Digital Dada Follow On Support

Status-Closed

Terms of Reference

Introduction

This Ability Trust is a non-profit organization that works to advance the rights and inclusion of women and girls with disabilities in Kenya. Our main objective is to amplify the voices and increase visibility of women and girls with disabilities.

Background

The DigitalDadas program was conceived in September 2019 after consultations with young women with disabilities and the lack of digital skills. In February 2020, after the realization, that a face to face interactive training would not be safe or feasible due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we fast tracked the ongoing development of SKILLS, our elearning platform. In under 90 days, This Ability Trust was cold running the platform and improving on accessibility features.

To ensure functional accessibility for different disabilities, extra effort was emphasized. The first cohort kicked off in June 2020 followed by the project presentation and graduation in December of 2020. As a result, several #DigitalDada from the 2019 and 2020 cohorts, have utilized skills acquired to receive job placements both within This Ability Trust and externally.

In 2021, the entire process was more seamless as we had some experience from last year. The platform has also been greatly improved and shall continue evolving with time. In early October 2021, we began our internship and mentorship programs. The decision to have these internally was necessitated by our deep knowledge of each of the #DigitalDada and our ability to fit into their individual learning styles. At the end of the internship program, each group was required to create and present a project. In 2021, graduations were spread out based on regions of origin for ease of compliance with COVID-19 regulations.

Problem Statement
Women and girls with disabilities are often excluded from mainstream opportunities. In turn, the lack of gainful employment or access to business capital further catalyzes the cycle of poverty. In response to this, This Ability Trust has undertaken to bridge the gap for young women with disabilities and provide access to internship, mentorship and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Our Strategic Solution
● Further than availing the seed capital for the selected project, This Ability Trust shall incubate the project and guide the principal/s on industry best practices. This Ability Trust shall create sustainable pathways for growth and scale and as a result increase the likelihood of eventual success and self-sustainability.
Overall Objective:

● To provide project seed funding for selected projects among the Digitaldadas 2019, 2020, 2021 cohorts and deliver incubation, guidance and continued support to ensure selected projects achieve overall success and self-sustainability. Specific Objectives

● To create support processes and procedures that shall ensure success of all selected projects
● To outline a fair and transparent selection process to receive seed funding

Desired Outcomes

● A replicable proven and successful future support model for young women and girls with disabilities.
● A profitable business/concept that shall benefit women and girls with disabilities, their immediate environments and that shall serve as an example to society.

Eligibility

This grant competition is limited to participants of the Digital Dada program 2019, 2020 and 2021 ONLY. This includes those with individual or group presentations.

Proposal Requirements

  1. Ensure your proposal has all the relevant content i.e. introduction, problem statement, solution, schedule, budget.
  2. Ensure your proposal is practical and has real life-relevance.
  3. Kindly try and make your budget realistic and practical.
  4. ALL projects should be submitted in PowerPoint or PDF format via the email address provided.

How to apply

  1. Send in your complete project presentation by 31st of December 2021 to digitaldadas@thisability.org

2. Attach a letter (not exceeding 1 page), explaining why you feel your project should receive seed funding.

Selection Criteria

This Ability Team will review the proposals using the following criteria:

  1. Relevance: Is the proposal relevant to the objectives? Does it address the problem statement?
  2. Feasibility: How feasible, practical and evidence based are the proposed projects? What is the
    plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the project?
  3. Teamwork: How well did the time work together? Did everyone participate or were some
    members overworked? What was the flow like?
  4. Budget accuracy: Was the budget clear and easy to understand? Was it realistic? Was any
    background research done to relate figures to real life instances?

Exclusion Clause

This Ability Trust has zero tolerance for corruption and fraud. This Ability Trust reserves the right to offer comparable assignments to those qualified candidates that may not have been selected for this consultancy assignment for which they applied for. These offers will be based on the needs of the organization, appropriateness, and relevance to the candidate’s educational background and work experience. Only those candidates in whose qualifications and experience the Trust has further interest will be contacted for subsequent interviews.

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