Economic Security and Opportunity Consultant At WomenStrong International

Position Type: Independent Contractor

Contract Length: 12 months

Start Date: April 15, 2022

WOMENSTRONG INTERNATIONAL

WomenStrong International is a global community of organizations working with women and girls to end extreme urban poverty. We find, fund, strengthen, and share women-driven solutions that can transform lives. These solutions are developed by our grantee partners – all trusted women-led non-profits, largely in urban settings, whose staff know best how to further girls’ education and empowerment, women’s and girls’ health, and to stop violence against women and girls in their respective communities. Partners’ solutions are then shared in WomenStrong’s Learning Lab, where they can be tested, sharpened, codified, and disseminated, with input from their fellow partners and by WomenStrong staff. In 2021-2022, WomenStrong’s Learning Lab is striving to deepen the ties among partners so as to further strengthen our community of knowledge-sharing. The Learning Lab encourages and cultivates the exchange of ideas through an online portal of tools and resources, web-based group discussions and knowledge-sharing, partner retreats, site visits and bilateral exchanges, the joint development of tools, and other community-building activities. In 2022, WomenStrong plans to launch a new Learning Lab cohort focused on women’s economic security and opportunity; the parttime consultancy for which WomenStrong is hiring will be critical to this effort and to managing this cohort, going forward.

DESCRIPTION

WomenStrong is searching for an external consultant for the Learning Lab’s work on women’s economic security and opportunity (ESO). The consultant will work with the partners to tailor activities to the needs of the Learning Lab partners and will help them identify and access relevant resources and technical support, as needed. The consultant will also advise WomenStrong staff regarding best practices in developing community-driven, locally rooted, and culturally responsive approaches that women can use to build collective power capable of transforming communities. The Learning Lab’s work to support women’s economic empowerment is centered around three overlapping areas: 1) improving strategies for collectivizing and negotiating power in the marketplace and the workplace (e.g., in care work, manufacturing, etc); 2) promoting and strengthening women’s and girls’ entrepreneurship; and 3) addressing issues regarding unpaid care and accessing adequate social protections.

Responsibilities may include:

• Acting as a source of advice to WomenStrong staff in reviewing prospective partner organizations for the Learning Lab;
• Co-facilitating webinars, panels, and other in-person events with partners, focusing on specific topics related to advancing economic security and opportunity among women and girls;
• Developing virtual community-building activities with partners that create an environment of trust, safety, and belonging;
• Work as a “thought partner” providing geographic and issue-specific remote support to identify strengths and opportunities, while facilitating cross-partner learning and the harvesting of knowledge from partner activities;
• Identifying key evidence-based strategies that partners can apply in the field to improve economic security among women and girls;
• Working with WomenStrong staff to create and manage a Learning Agenda that reflects partners’ areas of work, as well as important themes in the current economic security field, and that guides all ESO-related Learning Lab activities;
• Co-developing or contributing to the development and adaptation of tools, resources, and training as appropriate, to improve program implementation and learning;
• Researching, identifying, and regularly updating a list of resources, new technical strategies, and ESO-related approaches;
• Supporting partners in applying the above-mentioned and other best practices through remote technical support;
• Assisting partners in identifying and applying for speaking and conference participation opportunities that can enrich their capacity, strengthen their leadership skills, and elevate their profile;
• Identifying additional experts as needed, to provide partners with support and expertise on specific areas within the field of economic security, including those closely related to the local context.

QUALIFICATIONS

Applicants must have knowledge and experience in building gender equity and economic security and opportunity. They must have extensive experience working with international and domestic programs and have research experience in identifying areas for support and interventions within the women’s economic empowerment areas, including: increasing women’s entrepreneurship and negotiating power in labor markets; women’s leadership and collective action in cooperatives, intrahousehold bargaining, and decision-making; reducing other gender-related barriers to economic empowerment, such as unpaid care work; engaging men and boys in advocating for women’s economic empowerment; and supporting advocacy and policy reform, rights trainings, and norms change. Applicants must have experience working with women-led organizations globally and must embrace partner-led and participatory approaches.

Applicant must also have knowledge and experience regarding the intersections of economic security and other Learning Lab areas, including girls’ education and empowerment, violence against women and girls, and women’s health. Applicant should be able to build the kinds of trust among partners that will enable them to collaborate effectively, and should be equipped to draw on partners’ diversity by using their access to different networks and interest groups to increase each others’ scope and influence.

Additional qualifications:

• Approximately 8-10 years of experience working in low-and middle-income countries and communities and with culturally diverse teams;
• Proven ability to translate complex research insights into programmatic initiatives;
• Demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge to diverse audiences (capacity-strengthening) through consultation, training, mentoring, and other formal and non-formal methods, using adult learning methodologies;
• Excellent facilitation, moderation, and training skills;
• Demonstrated ability to engage in dialogue on racial, gender, and economic equity;
• Willingness to work outside of regular office hours to accommodate international time differences;
• Willing to travel internationally or domestically, if needed;
• Additional language abilities desirable, particularly French and Spanish; and
• Demonstrated ability to use online tools that will facilitate engaging meetings and webinars is desirable.