October 27, 2020 (Minneapolis, MN)

The Data Curation Network (DCN), an Alfred P. Sloan funded collaboration of 12 academic and non-profit data repositories, seeks a facilitator to help us identify and prioritize specific actions that we can take to help end racial injustice in the context of our work as data curators. Furthermore, we aim for this work to form the basis for our Network’s overall plan to create a more inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible (IDEA) environment, as a community and as individuals based in higher education.  

We seek to work with an experienced organization development consultant to facilitate the co-creation of a comprehensive IDEA action plan with a focus on racial justice. We aim for this facilitation process to take into account who we are as a community; the platform we offer to the broader data community; and our individual campus communities. 

Scope of Work:

  • The facilitator will work with the ~50 individuals in Data Curation Network over one or more sessions. A subset of the Data Curation Network has formed a working group focused on racial justice and can assist the facilitator with coordinating, scheduling, and dedicated work time. 
  • Deliverable: As a result of the facilitation, our organization will have co-created with the facilitator a written, actionable IDEA plan with a focus on racial justice that will be shared with all members of the Data Curation Network and posted publicly on our website. It is expected that the individuals in the Data Curation Network will feel ownership to implement this plan on our own. While the facilitator authors this IDEA plan, the DCN takes cues from the existing literature on race reckoning within organizations and fully expect this plan to emerge by and through our own reflection and action. 
  • The facilitation work must be completed before May 1, 2021.  

Possible approach: 

  1. Facilitator works with racial justice working group to plan the facilitated activities
  2. Facilitator designs and implements group activity with full DCN community
  3. DCN members and facilitator co-create an IDEA plan with a focus on racial justice
  4. Facilitation ends. 

Deliverables: 

  • Planning with the DCN racial justice working group
  • Engagement with the DCN community (meetings, surveys, etc.)
  • A jointly developed actionable IDEA action plan with a focus on racial justice that sets initial actions, but allows for development and augmentation over time 

We seek short, informal proposals (~500 words) emailed to DCN-team@googlegroups.com by November 20, 2020 that states: 

  • A summary of the work plan for how you would phase this project. 
  • A proposed, high-level timeline for this work. 
  • A detailed cost breakdown for this work and preferred payment schedule.