Expression of Interest (EOI) for Engagement of Consultant MERL (Education)

BACKGROUND

The American India Foundation Trust (AIF) is committed to improving the lives of India’s underprivileged, with a special focus on women, children, and youth. The Foundation does this through high-impact interventions in education, health, and livelihoods because poverty is multidimensional. Founded over two decades ago, in the aftermath of the devastating Gujarat earthquake, as a humanitarian initiative by the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji, and the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, AIF has impacted the lives of more than 19.63 million of India’s poor across 35 States and Union Territories of India. Registered as a Trust in India, with an independent Board of Trustees, AIF adheres to strict financial and governance standards, ensuring transparency, accountability, and responsible management of resources. As per statutory mandates, AIF is registered under 80G, and 12A. These registrations and certifications are tangible evidence of the organization's existence, credibility, and compliance with the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks while demonstrating a firm commitment to its vision and mission. Learn more at https://aif-india.org/

The American India Foundation Trust (AIFT) seeks to identify a qualified Consultant for providing Technical and operational support across the following education projects for monitoring framework finalization (new projects and proposal writing), survey team orientation, and baseline assessments are pending prior to full-scale programme implementation.

Selected projects may also require coordination and completion of external assessments, which are expected to be completed by September 2026.

A. Finalization of Monitoring Frameworks and Team Orientation

• Review and finalize project monitoring frameworks, indicators, and reporting formats.
• Standardize monitoring tools and reporting templates across projects, wherever applicable.
• Finalize project trackers and data collection formats.
• Conduct orientation sessions for project teams on project indicators, monitoring requirements, reporting timelines, and data quality standards.

B. Baseline Assessment Management

The consultant will support the planning, coordination, implementation, analysis, and reporting of baseline assessments across assigned education projects. Baseline assessments are required to be completed prior to commencement of full-scale project activities and programme implementation.

Internal Assessments

The consultant will support baseline assessments for the following projects:

• COH Chicago
• Navani Foundation STEM – MP
• Raj Sharma – STEM
• Extreme Networks
• EXL – STEM SPARK
• Ericsson (Guna, Chennai, Noida, Haryana)
• Zscaler
• Covestro
• Amazon
• Caterpillar India
• Caterpillar India Engineering Solutions
• Hexaware
• Nykaa
• ICE MT
• ICE Data
• HCL Foundation
• ESL

Responsibilities will include:

• Finalization of assessment frameworks, tools, indicators, and sampling methodologies.
• Development and validation of sampling plans and sample selection processes.
• Adaptation and contextualization of assessment tools based on project requirements.
• Support for tool translation, validation, and pilot testing, where required.
• Conduct of enumerator and field team training.
• Coordination of field implementation and data collection activities.
• Monitoring assessment quality through spot checks, back checks, and data validation processes.
• Data cleaning, analysis, interpretation, and report preparation.
• Preparation of baseline assessment reports with key findings and recommendations.

External Evaluations

• The following projects have pending baseline assessments that need to be completed prior to commencement of project activities and full-scale implementation:
• Westbridge Capital
• RIST – DE 2.0
• Samvid Ventures – DSF (Deepshala)

For these projects, the consultant will:

• Support identification and onboarding of assessment agencies.
• Review assessment methodologies, tools, sampling plans, and timelines.
• Provide technical inputs for sampling design and sample validation.
• Coordinate with external partners throughout assessment implementation.
• Review draft reports and provide technical feedback.
• Support finalization of assessment reports and deliverables.
• Ensure completion of baseline assessments within agreed project timelines, preferably by September 2026.
  
  

2. Key Deliverables & Timeline

Scope of Information Requested

This stage is for collecting information from interested Consultant. AIFT will review the submissions and may issue a detailed Request for Quotation (RFQ) to shortlisted consultant based on the specific assignments.

Submission Requirement

Please submit your Expression of Interest using the Google Form link provided below:  

Google Form Link:  Expression of Interest - Consultant MERL

Please note that applications will be assessed on a rolling basis, and the position may close before 15 July 2026 upon identification of a suitable candidate.