Content Developer – Positive Spaces Initiative (PSI) Toolkit

Statement of Need

The Positive Spaces Initiative at Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) is seeking an experienced content developer(s) to revise existing content and create updated content (in French and English) for a print and digital toolkit for settlement service providers across Ontario. The PSI toolkit is used as an introductory resource for organizations looking for practical knowledge to support LGBTQIA+ immigrant, refugee, and newcomer clients and staff.

The original and current starter kit was completed in 2018, informed by regional consultations with OCASI-PSI advisory committee members and LGBTQIA+ communities across Ontario. Existing material should be revised and new material should be designed from a critical, intersectional lens, using ARAO (anti-racism, anti-oppression) frameworks that take into account personal, institutional, and systemic contexts. 

About OCASI

The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants is a registered charity governed by a volunteer board of directors. Formed in 1978, OCASI acts as a collective voice for immigrant-serving agencies and coordinates responses to shared needs and concerns. Its membership comprises more than 246 community-based organizations in the province of Ontario. 

About the Positive Spaces Initiative 

The Positive Spaces Initiative (PSI)/Initiatif Espaces Positifs (IEP), was developed in 2009 to share resources and increase organizational capacity across the settlement sector to more effectively serve LGBTQIA+ immigrants, refugees, and newcomers. The initiative consists of several components, including online training courses, webinars, professional development training for organizations, and a Champions program. PSI takes an  active community-grounded approach. The strength of PSI is in its ability to create an environment which strives to understand the overlapping and intersecting nature of our communities.

The Positive Spaces Initiative is funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Project Overview

The PSI Toolkit (French and English) requires meaningful, inclusive, and attentive updates to its content, structure, and relevance. The project requires:

1. Reviewing the existing toolkit and assessing for:
2. Inclusivity
3. Community Relevance
4. Language and Format
5. User Friendliness and Accessibility
6. Alignment with OCASI PSI mandate
7. Restructuring of the toolkit content order and flow
8. Development of relevant new content
9. Research, rewrite, and edit content as needed following the review of the existing toolkit, incorporating feedback from the PSI team and community consultations
10. Working with the OCASI design team as required.

Scope of Work

The selected consultant, organization, or team will be responsible for the following:

1. Develop concise goals, objectives, and compelling outcomes for each toolkit component.
2. Content Development:
   • Review, analyze, condense and reframe current content
   • Revise/develop the following toolkit components:
     • Welcome Message 
     • What is a Positive Space?
     • Glossary of Terms
     • Know Your Rights
     • Tips, Strategies, and Tools
       • How to make your agency a Positive Space
       • Advocating for your Clients
     • Resources
     • Additional content as needed
   • Update existing relevant content and create new content, including additional components as needed
   • Research and incorporate relevant supplementary content, resources, and references
   • Incorporate intersectionally critical ARAO, decolonial, abolitionist, and disability justice frameworks throughout all content development
3. Review new and existing content and ensure alignment with rubric
4. Feedback and Community Consultation:
   • Collaborate with the OCASI team to review drafts and incorporate feedback at key milestones.
   • Participate in check-in meetings and respond to revisions as required.
   • Coordinate and facilitate a community consultation consisting of service providers and community members
5. Review process:
   • Feedback from OCASI PSI staff will be provided to the consultant based on an agreed schedule
6. Finalization:
   • Deliver according to agreed project timeline

Desired Skills and Competencies 

1. A bilingual (French/English) consultant, organization, or team is preferred.
2. Extensive knowledge and experience in issues faced by LGBTQIA+ newcomers (both Francophone and Anglophone) in Ontario, from an intersectional perspective.
3. An understanding of adult education learning principles, with proven ability to integrate an ARAO framework.
4. Experience and expertise in content  development and/or instructional design, particularly with adult learners (popular education models an asset)
5. Equity, Diversity, and Anti-Oppression Knowledge
   1. A strong understanding and awareness of the historical and present-day experiences of Indigenous people in Canada
   2. Thorough understanding of anti-racist/anti-oppressive (ARAO), anti-ableist, and anti-colonial frameworks; anti-Black racism, homophobia and  transphobia
   3. Strong intersectional understanding of race, class, ability,  sexual and gender diversity particularly as they intersect with immigration, refugee status, and precarious status
   4. Familiarity with non-Western understanding of  gender and sexual diversity
   5. Solid understanding of the specific needs of LGBTQIA+ newcomers
6. Strong knowledge and understanding of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Human Rights Act (the CHRA) and the Ontario Human Rights Code (the OHRC), as well as other relevant local, federal, and international legal frameworks as they relate to sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (SOGIEC) related issues. 
7. Lived experience as LGBTQIA+  im/migrant(s) or refugee(s) preferred
8. Research and Evaluation
   1. Experience with community-based and/or government-funded projects
   2. Strong consultation background with ability to conduct interviews, focus groups, on/offline
9. Project Management
   1. Strong project management skills (evidenced through successful, on-time/on-budget project completion)
   2. Track record in managing assignments of similar size and scope
10. Sector-Specific Knowledge
    1. Knowledge of im/migrant and refugee-serving sectors across Canada (strengths, needs, gaps, knowledge base)
    2. Knowledge about the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)
11. Critical Thinking and Communication Skills
    1. Excellent critical analysis skills (ability to grasp theoretical concepts, problematize oppressive practices, and construct solutions)
    2. Excellent written communication skills; highly organized with an editor’s eye for detail
12. Strong ability to work with and engage multiple stakeholders and manage competing interests with integrity

Budget

The total available budget for complete toolkit content development in French and English is $25,000 (including HST). We invite proposals from bilingual individuals/organizations demonstrating the ability to complete the scope of work themselves as well as proposals from consultant firms/organizations/individuals working in partnership to produce the toolkit content in English and French.

However, applicants are not required to be bilingual, in which case content translation and adaptation may be subcontracted. If the selected contractor works in English only, OCASI may arrange for translation and adaptation. The available budget for content development in English only is $15,000 (including HST).

Toolkit content development in French and English: $25,000 (including HST)

• This includes personnel, language translation, and adaptation services to produce culturally relevant content for learners in English and French.

Course content development in English only: $15,000 (including HST)