Global Strategy Design Consultant

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Position description

1. Introduction

Plant With Purpose (PWP) is a San Diego-based 501(c)3 non-profit operating a global partnership of local, independently registered organizations across Africa (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania), Latin America/Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico), and Southeast Asia (Thailand).

United by a common brand and a three-pronged transformational development approach—Environmental Restoration, Economic Empowerment, and Spiritual Renewal—the partnership aims to alleviate poverty and reverse environmental degradation.

2. Organizational Background

Following a period of rapid growth where annual revenue doubled to nearly $15 million, PWP experienced a revenue stall in 2025 due to shifts in external funding and other factors. Concurrently, our long-term CEO retired after 30 years of leadership.

PWP is now seeking a qualified consultant or consulting firm to design a 2027–2029 Global Strategic Plan. This strategy must absorb the growth intentions of our previous plan (The Purpose Plan) while offering a more focused, agile, and co-created roadmap that reflects our commitment to localization and strategic agility

3. Strategic Priorities and Strategy Objectives

3.1 Overarching Goal & Aspiration

The primary goal of this consultancy is to create a uniquely tailored, global strategic plan that guides Plant With Purpose to achieve greater mission-aligned impact.

This initiative aspires to redefine how the organization creates, executes, and monitors strategy. The final outputs must equip PWP with a focused, agile strategic roadmap, an analysis of internal/external barriers, an execution and monitoring framework, and actionable recommendations for PWP-managed continuous adaptation and “next-horizons” exploration.

3.2 Core Strategic Priorities

To deliver more effectively on its mission, PWP will lean into six core priorities during this strategic reset. The proposed methodology must actively address how the consultant will help the organization:

• Maximize Core Strengths: Establish a laser-focus on PWP’s current value proposition and foundational competitive advantages.
• Drive Data-Informed Direction: Facilitate a robust, evidence-backed strategic direction, with a specific emphasis on advancing business development capabilities.
• Reignite Network Innovation: Refocus and revitalize ground-up innovation, learning systems, and knowledge-sharing across the global partnership.
• Address Drivers and Barriers to Growth: Identify and evaluate shifts required to transform the internal drivers and systemic barriers to growth and scale.
• Map Future Horizons: Provide a structured, clear pathway for the ongoing discovery and exploration of future growth.
• Strengthen Resilience: Significantly strengthen overall organizational agility and adaptive resilience in a shifting international landscape.

3.3 Evaluation Objectives for Plan Formation

PWP anticipates that the core priorities will be realized if the consultant successfully meets the following specific objectives during the formation of the strategic plan:

• Comprehensive Landscape Analysis: Ground the strategy in a deep assessment of industry trends, core organizational strengths, and internal operational drivers.
• Scalability Pathways: Deliver a design that accurately reflects organizational strengths and weaknesses, mapping clear pathways of leverage or improvement to achieve scale.
• Localized Co-Ownership: Ensure the strategic plan is authentically co-created and co-owned by international partners, honoring local agency.
• Embedded Innovation Practices: Build explicit guidance and frameworks within the plan to strengthen continuous innovation practices.
• Balanced Portfolio Growth: Appropriately balance immediate focus on core operational pathways (to accelerate impact and organizational effectiveness) with distinct pathways to pursue horizon-level growth (e.g., exploring new products and services, partnership frameworks, etc.).
• Enabling Environment Review: Evaluate the current internal environment—including organizational models, mindsets, and behaviors—to recommend elements that should be sustained, refined, or discarded.

Scope Boundary Note: While a rigorous analysis of the current organizational models must be undertaken as part of this consultancy, the physical redesign of those models is strictly outside the scope of this project.

3.4 Required Strategic Qualities

Both the development process and the final outcomes of this strategic redesign must inherently reflect the following four qualities:

• Inclusive: Embracing the diverse voices, agency, and realities of global partners.
• Agile & Adaptive: Built to pivot and respond effectively to internal and external changes.
• Focused: Explicitly concentrated on core strengths and market opportunities.
• Leveraged: Strategically positioned to maximize the unique PWP value proposition for accelerated mission-aligned impact.

4. Scope of Work

The consultant will manage and facilitate the strategic reset across three consecutive phases. A detailed Scope of Work document is available here. Applicants are encouraged to review it alongside the summary below before submitting a proposal.

Phase I: Discovery

• Conduct a comprehensive review of existing quantitative and qualitative data, including that gathered during a 2024–2025 strategic planning review.
• Execute a market landscape analysis to determine PWP’s unique positioning, competitive advantages, and unknown gaps or opportunities.
• Assess existing material and relational resources to ground future strategy options in realistic operational capabilities.

Phase II: Co-Creation

• Design and facilitate inclusive engagement frameworks that respect varying levels of strategic design experience across global partners.
• In-Person Co-Creation Workshop: Lead a 3-to-4-day validation and design workshop held outside the United States (highly likely to be hosted by a local partner in Southeast Asia) in mid-August 2026.

Phase III: Design Refinement & Operationalization

• Consolidate all workshop outputs and discovery data into a clear, agile 2027–2029 Strategic Plan.
• Develop a structured goal framework utilizing tailored Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).
• Deliver an actionable roadmap for strategy execution, providing necessary templates, tools, and continuous adaptation frameworks for on-going PWP-managed execution.

A more detailed scope will be finalized in a Statement of Work (SOW) as part of the final contract.

5. Methodology

Proposals must define a robust, customized methodology that incorporates:

• Rigorous documentation and data review.
• Targeted market and landscape analysis.
• Key stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions across multiple global time zones. Bidders should plan for up to 30 stakeholder interviews and 10 focus group discussions across PWP staff, board, and partner country leadership. Final scope to be confirmed at contract finalization.
• Clear analytical and validation procedures.
• At least one multi-day, in-person facilitated session to be conducted outside the U.S.

6. Project Timeline and Milestones

PWP requires a thorough but aggressive timeline to prepare materials for our Board of Directors meeting in November 2026.

Milestone / Deliverable – Target Date

Proposal Submission Deadline – May 28, 2026 (18:00 PST)

Proposal Review Window – May 29, 2026

Contract Offer Extended – June 3, 2026

Contract Award & Signing – June 5, 2026

Contract Start Date – June 16, 2026 or July 1, 2026

Pre-Design Research, Discovery & Analysis – June 2026 – Mid-August 2026

In-Person Validation & Strategy Workshop – Mid-August 2026

Submission of Draft Strategic Plan – October 16, 2026

Submission of Final Strategic Plan & Tools – November 6, 2026

7. Consultant Qualifications

Eligible consultants or firms must demonstrate the following baseline criteria:

• Experience: Minimum of 5 years of individual experience (or 7 years of combined team experience) designing complex organizational strategies.
• Sector Expertise: Proven track record working with international, social-impact, and faith-based non-profit organizations.
• Domain Knowledge: Familiarity with poverty alleviation, agroecology/agroforestry, environmental restoration, and asset-based community development in resource-constrained contexts.
• Cultural Competency: Exceptional facilitation skills within multicultural, international, and multi-time-zone environments.
• Operational Agility: Demonstrated expertise in building adaptive management frameworks and strategy execution metrics (OKRs/KPIs).

8. Submission Requirements

Interested parties must submit their proposal package by 18:00 PST on May 28, 2026. Late submissions will not be reviewed. Your proposal must include:

• Team Profile & CVs: Detailed professional resumes for all proposed personnel assigned to the project.
• Case Studies / Evidence: Portfolio or narrative summaries of similar past consultancies, particularly within international networks.
• Conflicts of Interest: Proposers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could affect their ability to perform this engagement objectively, including recent or current engagements with Plant With Purpose, its country partners, major donors, board members, or peer organizations in faith-based international development. Disclosure will not automatically disqualify a proposer; Plant With Purpose will evaluate disclosed conflicts case-by-case and may require mitigation measures. Failure to disclose a known conflict may result in disqualification.
• Technical Methodology: A clear, concise description of your proposed approach and technical techniques (Maximum of 6 pages).
• Availability & Timeline Confirmation: Written commitment to meet the required milestones and international travel windows.
• Cost Proposal & Payment Terms: Complete fee breakdown. Note that payment structures offering flexibility around the start of PWP’s fiscal year (July 1, 2026) will be viewed favorably.
• Budget Guidance: Plant With Purpose anticipates a total consultancy fee in the range of $40,000 to $65,000. Proposals materially outside this range may be considered if Plant With Purpose determines the methodology and value proposition justify the variance.
• Treatment of Travel Costs: International airfare will be paid separately as itemized reimbursables consistent with Plant With Purpose travel policies. In-person workshop accommodations will be paid directly to the selected venue on behalf of the consultant.

Proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF format via the online submission portal to be considered.

9. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be scored based on a comprehensive balance of the following vectors:

• 35% – Quality, inclusivity, and strategic agility of the proposed methodology.
• 30% – Relevant experience, team qualifications, and sector familiarity.
• 20% – Cost-effectiveness, fee transparency, and value proposition.
• 15% – Alignment with the aggressive project timeline.

10. Organizational Identity and Compliance Grounding

Crucial Vendor Note: Alignment with Core Values

Plant With Purpose is a Christian organization bound by ECFA, ACCORD, and InterAction standards. The selected consultant is expected to operate with the highest standards of integrity, equity, and respect.

Strategy elements must complement our core values (Faith, Collaboration, Stewardship, Sustainability, Empowerment, and Innovation) and our holistic development model, which addresses the needs of the whole person through an inclusive, interdenominational, and participatory approach. Final strategic frameworks must respect and utilize local partner agency while keeping core solutions organic, native, and community-led.

11. Terms and Conditions

• The Organization reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals
• Issuance of this RFP does not constitute a commitment to award a contract
• Selected Consultant will be required to enter into a formal agreement substantially similar to the Organization’s standard Strategy Consulting Agreement
• Consultant will be engaged as an independent contractor

12. Confidentiality

All materials submitted in response to this RFP will be treated as confidential to the extent permitted by law.

Application instructions

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