Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is looking to work with a consultant to support the co-design of a senior leadership programme for people of colour in the environment sector.
FAQs: we have added some frequently asked questions to the bottom of this page, which we will keep updated.
We are looking for people or organisations with experience and expertise in designing and delivering leadership programmes aimed at improving diversity in senior roles, who are comfortable using a co-design approach. Knowledge of the environment sector is desirable but not essential.
Our aim is to work with an expert partner to design a leadership programme for people of colour, which could benefit two to three cohorts, each with up to 12 participants with aspirations to take up senior roles within the environment sector. The programme would provide participants with the experience and skills that future leaders will need to demonstrate. It should be co-designed with people of colour with experience of working in the environment sector, ensuring that they are supported through a trauma-informed approach to harness belief and confidence in their leadership abilities, as well as with current leaders and Human Resources professionals.
We estimate the project budget to be £21,000 (including VAT) based on 29 days (about 4 weeks) from 21 October 2024 to 15 January 2025.
Esmée will also pay for the time of people participating in the co-design process.
What we're looking for in a consultant
- Experience and expertise in designing and delivering leadership programmes aimed at addressing a lack of diversity in senior leadership.
- Experience of facilitating a co-design process that ensures people can work together in a creative and inclusive way.
- Knowledgeable about racial justice and understands the challenges for people of colour in the UK.
- A commitment to equity in their work – this might be through anti-oppressive practice, participatory methods, or working in a community-led way.
- Someone who can create a space of safety and hold space for diverse views – ensure that people of colour involved in the design process feel safe expressing their views, supported to participate, and able to contribute in the way that suits their needs.
- Experience of working with or in the environment sector would be useful to hear about but is not essential.
Sending in your proposal
Read the full invitation to tender.
If you are interested in tendering for this project, please email your proposal to Gina Crane on communications@esmeefairbairn.org.uk by 23 September 2024:
Your tender document should include:
- A response to this brief (maximum 4 pages of A4) saying why you or your organisation would like to deliver the work, and why you’re well placed to do so.
- Links to two examples of recent relevant projects you’ve done (or a summary of them).
- A breakdown of costs for the work, including day rates and details of who would deliver the work.
- Your CV, or relevant CVs of key people who would deliver the work.
- Contact details for two relevant references of people you’ve worked for.
If you have questions about this brief, please email: communications@esmeefairbairn.org.uk.
FAQs
1. Is there any flexibility on the budget?
We have estimated the time that we think is needed to deliver the work. However, this is an estimate, and you should set out what you think is needed. We will be considering value for money in our selection of candidates to invite to interview.
2. Is there any flexibility on the timeframe?
Subject to approval by our trustees, we hope to develop the proposal for piloting in 2025. Therefore, we would like the work to be largely complete in early January 2025 to give us time to develop the pilot.
3. Should the cost of payments to participants in the co-design and hire of venues be included in the tender?
We understand that it will be difficult to calculate these costs at this stage. We are happy for the successful contractor to finalise these costs during the contract and invoice for them separately.
4. Under 'how to apply', it says the tender should be a maximum of 4 pages. Does this include items listed in the other bullet points?
No, you can add links to other relevant work you have done or include them as attachments. They do not have to be included in the 4 pages.
5. Could you share more about the co-design process in terms of how many people you expect to be involved, and what level of involvement is expected from the participants?
We are interested in understanding how the co-design would be approached, given the constraints imposed by the budget and timeframe. There are, no doubt, different approaches that could be taken and we don’t want to be too prescriptive in setting out how many people should be involved or how they should be engaged.
6. With regard to the deliverable on a review of leadership schemes, will you provide a list of schemes for us to assess?
We do not believe there are many leadership development programmes in the environment sector and know of none that specifically aim to address the lack of diversity in senior leadership. That was a gap identified by previous work, including the review by Hybrid Consultancy (a link to the full report is here).
This part of the review will consider the risk of duplication with programmes like the Nature Recovery Leadership Programmes being run by Common Purpose in Northern England and Scotland and suggest how those risks could be mitigated. We believe that there are leadership programmes in other sectors that have sought to address a lack of diversity and are interested in how the learning from those programmes could inform our approach.
7. Will you facilitate connections with relevant contacts for the focus groups?
We hope to be able to connect the successful contractor with relevant contacts and participants in our networks, but it would be useful to understand how you would go about ensuring as wide participation as possible. We may also be able to suggest participants but the contractor will ultimately be responsible for identifying and inviting participants.
8. Can you confirm that, at this stage, you're seeking a structural design of the programme journey and an outline of skills and competencies to be covered rather than detailed content for the leadership programme?
It is our intention, subject to further approval from our Trustees, to invite tenders for a subsequent piloting phase. This design phase should produce a structural design, outline of content, and likely time commitment from participants and delivery partners.
