buy-in from all partners and Secretariat staff
• Notes from and/or recordings of all strategy discussions and an After-Action Review/learning document capturing reflections from involved stakeholders
• Proposal of tools (shared calendars, joint messaging documents, etc) to support ongoing engagement within the coalition on joint advocacy and communications

Person/s specification

• Significant experience leading collaborative strategy processes, ideally within a network/collaborative/coalition and/or across multiple organizations
• Knowledge of communications, influencing, and advocacy approaches and priorities in the social justice sector
• Exceptional facilitation and cross-cultural communication skills with a demonstrated commitment to anti-oppression and feminist approaches
• Experience working with or for networks/collaboratives/coalitions working on social justice issues across geographies, especially on equity and equality
• Experience working in a virtual environment across cultures, timezones, and languages
• Detail-orientated, with project management experience
• Very strong written communication in English
• Fluency in English is required. Fluency in French, Spanish, and/or Bahasa Indonesian is an asset.
• The consultant/s will report to the Head of Strategic Communications (EAT) and the Head of Global Engagement (GMT) and will need to be available for regular communication within working hours for these 2 timezones.

Timeline and budget

• We would like to arrive at a final strategy by late January 2024, though the process and discussions are crucial for buy-in and future action and are valuable in and of themselves (not solely as a means to an end).
• The maximum number of days required should not exceed 35 days over the course of the project, with the majority taking place in 2023.