External Consultant for Formative Evaluation of Private Trustworthy Messaging

Established by philanthropists Pam and Pierre Omidyar, Omidyar Network (ON) is a social change venture that has committed more than $1 billion to innovative for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations since 2004. Omidyar Network works to reimagine critical systems and the ideas that govern them, and to build more inclusive and equitable societies in which individuals have the social, economic, and democratic power to thrive. To learn more, visit www.omidyar.com and follow on Twitter @omidyarnetwork.

The Private Trustworthy Messaging program initiated at Omidyar Network in 2019 with $6million dollars to support individuals and organizations that are working to make private messaging platforms more trustworthy (and as a result, safer). Our partners research the risks and harms on private messaging platforms, and educate tech companies and governments on how to preserve privacy protections while making the necessary product and policy changes to prevent and mitigate those harms. These including translating research to stop the viral spread of conspiracy theories, destabilizing hoaxes, fake news, false claims, minority-targeting speech, and organized disinformation campaigns, as well as stemming the rise of narrower, psychologically deeper harms such as child abuse. The program has two core strategies: Upholding encryption that empowers users, communities, and movements; and establishing incentives that promote safer design choices, transparency, and accountability. The team of four staff, partnering with over 20 grantees and partners, have worked to achieve this through three pillars of work around:

1. Better design of messaging platforms,
2. Better governance of messaging platforms,
3. Better advocacy around the issues.

See more details on Omidyar Network’s point of view on encrypted messaging platforms here: https://omidyar.com/privatemessaging/

The Private Trustworthy Messaging workstream is part of Omidyar Network’s Responsible Technology work, which aspires to build a global technological ecosystem that reaches and works for everyone: One that balances innovation with responsibility, regardless of whether technology is deployed by individuals, companies, or governments. Read more about our overall perspective on this work here: https://omidyar.com/responsible-tech-future/

We anticipate this work will include the following elements but will finalize the scope of work with the consultant partner.

• Formative Evaluation Design through engagement with internal stakeholders and 1-3 design advisors from within the sector.
• Document Review and Analysis of strategies, hypotheses and core assumptions, insights, evidence, and key decisions tracked by the Private Trustworthy Messaging workstream team over time.
• Interviews with 18-25 key partners and other stakeholders in the space to understand how they experienced engagement with ON, their view of progress in this work and initial and expected results, and perspectives on ON’s future work and best role in this field.
• Analysis and Recommendations, identifying key lessons learned and signs of progress (both confirming and disconfirming) of ON’s role and recent impact in the field as well as opportunities and barriers to future strategy.
• Engagement with Omidyar Network leadership and PTM staff at front-end to gather context and refine evaluation questions and at conclusion to share results and Q&A.

Key research questions may include:

• What confirming and disconfirming evidence of progress have been observed on hypotheses and assumptions?
• What is the current state of the system, how has it changed between 2019-2022, and what was our role in this change?
• What has been the reception, feedback and implications of Omidyar Network's public role and communications in this space?
• What role and pathways for change are most important for ON going forward?

• This work will need to be conducted between January to March 2023, with final report submitted by March 31.
• We expect a budget for this project around $50,000 USD.

• Approach to work that prioritizes integrity, flexibility, and a commitment to learning, with particular experience in conducting qualitative evaluations with a wide diversity of stakeholders, including those with opposing viewpoints
• Experience with formative evaluations of programs in complex areas, focused on systems change.
• Knowledge of technology landscape, especially around encrypted messaging platforms.
• Dedication to the principles of equitable evaluation and demonstrated alignment towards incorporating a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) lens in evaluation.
• Ability to successfully communicate key findings, and strategy recommendations based on those findings, to staff and stakeholders.

To apply please submit a brief 1-2 paragraph proposal by Friday, Dec 9, 2022 indicating (a) relevant experience with formative qualitative evaluations in philanthropic, technology, and/or policy spaces and (b) short bios of any key evaluators who would be involved.

At Omidyar Network, diversity, equity, and inclusion are directly aligned with our fundamental belief that people are inherently capable, but they often lack opportunity. We know that a diverse workforce allows us to see problems in more nuanced ways, creating the thought leadership needed to have outsized positive returns on the world. We actively recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. Omidyar Network is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes people from all experiences, abilities, and perspectives to apply.