Global Learning Partner

ABOUT AGA KHAN FOUNDATION, USA (AKF USA)

For over 50 years, the Aga Khan Foundation has served marginalized communities in some of the most remote, hard-to-reach parts of Asia and Africa. We partner with communities to improve quality of life for decades and generations. Prosperity for all comes from harnessing the best from people of all walks of life. We believe that communities and societies are stronger when they are built on the vision and collaboration of people from all backgrounds. AKF is a member of the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of agencies that work on the environment, health, education, architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, the promotion of private-sector enterprise, and the revitalization of historic cities. Each year, the Network helps improve the quality of life for tens of millions of people in over 30 countries. AKDN agencies conduct their programs without regard to faith, origin, or gender.

POSITION SUMMARY

1. Context and Background

AKF has been partnering with the Bezos Family Foundation to advance Early Childhood Development (ECD) outcomes by improving caregivers’ capacity to support the children’s development in underserved areas in India and Pakistan, using Bezos Family Foundation’s Vroom initiative.

The Vroom Initiative is a program designed to support early childhood brain development by empowering parents and caregivers to turn everyday moments into learning opportunities. The initiative provides science-based tips, tools, and activities that are simple to integrate into daily routines, such as mealtimes, bathtime, or bedtime. Developed with input from neuroscientists, early childhood experts, and families, the program emphasizes activities that engage children’s cognitive and social development in practical, accessible ways. It has reached millions of families in the U.S. and beyond, with over 1,000 activities available. The Brainy Background component of Vroom tips highlights the science behind each suggested activity, providing parents and caregivers with an understanding of how everyday interactions support their child’s brain development. Each tip includes this explanation to connect simple, practical actions to their impact on cognitive, emotional, and social growth.

In Phase 1 of the partnership from June 2021 through December 2024, the program successfully translated, adapted and contextualized 500 tips using a human design thinking approach. These efforts improved the knowledge, skills and practices over 15,000 parents and caregivers through various platforms in remote areas in India and Pakistan.

Building on the success of Phase 1, AKF and Bezos have launched a Phase 2 partnership to deepen the work in India and Pakistan, while expanding interventions to Kenya and Zanzibar. In Pakistan and India, the project will continue efforts in existing geographies and expand to new areas to reach more families and communities. In India, the project will be implemented in Nawabganj, Shivpuri, Balha, and Mihinpurva blocks in Uttar Pradesh, Nirmal and Adilabad districts in Telangana, and three assembly constituencies in Delhi. In Pakistan, it will be implemented in Ghizer and Astore Districts in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In Kenya and Zanzibar, the project will leverage the expertise of the Madrasa Early Childhood Program, a long-term partner of AKF in supporting ECD initiative in Kwale and Kilifi Counties in Kenya and Unguja and Pemba islands in Zanzibar.

In Phase 2, the project aims to:

1. Engage parents and caregivers using evidence-based, locally relevant Vroom Tips, adapted and contextualized through HCD approach.
2. Increase access to inclusive and age-appropriate resources and training for parents and caregivers; and
3. Identify the most effective and sustained dissemination pathways and platforms for scaling messages and changing caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.

Expected outcomes of the project include a) improved caregivers’ knowledge and confidence in applying brain-building science, fostering positive and playful everyday interactions with children; b) enhanced the capacity of frontline workers to promote positive and responsive relationships between caregivers and children; and c) established effective and sustained dissemination pathways and platforms to scale messages and driver changes in caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. These outcomes aim to improve caregiver practices, ultimately supporting children’s holistic development in the target geographies. The project is expected to reach approximately 66,800 parents, caregivers and children across India, Pakistan, Kenya, and Zanzibar. A table with the country and target reach has been included below.

India

Pakistan

Kenya

Zanzibar

Young Parents/Caregivers

20,700

21,000

4,000

10,000

Children (0-5)

8,050

30,000

8,000

15,000

To ensure continuous learning, adaptation, and scalability, AKF seeks a Global Learning Partner to guide learning and support evidence generation throughout the project lifecycle.

1. Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to engage a Global Learning Partner (GLP) who will be responsible for guiding and supporting AKF in generating learning and evidence throughout the project duration. Specifically, the GLP will:

• • Facilitate learning processes to support program adaptation and improvement.
  • Generate evidence on the effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability of interventions.
  • Capture and synthesize lessons learned across the four countries for local, regional, and global dissemination.

1. Duration

The partnership will be valid from March 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026, with a possibility of extension based on mutual agreement. Funds will be disbursed into instalments and the said budget is reflected in an indicated duration.

1. Budget

The budget will be based on a need to complete the deliverables but will not exceed the pre-approved budget under AKF’s Vroom Phase 2 project budget.

1. Activity schedule:

TBC

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The GLP will be responsible for the following:

1. Design a Learning Agenda and Framework

• Review Phase 1 baseline and endline reports, implementation reports, and case studies extract key insights and gaps.
• Analyze AKF’s Human Centered Design (HCD) processes and learnings from Phase 1 and engage with country teams to understand expectations for HCD in Phase 2.
• Collaborate with program teams to co-create a learning agenda aligned with project goals.
• Develop a robust framework for monitoring, documenting, and analyzing project outcomes and processes.

1. Evaluation and Document Program Effectiveness

• Lead the design of the baseline study with the program teams to collect data and establish baseline values for the excepted outcomes.
• Design and oversee the impact evaluation study to measure project outcomes, gather online data and establish endline values for the excepted outcomes.

1. Facilitate Learning, Synthesize and Disseminate Knowledge

• Support AKF in organizing bi-annual learning sessions (online or in-person) with program teams and stakeholders to reflect on progress, challenges, and opportunities.
• Provide actionable recommendations to inform ongoing program adaptations, incorporating insights from program teams, HCD processes and annual reports.
• Develop knowledge products such as case studies, policy briefs, and toolkits, to disseminate findings and lessons learned.
• Participating in Vroom Community of Practice meetings organized by Bezos
• Collaborate with program teams to share findings through workshops, webinars, and other dissemination events.

Expected deliverables.

1. A comprehensive Learning Agenda co-created with program teams.
2. A robust Monitoring and Learning Framework, including tools and methods for documenting and analyzing outcomes and processes.
3. Baseline Study that will include inception report with tools and methodologies, training of the country team on tools and data collection, and baseline study report.
4. Bi-annual Learning Sessions.
5. Knowledge Products: number and types of products will be discussed and agreed with AKF.
6. Dissemination Events: participate jointly with AKF in global webinars and conferences.
7. Endline Evaluation Report: Deliver a comprehensive report with data, analysis, summarizing all findings, insights, and lessons learned from Phase 2, with actionable recommendations for scaling and sustainability.

Required QUALIFICATIONs AND EXPERIENCE

AKF is seeking an experienced and committed Global Learning Partner with extensive knowledge of conducting early childhood development research, studies and assessments, especially parenting and caregivers programming to inform learning. Specifically, the GLP should have:

• Demonstrated experience in managing learning and evaluation for multi-country ECD or social behavior change programs.
• Expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methods, including participatory approaches.
• Proven ability to synthesize findings into accessible formats for diverse audiences.
• Strong facilitation skills to engage multi-cultural and multi-sectoral teams.
• Familiarity with the ECD contexts in India, Pakistan, Kenya, and Zanzibar is an advantage.
• Human resources (a team with capacity and related expertise) to carry out this assignment.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English.

Applications

Interested applicants, please submit the following documents to: humanresources.akfusa@akdn.org subject line: “Global Learning Partner for Vroom Initiative”

1. A technical proposal outlining the approach and methodology that you will apply in delivering the scope of work.
2. A detailed financial proposal indicating all expenses associated with scope of work.
3. The relevant institutional experience on similar assignments, including competencies in both data collection, analysis and report writing. If a partner is submitting, CVs for each staff member of the team identified for this assignment should be included.
4. Contact information for two professional references.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Applications without all relevant documents will not be considered.

Deadline for application: February 23, 2025

AKF USA is committed to advancing gender equality and inclusion through our programming and operations in the USA and overseas. AKF USA employees requires all employees to review and abide by the AKF Gender Equality Policy.

AKF USA recognizes the importance of safeguarding and is committed to ensuring it manages a wide range of risks such that beneficiaries, staff, other associates, and the organization as a whole are kept safe from harm. AKF USA requires all employees to review and abide by the AKF Safeguarding Policy.