Terms of Reference Brand Designer (Consultant)

Organization - African Development Solutions, www.adesoafrica.org Project EquityConnect Online Platform Position Type Brand Designer (Consultant) Study/Assessment Topic Brand Design; Graphic Design Position Location Remote ( preferred) Duration 2 months Reporting To Organization Transformation Consultant Working With Organization Transformation Consultant Starting Date Immediately Application Deadline 22nd July, 2021 Vacancy Contact Please send applications to [email protected] – Adeso will only respond to short-listed applicants.

ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND ADESO (African Development Solutions) is a pioneering African-led and founded international development and humanitarian organization. We strongly believe that development must come from within and not outside of African communities. Improved economic, social, environmental, and health outcomes are essential to sustainable communities which drives the nature and intent of Adeso programming. Adeso works to prevent and overcome situations that adversely affect community well-being by reinvigorating the economy, developing skills for life and work, providing humanitarian aid, influencing policy and ensuring sustainability. Our belief that economic, social and environmental security is the bedrock of a healthy community drives the nature and intent of our programming. We work to prevent and overcome situations that adversely affect community well-being by: reinvigorating the economy, developing skills for life and work, providing humanitarian aid, and influencing policy. For the past 29 years, Adeso has worked on community-driven programs in the areas of environmental rehabilitation, peacebuilding, livelihood and education, food security, WASH and emergency relief, supporting vulnerable groups in and on a grassroots level. Adeso has strengthened rural livelihoods through environmental awareness, training, technology transfer and innovative projects in pursuit of a peaceful, self-reliant, and greener future. Since 2010, Adeso has led consultations with civil society from the Global South which lead to the creation of the first ever global south civil society network, the Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR). Adeso is an exciting and dynamic organization experiencing managed rapid growth. It offers sound employment conditions with opportunities for personal growth and development. PROJECT SUMMARY & BACKGROUND FOR CONSULTANCY Over the past ten years, Adeso has developed an intimate understanding of the problems faced by both local and national NGOs on a micro and macro level. Adeso has a strong understanding of the

barriers that local organizations face in accessing direct funding from donors and the challenges that donors face in partnering with local organization. EquityConnect – an online platform – is a critical component of Adeso’s five-year strategy that is focused on systems change and infrastructure development to support the creation of an ecosystem that supports more democratic and equitable resourcing and the strengthening of Global South civil society. The work involving this platform, which aims at increasing the visibility and profile of local grassroots and national organizations in the Global South, consists of two phases. Phase I is the prototype beta testing stage while Phase II involves scaling, marketing and fully launching the platform. What is the challenge this platform seeks to address? Globally, about USD 28.9 billion is spent on humanitarian crises with only 3.1% of those funds going directly to local organizations in affected countries. There are various barriers that limit direct funding to national and local NGOs as the first responders to crises, including: ● Slow identification of local actors at the onset and early stages of a disaster ● Lack of high-quality information for donors ● Lack of a standardized or transferable due diligence processes and evaluation results ● Failure to implement appropriate types of due diligence according to an NGO’s operating requirements, capacity, and expertise ● Implicit bias on the part of philanthropic staff

Local organizations struggle to gain visibility, and demonstrate which due diligence processes they have already previously cleared. The solution Adeso is proposing: About Equity Connect Create a centralized online platform (EquityConnect) that allows direct donor access to local and national NGOs in the Global South that meet industry standards. That is why it is imperative to develop a prototype, test it and incorporate feedback to fix any issues in the system prior to full-scale launch. The solution aims to fulfill the following: 1. Increase visibility of local organizations 2. Grow funding flows to local organizations 3. Create linkages for both donors and organizations

An exact alternative to the platform does not currently exist. EquityConnect takes important processes with existing solutions and combines them where the whole is greater than the sum of parts and brings these services to a population that is historically underserved and excluded. The team is developing an MVP of EquityConnect which prioritizes the searching, communicating, and networking functionality. The next set of functionality to be built is the ‘due diligence’ elements which support organizations to present their capacities and capabilities. This project is a critical component of Adeso’s five-year strategy focused on systems change and enterprise development to support the creation of an ecosystem that supports more democratic and

equitable resourcing and strengthening of civil society. This platform removes the need for an intermediary like Adeso or NEAR and allows the donors and funders to directly assess organizations and contact them as they see fit. Given that this is an online platform, the geographic focus of the project is not limited to a single location. The Network of Empowered Aid Response (NEAR), founded and incubated by Adeso, currently has 277 global members that Adeso plans to reach out to for participation in Phase I. Thus, the geographic scope is global. However, during Phase I of the beta testing/prototyping, the project is limited to 100 organizations located within Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The project is serving global south Civil Society Organization and local NGOs as the primary clients of this platform. Moreover, foundations, public and bi-lateral donors will also utilize this.

SCOPE OF WORK & DELIVERABLES Brand Guidelines

The EquityConnect team seeks a Brand Designer to lead a process with Adeso and the EquityConnect team to develop a set of Brand Guidelines which will underpin the EquityConnect platform and community.

Deliverables: The designer would be expected to undertake a 3-part process once the following documents/resources have been reviewed:  Decolonizing Aid: Executive Summary; Full Report  Shifting the Power – Resource 1; Resource 2; Resource 3; Resource 4  Grand Bargain – Resource 1; Resource 2; Resource 3  How Matters - https://www.how-matters.org/ Deliverable 1: Discovery  Conduct interviews with Adeso leadership - 1 interview  Conduct interviews with Advisory group - 1 small group interview  Conduct interviews with user segments - donors, NGOs - up to 10 interviews  Conduct interviews with the Project and Development team - up to 2 interviews  Conduct competitor review based on existing competitive research Deliverable 2: Design  Work with the team to create and narrow in on the ‘brand attributes’  Propose draft elements of the Brand Guidelines  Gather feedback from user groups  Incorporate feedback and finalize the Guidelines Deliverable 3: Execution Working with the platform developers and UX Designer, the brand designer will create a Brand Book and collateral files for the following:  Logos: full logos, secondary logos, and icons  Color palette: primary and secondary colors - no more than 3-5  Typography: font styles, sizes, and spacing - no more than 3  Other imagery: photos, illustrations, and artwork  Voice and tone: brand narrative - finalized Mission, Vision, Values

 Wireframe template - what do we want the website pages to look like - up to 4 wireframes which can be implemented in Wordpress

In keeping with our open approach we’d plan to make all the brand materials publicly available on the EquityConnect website.

CONSULTANCY PERIOD

 2 months (40 billable days) QUALIFICATIONS Mid-Career; 5+ years of experience in graphic/brand design preferably for Global South organizations.

COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS In consideration of the fees paid, the Consultant expressly assigns to Adeso any copyright arising from the works the consultant produces while executing this contract. All images/graphics (whether used for online or print purposes) must however bear the consultant’s photo credit, as specified by international intellectual property rights. The consultant may not use, reproduce or otherwise disseminate or authorize others to use, reproduce or disseminate such works without prior consent from Adeso. APPLICATION PROCESS All applications should be sent to [email protected] by July 22nd, 2021 with Brand Designer on the subject line. The selection committee will review all applications as they arrive and will begin shortlisting qualified candidates immediately. All applicants must meet the minimum requirements described above, and those unable to meet these requirements will not be considered. Each application package should include the following:  An application letter addressing the selection criteria including how the consultant’s previous experience makes them a suitable candidate for this consultancy. The cover letter should answer the following questions: 1. What is your interpretation and understanding of the needs of this consultancy? 2. What would your approach to achieving the 3 objectives of the consultancy? (Refer to deliverables 1-3 in the page above). Describe the process and/or approach, and/or methods you would use to achieve each objective. In your answer, also describe the tools you would use (we want to understand the range of your technical expertise).  The application letter should also indicate the candidate’s availability and capacity to complete the deliverables within 2 months, as well as their proposed fee for the consultancy (total fee). The cover letter should be no longer than 2 pages.  A sample of recent work (portfolio): Web-based link or PDF file (zipped).  Updated CV including relevant work experience and qualifications;  Contact details of 2 references. Applications not including all of the above information will not be reviewed. Adeso is an equal opportunity employer.