Request for Proposals – NS Advisory Council on the Status of Women (NSACSW)


Request for Proposals

AMENDED FEBRUARY 22, 2021

The Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women (NSACSW) requires the services of an evaluator to lead the evaluation of a multi-partner project located in the Halifax Regional Municipality.  Creating Communities of Care Through a Customary Law Approach (CCC) was developed to address “the lack of culturally-competent services or enhanced care for Indigenous and African Nova Scotian women who have experienced violence and those who may have come in contact with the criminal justice system as a result.”  

The CCC project aspires to address complex problems associated with the lack of culturally appropriate services. NSACSW is joined on this project by four community partners: the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, the Association of Black Social Workers, the Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network, and the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia.Together they acknowledge that their need for evaluation does not lend itself to simple solutions that assume linear relationships between causes and effects. The partners also understand that the context in which the project is being implemented is not static and will evolve over time.  The evaluation – and the evaluator – will be required to grapple with this complexity and to make space for ways to learn differently, adapt to the changing context, and manage uncertainty.

The evaluator selected will be required to implement an existing evaluation framework over the next two plus years (March 2021 to June 2023). 

 Over the term of the contract, the deliverables for this evaluation work will include:

  • Reviewing and tweaking, if necessary, the existing evaluation framework,
  • Developing a workplan that is approved by NSACSW for implementing the framework over the duration of the project,
  • Building cooperative relationships and meeting regularly with project partners. 
  • Employing a culturally sensitive approach which acknowledges that marginalized populations have not traditionally benefited from evaluations that draw on Western/European ways of knowing,
  • Collaborating with the project team on any sensemaking activities, 
  • Facilitating regular workshops with project stakeholders to explore how evaluation can support their work. These workshops will be required to create a space of learning, reflection, and action. 
  • Submitting annual and final reports as per the project agreement.

The budget for this evaluation will not exceed $100,000 (excluding HST).  Proposals will be due on Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 11:59 PM AST.

To learn more about this opportunity and how to apply, download the full RFP below:

Request for Proposals (UPDATED) – NS Advisory Council on the Status of Women (NSACSW)