TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToR)

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP PROJECT ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT

(OCA) CONSULTANCY

Background.

Legal Resources Foundation Trust (LRF) is a 33-year-old National Civil Society rights organization whose vision is a Just and Equal society. LRF exists as a premier bridge to justice institutions seeking to harness the collaborative benefits of strategic partnerships to gain holistic participatory interventions towards justice, equity, and resilience in communities. LRF’s focus areas include access to justice and the rule of law, human rights, gender, governance, security, and environmental and climate change issues. LRF’s work has been recognized by critical players in the sector through awards from Trocaire in 2021 for enhancing access to justice for GBV survivors; from CRECO in 2012 as the Overall Civil Society of The Year; Law Society of Kenya – Nairobi branch in 2020 as in house Corporate Legal Department of The Year among others.

LRF is working with the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice (DoJ) to support Changes that Expand Leadership Advancement Opportunities for Women in these Critical Institutions. This initiative is part of a five-year project which is being implemented from March 1st, 2026 to December 31st, 2030. The project is anchored on a comprehensive strategy that tackles systemic barriers preventing women advancement into leadership positions at the AG’s office. The project also promotes equitable opportunities for women in the aforementioned critical institutions.

One of the key focus areas for the project is organizational strengthening for Legal Resources Foundation Trust to be a fit institution to journey with the office of the Attorney General (AG) and Department of Justice (OAG/DoJ) to contribute to systemic change. This will be geared towards organizational readiness and strengthening required for the envisaged change effort.

The OCA report will provide structured and comprehensive recommendations to the organization (LRF) on their role in contributing to change at the aforementioned critical institution. Further, the report will provide recommendations on the strengths, weaknesses and areas that require remedial action for the organization to be a fit organization to enable change at the Office of the Attorney General.

To support this process, LRF seeks to engage a qualified OCA expert to conduct a system change Organizational Capacity Assessment and provide clear recommendations on the organization’s role, strengths, areas that require additional work. The consultant is also expected to provide specific proposals on how the organization should address the identified weak areas and how the organization should manage change to achieve sustainable results especially lasting improvements in women’s lives and careers.

1. Purpose of the Consultancy

The primary goal of this consultancy is to conduct a thorough examination of LRF’s processes, culture and practices across critical functional areas that are requisite for a fit institution to facilitate system change in a critical institution. It is specifically designed to identify strengths, areas for improvement, and strategic opportunities with a strong emphasis on fostering long-term sustainability on both financial and impact levels. This will include but not limited to strategic coherence, organizational arrangements and critical capabilities, leadership including diversity and inclusion (of women and other disadvantaged people), at all levels, especially leadership and board; partnerships, funder relationships, values and culture.

2. Key Objectives

The main objectives are:

  1. Evaluate organization’s readiness, strategic alignment, and operational efficacy.
  2. Evaluate the LRF internal systems, human resource capabilities, and stakeholder management frameworks necessary to drive gender-inclusive leadership reforms
  3. Identify strengths and weaknesses within the organization’s current capacities (for programs, government engagement, knowledge management, data & insights generation, learning etc)..
  4. Determine specific areas that require improvement or enhancement.
  5. Develop actionable recommendations to strengthen the organization’s capacity or capabilities.
  6. Support the organization in achieving its mission and goals more effectively.

3. Scope of the consultancy

The consultancy will cover the following areas:

  1. Institutional Mapping: Analyze the existing governance structure of the LRFT and its alignment with the mandate of the Office of the Attorney General.
  2. Capacity Gap Analysis: Utilize standard organizational development frameworks to identify gaps in technical expertise, human resources, programs, financial & procurement management, partnerships, fundraising and donor funds management and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems, values and culture, with regards to being a fit organization to support changes at OAG/DoJ.
  3. Conduct evaluation of the organization’s communication and outreach systems.
  4. Conduct assessment of LRF’s Information, data management and learning systems.
  5. Review organizational workflow.
  6. Gender competence and capabilities
  7. Strategic Recommendations: Develop a roadmap for capacity building that addresses identified weaknesses, ensuring the WIL program is sustainable and scalable.

4. Proposed Methodology

The Consultant will apply a participatory, adaptive, and systems-based methodology, combining desk reviews, surveys, key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and case studies with gender, intersectionality, and political economy analysis. The consultant will take lead during inception and data validation meetings. The Consultant is also expected to work closely with LRF’s secretariat and Board during the assignment. The consultant is at liberty to propose a methodology or recommend additional activities that might be required for an ideal OCA.

5. Deliverable Outputs / Expected Results

The consultant will provide the following:

  1. Proposal in response to this ToR.
  2. Inception Report.
  3. Comprehensive Capacity Assessment Report, including findings, analysis, and recommendations.
  4. Presentation of the assessment findings to the organization’s leadership and stakeholders.
  5. Action Plan for Capacity development, outlining specific steps, responsibilities, and timelines.
  6. Updated policies and procedures.
  7. Organization’s Operational manual (Workflow matrix).
  8. Develop a tool to track progress and measure the impact of the changes or recommendations.

6. Duration of the Consultancy

The consultancy will run for a period of one (1) month, commencing upon signing of the contract.

7. Qualifications, Competencies and Experience

The consultant should possess:

  1. University Advanced Bachelor's Degree in Law, Public Administration, or Organizational Development, with at least 10 years of experience in institutional reform and gender mainstreaming within the Kenyan public sector.
  2. At least over 8 years of experience in OCA.
  3. Demonstrated experience in conducting capacity assessments for nonprofit organizations.
  4. Practical experience in gender responsive OCA.
  5. Proven Expertise in the areas of organizational development, system change, finance management, Human Resources, communication, Fundraising, and Data management and archiving.
  6. Proven experience in gender analysis and gender-responsive programming, institutional or systems change initiatives, governance, justice, or public sector programs in Kenya, and policy analysis.
  7. Excellent analytical, facilitation, and communication skills.
  8. Fluency in English and Swahili.

8. Reporting

The consultant will report to the LRF Board through the Executive Director, and work closely with the project team.

9. Application Process

Consultants wishing to express an interest in undertaking the assignment should submit:

  1. A Curriculum Vitae - with contacts for 3 referees provided.
  2. Technical proposal that outlines understanding of the assignment and proposed methodology of conducting the assignment.
  3. Financial proposal that includes the proposed budget of the consultancy (Daily rate and total lump sum).
  4. Samples of previous work. Commitment letter for availability during the period specified.

Proposals should be submitted by July 29th, 2026 to: procurement@lrf-kenya.or.ke  CC  info@lrf-kenya.or.ke

Subject Line: Organizational Capacity Assessment Consultancy – Women in Leadership Initiative