Job Description
Almost a quarter of the world’s population lives in substandard shelter, impacting their health and livelihoods and their children’s education. Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has helped more than 10 million people worldwide improve their shelter conditions. Yet, Habitat’s construction efforts alone cannot keep pace with the massive and growing need. In fact, no response by governments or private philanthropy alone can meet the shelter needs of 1.6 billion people.
Habitat for Humanity established the Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter (Terwilliger Center) to work with housing market systems by supporting local firms and expanding innovative and client-responsive services, products and financing so that households can improve their shelter more effectively and efficiently. This is based on the understanding that the role of local markets is critical. Indeed, most low-income people already use available market options to put a roof — no matter how frail or insecure— over their heads. These transactions in the local market far outstrip any philanthropic effort to improve shelter. Therefore, Habitat for Humanity strives to make markets work more effectively for people in need of decent, affordable housing. Ultimately, Habitat can have exponentially more impact by improving systems that make better housing possible for millions more families.
The following is an award program by Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in partnership with the World Bank’s Global Program for Resilient Housing. The objective is to identify enterprises (likely to be start-up companies) working towards resilient housing solutions, and to spotlight their work and ideas to achieve resilient housing solutions in cost-effective locally responsive ways.
An award process would run this spring, culminating in a pitch event that could be a feature event at the World Bank Housing Conference in Washington DC in May 2020.
ABOUT THE 2020 RESILIENT HOUSING INNOVATION AWARD
The 2020 Shelter Innovation Award organized by the Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter and the World Bank’s Global Program for Resilient Housing, focuses on innovative technologies and services that offer enterprise-driven disaster resilient, and health-promoting residential construction solutions. The award highlights private sector-led products, technologies and services that provide opportunities for households to achieve resilient housing outcomes in the face of increasing unfavorable natural and climate-related events.
The Terwilliger Center believes that great strides can be made in improving housing quality and resilience if low-income households have access to the right information, products and services and are empowered to make decisions that better support resilience. To this end, the award addresses both demand side innovations – such as those that introduce products and services for resilient construction – and supply side innovations – such as those that influence consumers’ awareness of and attitudes towards such products and services.
Ventures that address one or more of the following areas are welcome to apply:
- Resilience to unfavorable natural and climate related events.
- Vector-borne disease resilience.
- Environmental / climate sustainability
- The award is a combination of financial and business development offering. It will include a financial grant from Habitat for Humanity’s Shelter Venture Fund and, based on the nature and needs of the enterprise, non-financial contributions such as coaching and technical advice and connections with our extensive network of investors and business mentors. Winners will also receive publicity in the sponsoring organizations’ media platforms.
- Three finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their ventures to an independent jury of senior Terwilliger Center and World Bank experts and partners during the 9th Global Affordable Housing Conference that will take place between May 27th and 29th. The total prize money of USD 50,000 will be divided among the winner and the two runners-up.
DELIVERABLES
- HFHI is seeking a consultant to serve as the point person to drive this process and coordinate the award among Habitat for Humanity, World Bank, and designated external experts, culminating in an award pitch night at the World Bank Housing Conference in May.
- Specific deliverables:
- A refined request for applications that can be ready to post in early/mid March.
- A document of all award documents with key metric and information organized in a way for processing the award.
- An internal document used by World Bank and HFHI appointed people to screen, score, and select applicants to serve as finalists.
- A jury scoring tool.
- A successful pitch event at the May World Bank Housing Conference.
- A post-award reflection/lessons learned document.
Specific responsibilities:
- Coordinate a committee of World Bank and HFHI staff to administer and execute the award process and event.
- Suggest a communications strategy to get the word out and to maximize excitement from a pool of applicants around the world, for jurors, and for those attending the event.
- Guide the award process iteratively, responding to any unforeseen situations such as too many or too few applicants, flexing criteria as appropriate to provide for a focused meaningful award while allowing enough flexibility for a vibrant competitive process.
- Work with World Bank conference planners to ensure a successful fun and memorable pitch event.
- Speak with/survey stakeholders to get reflections on how TCIS can do this better in the future.
TIMEFRAME
- The consultant would begin as soon as possible working flexible hours. Some weeks will be intense while others will be slow. The consulting assignment will end with wrap-up after the May World Bank conference.
HOW TO APPLY
- To apply for the 2020 Shelter Innovation Award, complete the online application before 27 March. Only applications completed in English and submitted by this deadline will be considered. For additional information regarding the award, the execution points(criteria, selection etc…) and If you have questions or need guidance, you’re welcome to contact us at tcis@habitat.org.
About the Organization
Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. The purpose and goal of Habitat for Humanity International is to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses in partnership with families in need. HFHI has an Administrative Headquarters based in Atlanta, Georgia, an Operational Headquarters based in Americus, Georgia and Area Office bases of operations in Manila, Philippines for our Asia and the Pacific work, San Jose, Costa Rica for our Latin American and the Caribbean work, and Bratislava, Slovakia, for our Europe, the Middle East and Africa work.
HFHI is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best qualified personnel for all our positions in a manner that does not unlawfully discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, gender, marital status, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, veteran/reserve national guard status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.
