Terms of Reference

CIVICUS is in search of a consultant(s) to support the design (i) and facilitation (ii) of their first in-person staff retreat since the Covid-19 pandemic and in the context of a new Strategic Plan 2022-2027 . The Terms of Reference that follows contains all the necessary information for those interested in applying for this opportunity, proposal requirements. Interested consultants should submit a proposal for the anticipated contract to Tamryn-Lee Fourie at tamrynlee.fourie@civicus.org and Adele Manuel adele.manual@civicus.org by 06 January 2023 with the subject line #CIVICUS Staff Retreat .

Introduction to CIVICUS

CIVICUS exists to strengthen people’s power. As a growing global alliance of more than 14,000 members in 175 countries, we work together to expand civic and democratic space. We strive to promote excluded voices, particularly from the global south. We were established in 1993 and since 2002 have been proudly headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with staff distributed around the world and hubs connecting with key United Nations bodies in New York and Geneva.

The Theory of Change underpinning our Strategic Plan addresses our assumption that we are stronger when we work together. Expanding civic and democratic space requires a collective effort. CIVICUS members and allies act together to design and test sustainable solutions and deliver impact at scale. They learn from each other, adopting relevant models so they become stronger and more effective in their own unique contexts, while also sharing what they learn beyond the alliance to strengthen civil society as a whole.

Consultancy Background

CIVICUS has just approved an in-person staff retreat to take place within our planning process next year. CIVICUS has over 70 staff with about half based in South Africa the other half based in 20+ countries on five continents and speaking 15+ languages with English as our primary working language. Most of the staff are expected to attend in-person, but there will be some unable to attend, so the ability to include those not attending in-person if an important consideration in the planning. The emphasis of the in-person engagement is a retreat (as opposed to a planning workshop) to focus on internal community building and cross team cohesion in the context of a new Strategic Plan. This retreat will play a critical role to enable CIVICUS to have a shared understanding of our Strategic Plan and enable us to deliver on it together across CIVICUS’ 12 teams and 20+ projects across the globe. CIVICUS will be in the process of onboarding approximately 15 new employees at the time of the event, several will be new team leads. We also expect a few of the team leaders not to be able to travel, so the hybrid approach needs to especially be considered for those teams and cross-organisational activities.

We are interested in consultant support for both the conceptualisation (part 1) and the facilitation (part 2). Consultants can apply to one or both parts and we would welcome joint proposals from consultant organisations/individuals with different skill sets.

Staff Retreat Objective:

CIVICUS staff have not met for three years, many new colleagues have joined the organisation and we also have a new Strategic Plan. As such, coming together in-person for this staff retreat should:

• Primarily focus on community building and strengthening connections with one another and learn and share

• Provide an opportunity to build and strengthen a culture of understanding and cross-team collaboration within CIVICUS
• Provide an opportunity to create a shared sense of our journey/collective story with the new Strategic Plan
• Provide an opportunity for staff to learn/experience a new skill (e.g. storytelling)
• Provide a safe space for staff to feel confident to be present and participate

Note: This is not intended to be a team or organisational planning meeting, rather a time for us to engage with one another and with the strategy in a holistic sense so we have a shared experience/sense of our journey for the next five years.

Staff retreat measures of success:

For individual participants:

• Staff members leave feeling refuelled/energised and not depleted
• Staff members were able to speak/contribute when they wanted to (inclusive safe space utilised)
• Staff members have had the opportunity to talk with and engage with others/teams outside their normal remit (i.e. opportunities to get us out of our team bubbles)
• Staff members leave with a new skill or relationship

For the organisation:

• Improved shared understanding of our Strategic Plan and key milestones for the coming year (via a joint visual or story)
• Strengthened culture of collaboration and ownership of cross-organisational priorities

Deliverables:

The key deliverables for this consultancy include the following:

Part 1: Conceptualisation and design

• Detailed design of 5 day in person 1 staff retreat (1.5 days focussed on cross-team collaboration on certain projects, 2-3 days focussed on holistic community building)
• Staff engagement plan in the lead up to the staff retreat

Part 2: Facilitation

• Detailed facilitation guide for staff retreat and preparation leading up for the retreat
• Facilitation of staff retreat in Mid-March 2023
• Post retreat recommendations for continued community building

Work Plan

It is anticipated that the review will run from mid-January through end March 2023 and will require approximately 12-15 workdays:

Coordination

The consultant(s) will work with the Staff Retreat Coordination Team which includes members of the Impact and Accountability team and the Human Resources team, along with representatives from CIVICUS’ Senior Leadership Team.

Consultancy Experience

Required

• Developing inclusive and safe spaces for meaningful engagement

• Keep us out of a traditional classroom setting
• Creating organisational events that refuel
• Working with diverse cultures
• Facilitation skills – online and in-person and hybrid
• Working with different technology platforms such as Teams, shared online documents, etc

• Technical knowledge, skills and expertise in leadership and team development, community building, team cohesion and organisational culture
• Working with civil society organisations

Preferred

• Knowledge of global civil society trends
• Fluency in Spanish, French and/or Arabic advantageous
• Ability to work 2-5pm Johannesburg time zone
• Bring storytelling skills to the approach
• Knowledge of liberating structures, art of hosting and/or requisite facilitation methods advantageous
• Bring physical team building approach (yoga, team activities, games, movement)

Teams with experience and/or located in the Global South are particularly encouraged to apply.

Budget

Please provide a financial proposal which includes human resources and any material cost likely to be incurred, with an accompanying budget narrative. No travel is required to be included in the budget, transportation (including flights and visa-related costs, if appropriate) and accommodation for the Johannesburg staff retreat in March 2023 will be covered by CIVICUS.

Application process

Please include the following elements in your proposal and submit to Tamryn-Lee Fourie at tamrynlee.fourie@civicus.org and Adele Manual adele.manual@civicus.org by 06 January 2023:

• Introduction: Introducing the consultant(s) and motivation/interest in applying for this opportunity.
• Approach: This should include your methodology - responding in more detail to the information set out in the ToR. Please be specific in how your methodology will meet the rationale/purpose of the staff retreat) including a high-level workplan. Include how you measure the success of an event: before, during and after.
• Experience and examples/references: Include your relevant experience and capabilities to deliver this consultancy and at least 2 examples and testimonials of similar projects is required.

• Budget: This should include all costs associated with implementation of the project except for travel-related costs 2 , which will be incurred by CIVICUS, including major line items such as daily fees. All financial information must be expressed in USD or ZAR.

Please ensure all of the above elements are included in the proposal, whilst keeping it to a maximum of 10 pages (CVs may be included in an annex to the proposal and will not count against the page limit).