CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Ubongo Impact Dashboard Development

Issue date: Tuesday, 11 August 2026 Proposal deadline: Monday, 17 August 2026 Expected assignment duration: 6–8 weeks Background: Ubongo is a Pan-African organization transforming children’s learning through localized, curriculum-aligned educational content. Using storytelling, animation, music, research, and child-centred design, we build foundational literacy, numeracy, STEM, social-emotional, and life skills. We reach children across Africa through TV, radio, digital platforms, schools, offline technologies, and community partners, including those affected by poverty, displacement, limited connectivity, language barriers, and under-resourced education systems. Objective: Ubongo is repositioning its Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning system around a unified impact framework comprising three principal outcome areas: Learning Powerhouse: Self- regulation, confidence, and curiosity; Cognitive Learning Outcomes: Literacy, numeracy, comprehension, and STEM reasoning and application; and Social Equity Outcomes: Social-emotional learning, gender and disability inclusion, accessibility. These are supported by cross-cutting indicators on reach, exposure, engagement, caregivers, teachers, content quality, and programme delivery. Ubongo therefore seeks a qualified consultant or firm to develop a credible, visually compelling, and practical Impact Dashboard that will provide timely evidence on product, programme, market, and investment performance to support decision-making and communicate impact clearly to the Board, funders, governments, partners, and other stakeholders. It will distinguish between different levels and types of evidence, highlight where evidence is strong, emerging, limited, or incomplete, enable appropriate comparisons across countries, products, platforms, and audience segments, maintain an accessible institutional evidence record, and identify gaps requiring further monitoring, research, or evaluation. Purpose of the Assignment: The purpose of the assignment is to consolidate Ubongo’s priority impact indicators and selected datasets into a clear, reliable, and scalable reporting interface. The dashboard will enable Ubongo to track reach across children, caregivers, teachers, and communities; exposure and engagement with Ubongo content; reported value and learning benefits; evidence of cognitive and social equity outcomes; performance across products, countries, platforms, and audience segments; evidence and data-quality gaps; and findings suitable for external communication with appropriate caveats and restrictions. It will also accommodate other priority metrics identified by Ubongo. The assignment will deliver a functional dashboard alongside a sustainable process for maintaining, governing, interpreting, and communicating the underlying data. The proposed solution should be practical, scalable, and proportionate to Ubongo’s needs, existing infrastructure, and internal capacity, while avoiding unnecessary technical complexity. Scope of Work Inception and User Requirements The consultant will review Ubongo’s MEL repositioning plan, impact framework, OKRs, illustrative dashboard, and relevant materials; confirm user roles, access levels, data update cycles, platform and security requirements; recommend and agree on the most appropriate dashboard platform; confirm Phase 1 indicators and datasets; and submit a clear methodology, workplan, stakeholder-engagement plan, and delivery schedule. 2. Indicator and Dataset Mapping The consultant will map the priority indicators and datasets approved for Phase 1. For each indicator, the consultant will document: For each indicator, the assessment will document its definition and strategic relevance, measurement and calculation methods, data sources, geographic and population coverage, data ownership, collection frequency, available disaggregation, evidence strength, and known data-quality or comparability limitations. It will also clarify appropriate internal and external uses, along with any necessary caveats or restrictions.Potential data sources will include 60 Decibels reports, GeoPoll reach estimates, live monitoring and engagement data, selected independent impact evaluations, lab studies and user-research reports, teacher, caregiver and partner monitoring, product and content metadata The final selection of indicators and datasets will be agreed during inception and should remain proportionate to the Phase 1 timeline. 3. Light Data-Quality and Evidence Review The consultant will assess the readiness of the selected data, including: The consultant will assess the readiness and quality of selected data by reviewing completeness, consistency, comparability across periods, countries, products and platforms, reliability of definitions and calculations, duplicate or conflicting figures, availability of disaggregation, currency and update frequency, and suitability for visualization and internal or external communication. A clear evidence-classification framework will also be developed to distinguish between reach estimates, self-reported perceptions, proxy indicators, routine monitoring results, observed or measured outcomes, and independently evaluated impacts. The dashboard must not present evidence of different strengths as though it were methodologically equivalent. Sources, limitations, confidence levels, and caveats should be visible and understandable to non-technical users. 4. Information Architecture, UX and Dashboard Design Before development, the consultant will prepare a wireframe or interactive prototype outlining the dashboard’s information hierarchy, navigation and user journeys, proposed visualizations, internal and external views, filters and drill-down functionality, evidence labels, data notes, and Ubongo branding. The prototype should demonstrate an intuitive, accessible, and visually coherent design that enables non-technical users to quickly understand key insights without unnecessary indicators or technical detail. Filters will be limited to disaggregation supported by the underlying data, including country, reporting period, educational product or content portfolio, distribution platform, age group, gender, and evidence source or type. 5. Dashboard Development Subject to data availability, the Phase 1 dashboard will include an Executive Impact Snapshot covering reach, exposure, engagement, and headline impact indicators; Learning Powerhouse outcomes focused on executive function, confidence, and curiosity; Cognitive Learning Outcomes covering literacy, numeracy, comprehension, and STEM; Social Equity Outcomes addressing SEL, gender and disability inclusion, accessibility, and respect; Cross-Cutting Enablers covering caregiver and teacher engagement, content quality, access, and exposure; and Evidence and Data Notes covering sources, methodology, evidence strength, limitations, caveats, and permitted use. The consultant will also propose a clear approach for distinguishing headline findings suitable for public communication, detailed information for internal decision-making, and restricted, provisional, or insufficiently validated data. 6. Testing and Quality Assurance The consultant will support structured user acceptance testing with representatives from Ubongo’s MEL, Product, Development and Fundraising, Technology and Data, and other relevant teams to assess the accuracy of calculations and visualizations, consistency with approved indicator definitions, ease of navigation and interpretation, system performance and refresh reliability, user access and permissions, accessibility for non-technical users, suitability of internal and external views, and completeness of evidence notes and caveats. All material issues identified during testing will be documented, addressed, and verified before final acceptance. 7. Sustainability, Training and Handover The dashboard will be designed for long-term Ubongo ownership and low-maintenance operation, with development undertaken within Ubongo-controlled infrastructure, accounts, and credentials. The consultant will establish simple and documented data flows and refresh templates, minimize the need for ongoing external support, and train designated Ubongo staff to update data, refresh the dashboard, manage access, troubleshoot common issues, and add compatible datasets. The consultant will also provide all source files, data models, transformation logic, code, templates, technical documentation, administrator and user guides, and complete a formal technical and administrative handover.. Expected Deliverables: Inception Note and Workplan; Confirmed methodology, scope, users, platform, governance arrangements, timeline, stakeholder-engagement plan, and delivery schedule. Indicator and Dataset Map; Approved indicators with definitions, calculations, sources, owners, update frequencies, evidence classifications, limitations, and use restrictions. Data-Readiness and Evidence Review; Concise assessment of completeness, consistency, comparability, risks, gaps, and practical recommendations. Wireframe or Interactive Prototype; Proposed dashboard structure, navigation, visualizations, filters, evidence notes, and internal and external views. Functional Phase 1 Impact Dashboard; Fully developed and tested dashboard operating on Ubongo-controlled infrastructure. Refresh and Governance Package; Data-update templates, indicator dictionary, access rules, evidence-classification guidance, data-flow documentation, and quality-control procedures. User Acceptance Testing Report; Testing undertaken, feedback received, issues identified, corrections completed, and final acceptance status. Training and Handover Package; Practical staff training, administrator and user guides, source files, credentials, code, data models, and formal handover documentation. Expected Timeline: The assignment is expected to be completed within approximately six to eight weeks of contract signature. The proposed workplan should cover inception and consultation, indicator and dataset mapping, data-readiness assessment, wireframing and prototype approval, dashboard development, testing and revisions, staff training, and final handover. Bidders should also identify key dependencies, review points, and the inputs required from Ubongo to ensure timely delivery. Required Expertise: The consultant or firm should demonstrate substantial experience in developing executive, Board, donor, partner, or public-facing impact dashboards, with advanced expertise in Power BI, Tableau, advanced Excel, or other suitable business-intelligence platforms. They should have experience integrating monitoring, evaluation, research, operational, and audience data of varying methodological strengths, alongside strong information design, data visualization, and dashboard UX/UI capabilities. The team should be able to translate complex evidence into clear insights for non-technical audiences, preferably with experience in education, media, edtech, social impact, international development, or MEL systems. They should also demonstrate knowledge of indicator governance, evidence classification, responsible external communication, maintainable system design, user training, data protection, information security, access controls, and strong documentation, communication, and project-management skills. Experience working with organizations operating across multiple African countries and languages will be considered an advantage. Management and Reporting: The consultant will report to Ubongo’s MEL Manager and collaborate with designated representatives from Product, Development and Fundraising, Technology and Data, and other relevant teams. Ubongo will provide: Relevant strategic and MEL documents, Access to approved Phase 1 datasets,Access to selected internal stakeholders,Access to the agreed Ubongo-controlled platform or infrastructure; and Consolidated feedback at agreed review points. Data Security, Confidentiality and Ownership: All data and outputs must be handled confidentially and securely, with data used only for the contracted work and any temporary copies outside Ubongo systems approved in advance and deleted after handover. All dashboard files, datasets, models, calculations, code, credentials, documentation, templates, and other deliverables will be exclusively owned by Ubongo and stored within Ubongo-controlled infrastructure. The solution must enable full Ubongo ownership and independent maintenance, without permanent consultant hosting, restrictive proprietary dependencies, or limitations on Ubongo’s administrative control. Proposal Requirements Interested consultants or firms should submit: Technical proposal (maximum 3 pages) covering understanding, methodology, recommended platform, dashboard/UX approach, evidence and data-quality approach, workplan, team structure, and key risks/dependencies. Visual example – proposed wireframe, sketch, or relevant dashboard sample. Two comparable dashboards previously developed, with links and a brief description of the bidder’s role. CVs of the lead consultant and key team members. Approach to data security, Ubongo ownership, documentation, staff training, and technical handover. Financial proposal in USD, including professional fees, taxes, software/licensing/hosting, reimbursable costs, total cost, and any optional post-handover support. Two professional references for comparable assignments. Selection Considerations Proposals will be assessed based on the bidder’s understanding of the assignment and Ubongo’s needs, the quality and practicality of the proposed approach, relevant experience in dashboard development, data visualization, and evidence management, and the quality of previous work. Assessment will also consider sustainability, security, ownership and handover arrangements, team qualifications and availability, the realism of the proposed workplan, and overall value for money. Ubongo reserves the right to seek clarification, request a presentation or demonstration, contact references, negotiate the final scope and budget, or decline any or all proposals. Submit to: [email protected] and copy [email protected] Deadline: Monday 17 August 2026.