Global Resilience and Humanitarian Strategy Development Consultant

Habitat is one of only a few international organizations active in disaster response with housing as its core mission. Unique among nonprofit peers: Habitat has been engaged in disaster risk reduction and response work since 1998, when Hurricane Mitch struck Central America, causing over 11,000 deaths and leaving millions homeless across the region. Habitat saw disaster risk reduction and response programming as a natural extension of its expertise in housing and viewed its geographic presence around the world as an asset in response. The organization significantly expanded its disaster response program since the devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005 and the Asia Tsunami in 2004 which allowed Habitat to scale its disaster services and to serve over 25,000 families with shelter/housing solutions. Habitat is regarded as pre-eminent among organizations focusing on shelter in the immediate and long-term phases of recovery both in the United States and abroad. Global Impact 2025, or GI25, is a global change initiative for Habitat for Humanity. Through GI25 we hope to better align the HFH network with the vision of our strategic plan: having a material impact on the housing deficit in the communities we serve. At its heart, this initiative is about building the depth and breadth of Habitat’s impact around the world. The initiative is examining both Habitat’s programmatic identity and its operational strategy and infrastructure. Through GI25, Habitat for Humanity developed its first organization-wide Theory of Change (TOC). The development of the TOC involved wide consultation across the network which included workshops, surveys, document review and research. Habitat is at this point in the process to design how we will live into the TOC by rolling out the Theory of Change to the network, developing technical strategy and living into a new technical structure. In the context of GI25, and the ongoing work related to the overall integration of our TOC, Habitat for Humanity wishes to pay special attention to our work in disaster risk reduction and response, and ensure that this piece of work is approached in a strategic way, as well as informing decisions in the coming months that HFH Senior Leadership Team will be undertaking to ensure that adequate level of investment is made to own the space where Habitat for Humanity will have a competitive advantage in the areas of housing resilience and risk reduction, and humanitarian shelter and settlements work. In addition to GI25, Habitat for Humanity International continues to improve its support of US-based operations through the Collaborative Operating Model or COM initiative. Under this change initiative the first goal is to evaluate, refine and implement a U.S. support model that provides the greatest value to U.S. affiliated organizations and supplies necessary leadership and mission support to build local, national, and global impact. This takes the form of a series of annual “cornerstone projects” which seek to address new opportunities or gaps in the model in service of this first goal. A second goal is focused on resource development efforts, aiming to pursue a collaborative resource development model that: minimizes competition between HFHI and affiliates; enables efficient fundraising; builds resource development capabilities across the ministry; and ultimately raises more resources for all. The consultancy will need to consider this change initiative when proposing input for the US/Canada Disaster Risk Reduction and Response / Recovery operations. Purpose of the consultancy: Habitat for Humanity International wishes to engage a consultant or group of consultants to support our efforts to define our Disaster Risk Reduction and Response Strategy, in the context of our broader Program change initiatives. The consultants will lead a participatory process to inform senior leadership conversations that will define the future level of engagement and investment in the humanitarian and resilience shelter and settlements sectors both in the US and Internationally. Scope of works: The consultancy will be focused on the following objectives: Level setting: Provide a common understanding of scope in the sector of Disaster Risk Reduction / Resilience and Humanitarian Response/Recovery for Shelter and Settlements (Housing and Communities in the US) programming, both domestic in the US, and Internationally in the different crisis contexts that create Shelter and Settlements needs and impact affordable housing (disasters caused by natural/man made hazards, migration and displacement- including protracted displacement- conflict/post conflict situations, etc.) or to create shelter and settlements resilience against these crisis. Baseline and benchmarking: of Habitat for Humanity Disaster Risk Reduction and Response Programming when compared with other organizations that implement Humanitarian Shelter and Settlements work. This baseline should investigate the following areas using comparative SWOTs and Comparative Gap analysis with lead organizations in the Shelter and Settlements sector: Programmatic scope and identification of niche areas for HFH

• Programmatic performance, adherence to standards, technical capacity to deliver, and scale of operations.
• Performance and readiness to respond/pivot of support operations functions (HR, finances, grant management, legal, safety and security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security, IT, etc.), including policies and systems and their contribution to program deliverables.
• Localization considerations, and comparison on how capacity is distributed across program and support functions across peer network organizations.

Scenarios for investment: based on the baseline and benchmarking, and potential unfilled / inadequately filled needs in the sector, identifying:

• Areas of opportunity and leadership in the humanitarian shelter and settlements sector within the triple (humanitarian-development-peace) nexus, and resilience building, from operational and programmatic scope perspectives.
• Areas to build, buy or partner, in the different humanitarian shelter and settlements contexts.
• Identify ranges of investment considering both programmatic quality, support functions, and readiness to respond, including systems needed; to inform options for strategy development.

Resilience and Humanitarian Shelter and Settlements Strategy: Develop a 3-5 year strategic plan including: Programmatic / operational areas of investment, building, buying, and partnering options, recommended levels of investment, and roadmap for execution in the different areas. In order to own the desired space in the resilience building and humanitarian shelter and settlement arena that would result in an increased impact with the communities served by Habitat. As noted in section 1, this consultancy is taking place in parallel with work to refine and advance Habitat’s overall Theory of Change. That work is expected to yield similar scenarios related to Habitat’s broader programmatic portfolio. The consultant will be expected to coordinate with the team leading this effort throughout the process and this should be reflected in the proposed methodology. Consultancy Outputs: Inception Report: After collecting and performing an initial review of relevant internal documentation related to Habitat’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Response Programming; including programmatic Strategy Pathways to Permanence, SOPs, Foundational Documents, After Action Reviews and evaluation of past Disaster Risk Reduction and Response Programs and Operations. The inception report will capture the consultancy key areas, refine proposed methodology including information on data sources, data collection instruments, and revised (if needed) proposed methodology, and timelines to achieve the deliverables of the consultancy. Common terms and sector agreed definitions to ensure alignment across the organization: In order to ensure that the development of Habitat for Humanity’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Response strategy aligns with best practice in the humanitarian shelter and settlements sector, and a common understanding across the organization on terms used, the consultant will prepare a glossary with the key terms identified that will need to be part of the strategy. This glossary will feed into Habitat for Humanity senior leadership visioning exercise under GI25 to ensure alignment and clarity. Habitat for Humanity Disaster Risk Reduction and Response Baseline and Benchmarking report: Report should include an overview of how Habitat for Humanity compares to peer network organizations in Disaster Risk Reduction and Response with a focus on Shelter and Settlements programming, for the different crisis contexts. The areas to be investigated will at least include Programmatic Scope and performance, including footprint in the humanitarian development nexus (and triple nexus if appropriate), current analysis of performance of support to operations functions, policies, and systems, and their contribution to achievement of programmatic deliverables, and localization considerations. Development of potential scenarios for investment, to fully own the areas of opportunity and areas where HFHI can be seen as a lead agency or partner of choice within Disaster Risk Reduction/Resilience programming as well as Humanitarian Shelter and Settlements operations. Habitat for Humanity Resilience and Humanitarian Shelter and Settlements Strategy. The strategy should include the key areas of investment, the roadmap for operationalization in a timeline of 3-5 years. The consultancy will take place between July-Dec 2021 and will include the following milestones / activities:

• July 2021: Launch meeting/ Desk Review/ Inception Report
• August 2021: Glossary development/ HFHI Baseline/ Participation on Operations Leadership Team (OLT) Visioning exercise 1
• Sept 2021: Benchmarking
• Oct 2021: Scenarios for Investment, and presentation in OLT Visioning 2
• November 2021: Strategy Validation
• Nov- Dec 2021: Final report

Communications

• Communications shall not be effective, unless a specified employee who is responsible for managing the RFP process formally confirms these communications in writing. In no case shall verbal communication govern over written communications.

Proposal submission Process:

• Technical proposal submission to ISerra-Lasa@habitat.org by May 21, 2021 5:00 pm EST.

Vendors shall submit to HFHI a proposal including the following sections:

• Expression of Interest, providing a brief description justifying the vendors expectation of success in delivering the work described in this RFP, including a summary of the vendor’s relevant experience.
• Technical Proposal, describing how the vendor’s expertise and experience relates to and can provide depth to each of the deliverables described in this RFP.
• CV(s) of key personnel whom the vendor proposes will actually perform the work, including citations of relevant publications, if any.
• Illustrative writing samples of work from similar projects authored by key personnel.
• Budget proposal, estimating total cost for the engagement as well as estimated number of days for completion and daily rate(s).
• Vendor’s corporate overview – Legal name; contact information including email address; year of incorporation; number of employees, description of products & services.
• At least three referees that can be contacted for feedback on past performance.
• Vendors who have demonstrated their capacity to meet our needs will be contacted via phone and/or email to be notified of their selection to move forward in the RFP process. Vendors, who have not been selected, will not be contacted. By responding to this RFP, the vendor agrees to be responsible for fully understanding the requirements or other details of the RFP, and will ask any questions to ensure such understanding is gained. HFHI retains the right to disqualify vendors who do not demonstrate a clear understanding of our needs. Furthermore, the right to disqualify a vendor extends past the contract award period and HFHI will be at no fault, cost, or liability.
• Evaluation of proposals, and interview of top candidates by the Steering Committee listed below under reporting lines by June 4 2021.
• Clarification of proposals to be followed by a final selection of winning proposal by the steering committee by June 11 2021.
• Contract signing by June 21, 2021
• Initiation of activities by July 1, 2021

Good Faith Statement: All information provided by HFHI is offered in good faith. Specific items are subject to change at any time based on business circumstances. HFHI does not guarantee that any particular item is without error. HFHI will not be held responsible or liable for use of this information or for any claims asserted therefrom. Proposal Selection Criteria

• Criteria Weight
• Proven Experience in Strategy Development 35%
• Proven Experience in Humanitarian Shelter and Settlements / Resilience programming 35%
• Consultancy Narrative and methodology proposed 20%
• Consultancy fee rate 10%

Reporting Lines The consultant(s)’ work will need to be approved by the HFHI Operations Leadership Team, which is chaired by HFHI COO (sponsor of this initiative), and it will be presented for endorsement to the Senior Leadership Team by the Sponsor once approved. During its implementation, the consultant will account with the guidance of a core Steering Committee made up of the following members:

• VP US/Canada
• VP - Strategy & Org Effectiveness
• VP Program Effectiveness
• Sr Director Disaster Risk Reduction and Response (managing day to day consultancy needs and liaison with TOC activation)
• Sr Director US/Canada Special Programs (Managing connections with the US/Canada Operations)
• Sr Director MEAL
• Sr Director International Operations (GI25 connection)
• Director AP Operations (AO connections and liaison with TOC activation)

NOTE: THE LOCATION (ATLANTA) REFLECTS THE HFHI HEADQUARTERS, HOWEVER THIS CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY IS A GLOBAL OPPORUNITY. Budget and Logistics TBD The Consultant should prepare a detailed budget including consultancy fees and related cost. Vendor must agree to keep the quoted pricing in their proposals for a minimum of 90 days after proposal submission. It is anticipated that this work will be home-based, desktop work. The Consultant should be prepared to engage in TEAMs (or similar technology). Other Provisions 11.1.Waiver Authority HFHI reserves the right, as its sole discretion, to waive minor irregularities in submittal requirements, to request modification of the response, to accept or reject any or all responses received, and/or to cancel all or part of this RFP at any time prior to awards. 11.2.Disclaimer This RFP does not commit HFHI to award any funds, pay any costs incurred in preparing a response, or procure or contract for services or supplies. HFHI reserves the right to accept or reject any or all responses received, negotiate with all qualified Respondents, cancel or modify the RFP in part or in its entirety, or change the response guidelines, when it is in its best interest. 11.3 Changes/ Amendments to RFP: This RFP has been distributed electronically by email and through various websites. Any updates and/or changes will be communicated by these same means.