Common Ground Usa: Call For Consultants (Pennsylvania And Texas)

The project management team for the Resilient States Project is seeking consultants to support our programming in two target states: Pennsylvania and Texas. Consultants will build key connections and relationships in each state, provide feedback and outside perspectives on project implementation, and may be asked to provide specific subject-matter expertise on topics of interest. ContextCommon Ground USAThese consultancies support the Resilient States Project, a collaborative venture between Common Ground USA and Over Zero, a global organization founded to counteract and prevent political and identity-based violence in all its forms.Common Ground USA (CG-USA) is an initiative of Search for Common Ground (Search), the world's oldest and largest fully dedicated peacebuilding organization. CG-USA's focus is on preventing political violence in the United States. CG-USA and Search bring 40 years of conflict prevention and transformation work in countries around the world, including on contentious and polarized elections.The ProjectThe goal of the overall project is to anticipate and prevent risks of political violence in key states. This project is a collaborative initiative between CG-USA and Over Zero to build community networks that can predict, pre-empt, and respond to risks of political violence, with the goal of building states' resilience towards political violence. Together, CG-USA and Over Zero will work in 4 states: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas, and build state-level political violence prevention networks in areas with an elevated risk of political and electoral violence.These state-level networks will be built and scaled through early 2025, including the 2024 election cycle, its aftermath, and any additional flashpoints throughout this period. These networks will empower diverse community stakeholders with strengthened relationships, skills, and tools to collaboratively prevent and mitigate conflict dynamics and conflict flashpoints. These state-level networks will be composed of diverse actors who have influence within key stakeholder groups (such as journalists, faith leaders, business leaders, veterans, school administrators, etc.). This network composition will not only serve a unique role in terms of bringing different nodes of influence together outside of existing siloes but will strengthen the efforts of existing coalitions and networks by offering additional points of connection to different segments of society.Goal and Objectives The consultancy should consider the following goals and objectives:Provide networking and relationship-building with civil society organizations and leaders who have some measure of interest, capacity, or influence to prevent political violence;Facilitate introductions to targeted civil society organizations and actors; andProvide subject-matter expertise on key project topics.Geographic LocationsWithin each state (Pennsylvania and Texas), the consultancy will focus on geographical areas that are potential hotspots for political or electoral violence.Logistical SupportConsultant(s) will be responsible for organizing their own logistics, and these costs must be reasonably budgeted into the proposal. CG-USA can provide some support in arranging logistics as agreed upon based on the consultant's proposal. At least one CG-USA staff member will be the point of contact and manager of this assessment. In addition, the Resilient States Project team will share background materials including the project proposal, related desk research, pre-existing relationships, etc.DeliverablesThe Resilient States Project team expects the following deliverables from the external consultant(s) as they correspond to the timeline and budget:An initial inception report and budget;A detailed consultancy plan;Regular progress updates;A final report detailing research and recommendations listed above; andAny additional deliverables as may be required by the consultancy, including on specific areas of subject-matter expertise.Ethical ConsiderationsConsultancy activities should conform to Do No Harm and inclusion principles (i.e., age, gender/gender identity, sexuality, ethnicity, race, religion, ideology, etc.). The consultant will also be asked to sign Search for Common Ground's Code of Conduct.In addition, the consultancy should be conducted in such a way that it builds and maintains the Resilient States Project's relationships and legitimacy with partners and actors in the geographical area of study. Nothing in the study design or execution should suggest, or give the appearance of suggesting, that the Resilient States Project team, its partners, Common Ground USA, or Search for Common Ground as a whole are participating in political activity or lobbying that would violate the requirements of their 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. The Resilient States Project team also requires consultants to maintain a balanced, unbiased, and respectful relationship with all parties involved in the research.TimelineApplications will be accepted on a rolling basis, and the Resilient States Project team will follow up with individual candidates to generate a specific timeline.Requirements of Consultant Required qualifications:More than 5 years of experience in a combination of the following areas are required:Deep working knowledge and relationships with community leaders and civil society organizations within the state;Demonstrated ability to connect with a broad network of actors;Experience working or doing research on peacebuilding, political violence, elections, democracy, communications, or polarization in the USA; andWriting and editing competency.Desirable qualifications:Strong candidates will also have the following qualities: Resident of the state in which the study will be conducted or with strong ties to the states part of the research;Already part of existing local networks of NGOs and activists working on political violence; andBackground in political science, community organizing, community work, or related fields.In addition, the consultant is required to respect the following Ethical Principles:Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: Consultant should make the most of the existing information and full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. Consultant should conduct systematic, data-based inquiries. They should communicate their methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret and critique their work. They should make clear the limitations of the review and its results.Competence: Consultant should possess the abilities and skills and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of their professional training and competence.Honesty and integrity: Consultant should be transparent with the contractor/constituent about: any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.Respect: Consultant should respect the security, dignity and self-worth of respondents, program participants. Consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity.Selection Criteria:Consultants should include a proposal for review. Consultant proposals will be selected for:Relevance of their expression of interests as it relates to the applicant's ability to meet the goal, objectives, and research questions for the assessment;Qualifications; andProposed budget in relation to proposed methodology and deliverables.ApplicationsTo apply, interested candidates (individuals or teams) are requested to submit the following two documents:Curriculum vitae.Expression of intent outlining the following: (1) any relevant research and analysis experience; (2) relevant networks, community connections, and other key relationships in target state(s) that can be leveraged for this process; (3) a budget and/or proposed pay rate; and (4) any other relevant experience as applicable to these terms of reference.As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities. As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Please see our websitewww.sfcg.orgfor full details of our work.All Search Employees must adhere to the values: Collaboration- Audacity - Tenacity - Empathy - Results. In accordance with these values, Search enforces compliance with the Code of Conduct and related policies on Anti Workplace Harassment, Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Conflict of Interest, and Anti-fraud. Search is committed to safeguarding the interests, rights, and well-being of children, youth, and vulnerable adults with whom it is in contact and to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for children, youth, and vulnerable adults.Search for Common Ground does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.View our code of conducthereand our privacy policyhere.Les descriptifs de pouvant ne pouvant être exhaustifs, le titulaire du poste pourra être amené à entreprendre d'autres tâches qui correspondent globalement aux responsabilités clés ci-dessus.-------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------Seuls les candidats invités à un entretien seront contactés. Pas d'appels téléphoniques s'il vous plaît. Veuillez consulter notre site Webwww.sfcg.orgpour tous les détails de notre mission.Tous les employés de Search doivent adhérer aux valeurs de Search : Collaboration- Audace - Ténacité - Empathie - Résultats. Conformément à ces valeurs, Search fait respecter le code de conduite et les politiques connexes sur la lutte contre le harcèlement au travail, la protection contre l'exploitation et les abus, la protection des enfants, les conflits d'intérêts et la lutte contre la fraude. Search s'engage à préserver les intérêts, les droits et le bien-être des enfants, des jeunes et des adultes vulnérables avec lesquels elle est en contact et à mener ses programmes et ses opérations d'une manière qui soit sûre pour les enfants, les jeunes et les adultes vulnérables.Search for Common Ground ne fait pas et ne doit pas faire de discrimination fondée sur la race, la couleur, la religion (croyance), le sexe, l'expression de genre, l'âge, l'origine nationale (ascendance), le handicap, l'état matrimonial, l'orientation sexuelle ou le statut militaire, dans aucune de ses activités ou opérations.Consultez notre code de conduiteiciet notre politique de confidentialité ici.Dado que la descripción de funciones no puede ser exhaustiva, el titular del puesto puede tener que realizar otras tareas que coinciden en líneas generales con las responsabilidades clave mencionadas.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sólo se contactará con los candidatos invitados a una entrevista. Se agradece no recibir llamadas telefónicas. Consulte nuestro sitio webwww.sfcg.orgpara conocer todos los detalles de nuestro trabajo. Todos los empleados de Search deben adherirse a los valores de la organización: Colaboración - Audacia - Tenacidad - Empatía - Resultados. De acuerdo con estos valores, Search hace cumplir el Código de Conducta y las políticas relacionadas con luchar contra el acoso en el lugar de trabajo, la protección contra la explotación y el abuso, la protección de la infancia, los conflictos de intereses y la lucha contra el fraude. Search se compromete a salvaguardar los intereses, derechos y bienestar de los niños, jóvenes y adultos vulnerables con los que está en contacto y a llevar a cabo sus programas y operaciones de una manera que sea segura para los niños, jóvenes y adultos vulnerables. Search for Common Ground no discrimina ni discriminará por motivos de raza, color, religión (credo), género, expresión de género, edad, origen nacional (ascendencia), discapacidad, estado civil, orientación sexual o condición militar, en ninguna de sus actividades u operaciones. Consulte nuestro código de conductaaquíy nuestra política de privacidadaquí.