Request for Training Consultancy on Team Start: ICT Entrepr

 

                               

Mercy Corps is a nonprofit international relief and development organization serving more than 19 million people in 36 countries. Mercy Corps has had a presence in the West Bank and Gaza since the 1980s, helping Palestinians meet their immediate needs for survival and find durable solutions to chronic problems. With offices in East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza City, Mercy Corps implements programs throughout the Palestinian territories.

Mercy Corps is implementing a three-year Economic Development and ICT project under the broader Palestinian Community Assistance Program (PCAP) funded by USAID.  PCAP’s Economic Development program works in several sectors of Gaza’s local economy, and assists young people to prepare for work. 
In 2008, Mercy Corps began work with the Palestine Information and Communication Technology Incubator (PICTI), and the United Kingdom’s University of Warwick Science Park (UWSP), to develop TeamStart:  an entrepreneurial path from idea to marketplace.  Teamstart includes technical consultation, confidence building, business development and practical assistance in a networked environment.
Mercy Corps is looking for a The Contractor to implement TeamStart ICT, a learning cycle dedicated to Gazans with advanced skills in different aspects of ICT,and ideas to translate those talents into income through business.

Contractor Qualifications:
TeamStart requires a provider to establish and maintain an exciting, yet realistic, atmosphere in which ideas take shape and can be challenged.   The Contractor should demonstrate a thorough understanding of entrepreneurs’ requirements and challenges of growth.

In particular, Mercy Corps seeks a provider with the following characteristics:
-Entrepreneurial spirit and experience (for this reason, private sector providers or trainers with business ownership experience are preferred).
-Providers who understand how ideas, creativity and practical business must combine to earn a living.  Experience and networks within the ICTindustry will be preferred.
-Providers with demonstrated experience in coaching, group dynamics, and interactive learning rather than front-of-class experience.
-Providers with proven knowledge of business, including financial management, marketing, and business planning.

Providers are welcome to include more than one trainer in their proposals, in order to bring this range of talents to TeamStart.

Trainers’ degree of expertise and qualifications:
The Contractor should provide professional qualified trainers/facilitators with a mix of group dynamics skills,business experience and strengths relevant to the entrepreneurship training.

The Contractor will require a sufficient number of qualified co-trainers or visiting trainers in different fields such as but not limited to:
-Models of successful ICTenterprise
-Marketing and PR.
-Financial management
-Product development
-Experience in the ICTindustry will be beneficial

Other subjects can be covered by experts brought into the group (in person or through electronic conferencing) for particular sessions.

The total anticipated implementation/delivery period is 13 calendar-weeks starting late April, including preparation of curriculum/methodology and training materials, TS program implementation and submission of the final report.

TOR:
can be picked up at Mercy Corps Gaza Office, 2nd Floor- AbuGhalioun Building during normal working hours; from Tuesday 28February 2012. Normal working hours are 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, Sunday to Thursday.

Submission:
Technical and financial proposals along with the TORshould be submitted in a sealed envelope provided by Mercy Corps, addressed to:

Procurement Department
Mercy Corps Gaza Office
2nd Floor, Abu Ghalioun Building
The Sealed Offer must bear the name of the offering contractor and be delivered to Mercy Corps’ GazaOffice; and must be delivered before 12:00 PM on Sunday 11March 2012.

A pre-bid meeting will be held in Mercy Corps office on 5 March 2012 @ 2 pm.