Request for Proposals: Feminist Evaluator(s)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS | Feminist Evaluator(s)

Location: Remote 

Duration: Evaluation to be conducted between September 2025 – March 2026 

Budget: $60,000  CAD, inclusive of tax

Reports to: MEL Advisor and Director, Learning and Impact 

Application Deadline: 10  September  2025

BACKGROUND

The Equality Fund is transforming the way that resources—and power—flow into the hands of women, girls, and gender expansive people worldwide. Designed by feminists for feminists, it is a model for sustainably resourcing feminist movements everywhere, through global grantmaking, gender-lens investing, policy advocacy, and feminist philanthropy. Launched in 2019, the Equality Fund has committed $100 million to organizations working in 100 countries globally.

A key part of the Equality Fund’s global grantmaking program has been our partnership with Women’s and Feminist Funds (WFF). To date, EF has partnered with about 30 WFF who have in turn supported over 1,500 organizations globally via on-grants. As we approach four years of partnership with this community of funds, the Equality Fund seeks a feminist evaluator to lead  an evaluation of the impact of these WFFs. 

The OPPORTUNITY  

The Equality Fund is undertaking an evaluation of its work with Women’s and Feminist Funds (WFF). Whilst the scope of the evaluation is still to be finalised, the purpose of the evaluation is to consider the value and impact of Women’s and Feminist Funds. Primarily, 

• What has resulted from 4 years of funding in terms of ‘real world’ outcomes?

We would also like to consider:

• What has been the added value of WFFs? How are they more than intermediaries?  

The majority of EF grantmaking to date has gone to WFFs, who have supported over 1,500 organisations via on-grants. The WFFs and their grantees work on a wide range of issues  and across close to 70 countries globally. Given time constraints, this evaluation will not be looking in detail across all of the grants. Instead, we will be scoping the evaluation to one or two thematic areas where we have a critical mass of partners and that are of strategic interest to the Equality Fund and our partners. This scoping work has begun and the consultant(s) will work with the EF team to finalise it. 

Final decisions around methods have not yet been made, as these will be dependent on the final scope and questions, but they will be largely qualitative. The Equality Fund is deeply committed to centering feminist and participatory approaches in this evaluation.There are no baselines as the work of the WFFs and their grantees are self directed. Data on the WFFs has been collected in salesforce and there are indicators that are reported to funders. 

We require a skilled feminist evaluator or small evaluation team to lead the evaluation and work as part of a team to deliver the evaluation. The Equality Fund has two staff working part-time on this, including a MEL advisor. Additionally, an internal reference group has also been established to provide advice and support for the length of evaluation.  The evaluator(s) will work closely with these EF resources to deliver the evaluation. 

The evaluation is a complex but exciting opportunity to contribute to building evidence on the impact of funding Women’s and Feminist Funds. It is also an opportunity to provide recommendations to the Equality Fund on how we might improve our MEL systems for capturing impact over the coming years. 

A formative evaluation of the Equality Fund was led by Global Affairs Canada and would make useful background reading.

SCOPE OF WORK

The Equality Fund is seeking a consultant, or a small team of consultants, to develop and deliver this evaluation, working closely with the MEL advisor. This includes:

• Working with EF to finalise the scope for the evaluation. (Internal and external consultation on this should be nearing completion). 
• Develop the full evaluation design and implementation plan. 
• Deliver the plan with assistance of EF staff - which may involve training and coordinating EF staff (and maybe local consultants) in data collection. 
• Using qualitative methods to plan, implement, conduct data collection and analysis. 
• Data cleaning and analysis of the data that is collected.
• Review and manipulation of existing Salesforce data in excel to support in the planning and conducting of the evaluation.
• Designing and leading sense-making  and data validation sessions of the data collected. 
• Drafting final evaluation product, including case studies/ impact stories 

DELIVERABLES

• An inception report (building on current proposal and timeline) compiling and detailing the full evaluation design, approach and methodology and how, when and by whom these will be implemented.
• Delivery of an evaluation process that stakeholders feel part of, stays true to our feminist principles and delivers within the timeframe and budget. 
• The precise outputs from the evaluation are being considered and discussed. We want products that are suitable for different audiences. The consultant will be expected to lead on the delivery of these outputs. This could include: 
  • A report of the whole evaluation - including introduction, any relevant literature search, information on approaches and methods, description and reporting of findings and thematic case studies/ impact stories.
  • Leading internal and external sensemaking sessions and accommodating feedback.
  • Working with design partners to develop appropriate written material and potentially other media to ensure the findings are appropriately communicated.

DURATION

This consultancy is expected to be completed by March 31 2026. 

Upon contract award, a detailed work plan will be developed in discussion with the Equality Fund. 

SELECTION CRITERIA

• Track record of leadership of successful evaluations that have focused on women’s rights and gender justice.
• Proven track record of using feminist and participatory approaches to evaluations. 
• Strong understanding of, and contacts within, the feminist funding ecosystem, particularly with Women’s and Feminist Funds.
• Strong evaluative skills, experience in evaluation design and in using evaluative methods, particularly qualitative.
• Strong understanding of women’s and LGBTQI movements and experience working with grassroots/diverse organizations.
• Experience facilitating virtual interviews and participatory meetings with activists and civil society groups.
• Proven written and oral communication skills in English. Bilingual Consultants (French, Spanish, Arabic) are encouraged to apply. 
• Highly efficient and flexible approach to work, with good interpersonal skills and ease in collaborating with others. 
• Highly organized, analytical, adaptive, and responsive to feedback and changes in direction when needed. 
• Knowledge of philanthropy and donor spaces is an asset. 
• Commitment to intersectional feminist approaches and commitment to gender, racial, economic, and global justice. 
• Ability to work with limited supervision, as part of a small team, and independently. 

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Applications will be assessed on the above criteria in addition to: 

• Compliance with these terms of reference. 
• Realistic in defining the scope of work and approach. 
• Acceptance of terms and conditions.

TIMELINE AND BUDGET

The majority of the evaluation must be completed by March 2026. Dissemination, use and uptake activities may take place after this time. 

The consultant, or team of consultants, will work with flexibility in scheduling but availability to meet with EF focal points expected primarily during 9 AM–5 PM Eastern Time or GMT, Monday–Friday.

The total budget is up to CAD $60,000, inclusive of tax.

There is likely to be limited opportunities for travel. We hope to use Equality Fund staff and/or local evaluators for local data collection. However, having a good network of evaluators in multiple regions and the willingness to travel, should the need arise, would be a bonus.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates should submit their resume (including all team members), cover letter, and 2 pages to explain how you meet criteria (including links or samples of previous work), and a brief outline of your approach to the project and daily rate you (and any colleagues) would charge. 

If you have any questions or need any accommodation, please contact mel@equalityfund.ca with the the subject line: “WFF Evaluation Application” 

The closing date to apply for this consultancy assignment is September 10, 2025.