CAAWS – Request for:  Academic Researcher(s), Gender Equity Audit Service

Request Date: September 4^th, 2019

Closing Date and Time: September 20th, 2019 at 17:00 ET

Contact Name: Holly Abraham, Program Manager

Address Enquiries to:  submissions@caaws.ca

CAAWS is issuing a request for proposals to procure the service of an academic researcher(s) in creating a gender equity audit service.

CAAWS staff will lead the project team comprised of the Academic Researcher and a technology solutions partner. CAAWS will receive guidance from an Advisory Committee to guide development.

Background:

The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) is dedicated to creating an equitable and inclusive Canadian sport and physical activity system that empowers girls and women – as active participants and leaders – within and through sport. CAAWS strives to accelerate the retention and advancement of girls and women in sport and physical activity in Canada through three key areas of focus: retaining girls in sport, increasing female leadership in sport, and influencing the influencers. With a focus on systemic change, we partner with governments, organizations and leaders to challenge the status quo and to advance solutions that result in measurable change.

CAAWS will lead the development of a Gender Equity Playbook – a suite of support services designed to assist sport organizations in achieving gender equity. The Playbook includes three core components: (1) Gender-Based Analysis Plus education; (2) Gender Equity Audit; (3) Gender Equity Action Planning. To that end, CAAWS is seeking an academic researcher(s) to assist in the development of the Gender Equity Audit component that will exist as a service to sport organizations to examine multiple organizational dimensions and identify areas for improvement.

Scope of Work:

In collaboration with CAAWS and the Gender Equity Advisory Committee, the Academic Researcher(s) will:

• Develop evidence-based national standards for gender equity in Canadian sport;
  • Identify the organizational dimensions where gender equity standards should be set, and practices assessed;
• Develop assessment criteria with maturity model for each gender equity standard across organizational dimensions (i.e., assessment rubric);
• Develop data collection tools to assess organizational readiness, to assist organizations in identifying and submitting audit evidence, and to assess the lived experience of key stakeholders within organizations on equity-related factors;
• Review and provide feedback on the audit implementation methodology based on best practise.
• Revise data collection tools and assessment criteria based on pilot participants’ feedback;
• Provide bi-weekly updates and attend meetings as required.

Required Skills:

• Academic research in the area of equity, diversity and inclusion
• Expertise in audits and organizational assessment and evaluation
• Familiarity with the Canadian sport system

Deliverables

Phase 1: Research and review materials

·Review research report, project brief and draft audit process documents provided by CAAWS

·Conduct additional research as required

Phase 2: Development

·Define organization dimensions for audit

·Create two drafts for the following audit materials:

onational gender equity standards

oassessment criteria

odata collection tools

·Revise draft audit materials based on input from CAAWS and Gender Equity Advisory Committee after each draft

·Produce pilot-ready national gender equity standards, assessment criteria, and data collection tools.

Phase 3: Evaluation

·Review data and feedback from pilot organizations and audit reviewers

·Revise audit materials as required

Phase 4: Finalize

·Finalize all audit materials

Project Timelines:

This project is expected to commence as soon as possible. Key milestones include:

 

Key Milestones	Lead	Oct ‘19	Nov ‘19	Dec ‘19	Jan ‘20	Feb ‘20	Mar ‘20	Apr ‘20
Kick-off meeting	CAAWS	2
Research report and briefing documents sent to consultant	CAAWS	2
Pilot Audit process delivered	Consultant	23
Draft #1 assessment areas, National standards, questionnaire and organizational culture	Consultant		28
Provide feedback to consultant	CAAWS			12
Draft #2 from consultant	Consultant				15
Provide feedback to consultant	CAAWS				27
Pilot-ready documents and audit tools completed	Consultant					3
Pilot implementation	CAAWS					17
Recommendation report with feedback to support revisions to consultant	CAAWS						30
Final revisions and delivery of product	Consultant							6

 

Proposal submission requirements

1. Proposals should be submitted electronically in PDF or Word by 17:00 ET on Friday, September 20^th, 2019 to:

Holly Abraham

Program Manager

submissions@caaws.ca

2. Enter “Academic Researcher(s)– Gender Equity Audit Service” in the subject line
3. Proposals have a 10-page limit, excluding work samples. For ease of reading use 1.5 spaces and 12-point font size.
4. If you would like to receive responses to all questions on this RFP, please complete this form.

All proposals must include:

• A cover letter;
• Experience and qualifications:

• Describe your level of knowledge/research in the application of gender equity, diversity, inclusion in an organization;
• Describe in detail your knowledge/experience in audits and organizational assessment and evaluation;
• Describe your level of knowledge/experience in the Canadian sport context;

• A project summary outlining your approach to accomplishing the Scope of Work;
• A detailed work plan including a description of the services to be provided and proposed budget
  • If there are activities within the proposed plan that are not covered by the proposed budget and would be an additional cost to CAAWS, please outline those activities and associated costs;
• A minimum of 3 samples of past work with client contact information to be used as references;
• If the execution of work to be delivered under your RFP requires sub-contractors, this must be clearly stated in the proposal. The sub-contractors must be identified and the work that they will perform be identified.

 

Criteria for evaluating proposals

Proposals will be evaluated during the period of September 20^th to 27^th, which may include a follow-up with shortlisted candidates and a request for additional information.

Elements of the proposals that will be evaluated, include (but are not limited to):

• Expertise/qualifications;
• Approach and direction;
• Project budget;
• Alignment with CAAWS’s guiding values;
• Ability to meet all standards and timelines noted in this document;
• Quality of work samples and references.

 

Selection and Negotiation

• Requests for further information from CAAWS may be necessary to support selection;

• The selected academic researcher(s) will be notified by September 27^th, 2019;
• This contract will include remuneration in two stages:
  • Phase 1 and 2: Oct 2019 – Jan 2020: process outline, draft 1 and draft 2
  • Phase 3 and 4: Feb 2020 – Apr 2020: pilot-ready deliverables and final product

Terms and Conditions

The successful candidate will be awarded a short-term professional services contract for the services identified in this RFP.

Issuance of this RFP does not commit CAAWS to award a contract or to pay any costs incurred in preparation of proposals responding to the RFP.

For the purposes of this proposal, the official language of progress reports, final reports, and general communications with CAAWS will be in English.