Consultant - Resilience Storytelling at Mercy Corps

Purpose / Project Description:

• After the submission of its Year 5 PREP and three-year cost extension, the Nawiri program is working to scale implementation to 35 wards based on newly refined technical models in the form of intervention standard operating procedures (SOPs), and the team is looking for support in the following areas:
• Guidance for and framing of technical brief, success story, and learning product creation, including:
  • Liaising with technical leads to unpack key technical approaches and existing data to understand gaps in Nawiri’s technical story
  • Synthesizing additional qualitative data collection to fill these gaps through both technical and narrative storytelling
  • Supporting the documentation, prioritization, framing, and production of learning products
• Mentorship around Nawiri resilience story identification, collection, and production

Consultant Activities:
The Consultant will:

• Provide technical backstopping around drought response technical brief (Jun):
  • Led by CLA, contribute to and participate in key informant interviews with technical teams to support the framing of Nawiri’s approach and lessons-learned from the drought response, including outline, lessons-learned, and key messages
  • Support the team in assessing what data is required to build a powerful narrative to integrate within the technical brief and what gaps in resilience stories remain
  • Provide feedback/comments on technical learning briefs outlines and drafts 
• Directly support team production of the poverty graduation technical brief (Jun-Jul):
  • Review reports, SOPs, and existing success stories to understand Nawiri’s current framing of poverty graduation and related integrated approaches
  • Conduct key informant interviews with technical teams to support the framing of Nawiri’s technical approach to the drought response, including key messages and lessons learned
  • Support the team in assessing what data is available to integrate within the technical brief and what gaps in the story remain
  • Begin developing qualitative data tools to fill data gaps 
• Develop 3 externally facing products for use in August learning event (Jul-Aug):
  • Collaborate with team to prioritize 2 high-level learning products for creation that may be used in August learning event
  • Provide support for team to develop 2 learning products with input from technical leads
  • Solicit and incorporate feedback in refined draft
  • Collaborate with graphic designer to outline and execute any design elements (e.g., figures, diagrams) and finalize the overall design
  • Finalize and submit designed drafts - at least 1 product will be the same as those identified in the processes above
  • Input into August review and reflection meeting processes, including themes and structure, based on review 
• Provide ongoing mentorship regarding story/learning identification, collection, and documentation (Jun-Oct):
  • Engage with Communications Lead during technical visits (i.e., activity #1) to support deeper program learning around technical approaches and reflect on implications for storytelling systems
  • Discuss feedback (i.e., provided through activity #1) on team’s existing stories, further unpacking technical approaches and potential pending questions 
• Strengthen Nawiri processes, systems, and capacity for technical learning and story production (Sep-Oct):
  • Synthesize approach to technical learning and story identification, including guidance and templates
  • Facilitate feedback session on technical learning and storytelling process
  • Partner with Communications Lead to refine approaches around story/learning visit preparation, documentation, and story writing
  • Serve as sounding board for Communications Lead in developing a strategic communications process and guidance

Deliverables:

• Light touch support for technical framing of Nawiri’s drought response approach
• High-level technical framing of Nawiri’s poverty graduation approaches
• Three to four potential additional storylines/technical narratives to explore during review
• Feedback on brief outline, draft, and revisions of drought response technical brief
• Development of four learning products:
  • One technical brief focused on poverty graduation approach - inclusive of short success story
  • One technical brief focused on resilient livelihoods and integration - inclusive of short success story
  • One success story building off of poverty graduation brief or other data from field visit
  • Catalog of learning themes and story opportunities with suggestions for way forward
• Ongoing mentorship around storytelling Communications Lead
  • Feedback on existing stories and tools
  • Collaboration with Communications Lead to refine approaches around visit preparation, documentation, and story writing
  • Support for and sounding board around around strategic communications

Timeframe / Schedule:
Through Aug 15 (remote):

• Provide technical backstopping around one and lead another technical brief
• Develop 3 externally facing products (inclusive of technical learning brief above) for use in August learning event

Sep 1-Oct 31 (remote, in country):

• Strengthen Nawiri processes, systems, and capacity for technical learning and story production, including synthesizing approaches to technical learning and story identification, including guidance and templates

Ongoing (remote, in country):

• Provide on-going mentorship support in story/learning identification, collection, and documentation

Maximum number of remote days: 25

Maximum number of in country days including travel days: 9 days

Total: 34

The Consultant will report to:

• Chief of Party

The Consultant will work closely with:

• Strategic Learning Advisor
• Senior Director, Resilience Portfolio, East Africa
• Communications Advisor
• Resilient Livelihoods Focal Point - TBD
• Field Coordination Focal Point - TBD

Experience and Qualifications:

• 5-10 years of experience in a technically relevant field
• Strong understanding of resilience and its technical application in a program context
• Extensive experience with capturing program outcome stories from a resilience perspective
• Knowledge of and experience in Northern Kenya
• Knowledge of and extensive understanding of USAID BHA programs, and multi-sectoral approach to resilience-building
• Strong capacity-strengthening and facilitation experience
• Ability to work in diverse cultures