Consultant – MENA Climate Resilience Instructional Design Specialist – Middle East / North Africa

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

MicroMentor is a growing initiative within Mercy Corps and functions much like a technology start-up. Through a proprietary online mentoring platform, MicroMentor provides a technology solution that connects small business owners and entrepreneurs with skilled volunteer business mentors on a global scale. We are the world’s largest network of free business mentoring. Entrepreneurs matched with a mentor have shown significant results in terms of improved job creation, business survival, and revenue growth. Our team is diverse, driven, hardworking and highly committed to the mission of helping small businesses thrive through mentoring.

MicroMentor was launched in the MENA region in 2020, with a localized Arabic platform, and has a growing community of more than 32,000 entrepreneurs, and 10,500 mentors in MENA. In the next few months, MicroMentor aims to provide educational resources to support micro and small business owners, with emphasis on women-led businesses, to increase their climate resilience. Our upcoming mobile app launch in March 2024 will further promote climate resilience resources and support regional entrepreneurs and mentors. Through these efforts, MicroMentor aims to bridge the gender gap and empower women entrepreneurs with the necessary knowledge and tools to lead their businesses toward decarbonization and contribute to a more sustainable future in the MENA region and beyond.

Purpose / Project Description:

The primary purpose of this consultancy is to create tailored training content, and easy to access educational resources aimed at increased climate resilience for entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on women-led micro and small businesses and their mentors in the MENA region, to increase their possibilities to become more investable or increase their chances to unlock financial resources, including green businesses resources.

The consultant’s focus is to equip them with the knowledge and tools using tailored messaging for this audience, necessary to adapt their practices, while concurrently addressing critical challenges in self-identification as climate-conscious entities. This initiative aims to bridge the gap between existing sustainable practices and the conscious recognition of these practices, with the overarching goal of positioning these businesses to secure vital climate finance, and ultimately fostering a more resilient and environmentally responsible entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Consultant Objectives:

The successful completion of this consultancy is expected to result in training content /educational resources in achieving the following outcomes:

• Increased climate resilience awareness for how to create meaningful adaptations within entrepreneurs’ businesses, with a particular focus on women-led businesses, translating into heightened eligibility for climate finance.
• Elevated mentor engagement with training and content aimed at fostering entrepreneurs’ environmental sustainability as mentioned above.

Consultant Activities:

The Consultant will:

CONTENT CREATION FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE

Develop engaging and impactful training content specifically designed for entrepreneurs, specifically for women-led micro and small business and business mentors in:

• Emphasizing practical strategies to enhance the climate resilience of small businesses.
• Explore and incorporate insights into the unique challenges faced by women-led small businesses in recognizing and addressing climate-related issues.
• Tailor content to highlight the potential positive environmental impact of their operations, directly linking sustainable practices to climate resilience and how it can unlock access to climate financing opportunities.
• Create content that increases awareness among entrepreneurs about climate smart technologies relevant to their industries.

OVERCOMING SELF-IDENTIFICATION CHALLENGES

• Implement strategies to support and encourage women-led businesses to self-identify as a green or climate-conscious entity by providing access to information and in marketing their business in a way that could help them secure climate focused financing.
• Implement strategies to showcase businesses in a way that enhances their appeal to climate financiers, highlighting existing sustainable practices and their direct contribution to climate resilience.

MARKETING FOR CLIMATE FINANCE

• Develop content and strategies to assist women entrepreneurs in marketing their businesses effectively for climate finance.
• Showcase the sustainable and climate-smart practices already adopted by businesses and the tangible benefits of climate resilience practices in securing funding, emphasizing the potential for positive impact on their bottom line and the environment.

ADAPTION TOOLS & TRAINING

• Identify and develop tools that facilitate meaningful adaptations in business practices towards decarbonization and sustainable practices, directly contributing to climate resilience.
• Design training modules that not only guide entrepreneurs and mentors that are supporting entrepreneurs in implementing green business practices but also underscore how these adaptations enhance their eligibility for climate finance.
• Ensure that the training content is easily accessible, comprehensible, and tailored to the diverse needs of women entrepreneurs and their mentors.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

• Ensure the MicroMentor community is treated with the highest level of professionalism and follows MicroMentor principles and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Represent MicroMentor’s brand and values with the mentor and entrepreneur community.
• Act in accordance with MicroMentor’s Ethos.

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant will deliver:

• Comprehensive Training Module for Entrepreneurs: Submission and MicroMentor’s acceptance of an engaging training course for entrepreneurs, with emphasis on women-entrepreneurs, in both English and Arabic, addressing climate resilience, sustainable business practices, and their direct link to securing climate finance. – Due date January 15, 2024
• Comprehensive Training Module for Mentors: Submission and MicroMentor’s acceptance of a training course for mentors who are supporting entrepreneurs in both English and Arabic, addressing climate resilience, sustainable business practices, and their direct link to securing climate finance. – Due date February 15, 2024
• Climate Resilience Adaptation Toolkit: Submission and MicroMentor’s acceptance of a toolkit comprising practical adaptation tools and resources that entrepreneurs (and the mentor supporting them) can implement to enhance the climate resilience of their businesses. This toolkit should include user-friendly guides, checklists, and templates. – Due date February 15, 2024
• MicroMentor’s Content Management System (CMS) Content Integration: Submission and MicroMentor’s acceptance of the training courses, toolkits, and resources input into MicroMentor’s CMS which consists of a combination of texts, images, and videos, ensure that the content is accessible and user-friendly. – Due date February 28, 2024
• Progress and Impact Reports: Submission and MicroMentor’s acceptance of monthly progress reports briefly detailing the development and integration of training content, adaptation tools, and strategies. – December 31, 2023 / January 31, 2024
• Final Consultancy Report: Submission and MicroMentor’s acceptance of a comprehensive final report summarizing the entire consultancy, including methodologies employed, challenges faced, and key learnings. Include recommendations for sustaining the impact of the initiative beyond the consultancy period. – Due date February 28, 2024

These tangible deliverables aim to provide a structured and actionable framework for entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on women-led businesses and mentors in the MENA region to enhance entrepreneurs’ climate resilience, successfully integrate sustainable practices, and effectively position their businesses to secure climate finance. The integration of these materials into the mobile app ensures accessibility and scalability, fostering a lasting positive impact on the entrepreneurial community.

Success Factors

Success in this consultancy hinges on a combination of expertise, strategic thinking, and the ability to effectively engage with diverse stakeholders. The consultant’s in-depth knowledge of climate resilience and sustainability, coupled with a proven track record in developing tailored training content and tools, is a foundational success factor. The ability to address the unique challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, including those related to self-identification and marketing for climate finance, requires a high degree of empathy, cultural sensitivity, and innovative thinking.

Timeframe / Schedule:

• Start date: Immediate
• End date: February 28, 2024

The Consultant will report to:

Senior Program Officer

The Consultant will work closely with:

MicroMentor Partnerships and Innovations Team, Impact & Insights Team, Marketing Team, Mercy Corps Jordan MicroMentor Team, MicroMentor Entrepreneurs and Mentors, and MicroMentor’s Clients

Required Experience & Skills:

• 5-10 years of technically relevant experience.
• Proven experience in the field of climate resilience and sustainability, with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by businesses in adapting to climate change.
• Training and educational content development experience, with a track record of developing engaging and effective training modules and educational content, particularly tailored to diverse audiences, and preferably, women entrepreneurs.
• Strong research skills, including the ability to gather and analyze industry-specific information on mitigation and adaptation tools, climate-smart technologies, and best practices.
• Excellent (fluent) written and verbal communication skills in Arabic and English to convey complex concepts in a clear and accessible manner.
• A high level of empathy and cultural sensitivity to understand and address the unique challenges faced by women entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.
• Comfort and familiarity with technology is essential to create the e-learning contents effectively, incorporating texts, images, and videos, and then inputting the content and tools into the digital environment.
• Strong interest in the development sector, and in Mercy Corps mission and vision.
• Flexible approach and an ability to operate effectively with uncertainty and change.
• Dedicated to innovative entrepreneur and mentor success.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.