People and Culture Consultant

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Hamilton Community Foundation is seeking proposals from qualified consultants to develop a comprehensive “People and Culture” plan, integrating its EDIA and Declaration of Action on Truth and Reconciliation principles and commitments.

The goals of this plan are:

• Retention and professional development: Identify and create a plan to support what team members need to succeed here or elsewhere in their careers.
• Optimize individual and organizational capacity to achieve the institutional goal of being a just organization.
• Further align and advance the Foundation’s goal of being an equitable employer.

Submission date: June 8, 2026

Budget: $35,000 - $40,000

Background

Hamilton Community Foundation was established in 1954 as Ontario’s first community foundation. With the vision of a vibrant, diverse and inclusive Hamilton and a mission to drive positive change by connecting diverse people, ideas and resources, HCF works to:

• Bring people, ideas and resources together to address priority issues that affect Hamiltonians.
• Support all aspects of community life through grants and loans to a wide range of charitable organizations and initiatives.
• Help people give in a way that has community impact and meaning to them.

HCF’s values of equity, Reconciliation, courage, relevance, accountability and collaboration describe what we care about, what guides our decision making, the behaviours people can expect from us and what guides us in fulfilling our mandate.

We have a staff complement of 24 who work in a hybrid environment, and which includes a five-person senior management team (CEO, COO/CFO and vice-presidents leading four operating areas).

HCF’s strategic priorities for the community are outlined in this excerpt from our strategic plan. Critical to this initiative is our strategic goal to ensure HCF has the best possible operating model in all areas to address systemic inequities. This includes human resources. HCF has a long-standing formal and demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility. Our equity statement is here. In 2024 we developed a parallel Declaration of Action on Truth and Reconciliation. Staff are accountable to the board for regular progress reports on both commitments.

Objectives and scope of work

The main objectives of this work would, at minimum, include:

• Assess current structures (e.g. organizational structures, policies, expectations, operational practices and realities), leadership behaviours, culture, decision-making, systems and capabilities to identify gaps, enablers and barriers to achieving the three goals identified for this plan. This could include:
• Along with other measurement, assessing the level at which EDIA principles are currently experienced by staff in practice as they relate to the goals (e.g. individual development within HCF, career trajectory, contributing to organizational mission).
• Identify defined project goals for staff and how progress would be identified.
• Specify the level of organizational readiness for the change required.
• Based on the assessment, develop a practical and actionable organizational development plan that aligns/integrates with EDIA and Declaration of Action commitments and HCF’s strategic goals.
• Identify opportunities and ways to strengthen leadership and organizational capacity to support, steward and sustain the plan and achieve goals.
• Recommend tools, processes and metrics to identify progress, required course corrections and support sustainable change.
• Provide advice and/or support to communicate the project to staff (e.g. kickoff meeting, what to expect, confidentiality, etc.).
• Goal is to begin work in August 2026 and complete by January 2027.

Proposal content

If your firm is interested in submitting a proposal, please include:

• An overview of your organization, including how EDIA/Indigenous principles are reflected in your own practice.
• Your understanding of HCF and the scope of work to be accomplished.
• Your proposed workplan, including your approach to:
  • Discovery phase and how you will gain understanding
  • Collaborative opportunities and ways to build internal buy-in
  • Communication support/strategy
  • How you would build equity and inclusion principles into your workplan
  • Progress review and feedback checkpoints with HCF (how often) and proposed division of work between your organization and HCF team
  • How you use AI in your approach, if at all.
• Timeline: Project plan and critical path/timeline including phases, milestones and progress reporting/feedback points.
• Examples of work that demonstrate your experience in conducting similar projects. We are particularly interested in experience with organizations at a more mature stage of EDIA and Indigenous initiatives.
• Your ability to provide additional support such as coaching and facilitation, training, ongoing advice. Please indicate if you would consider such support necessary or optional to the program’s success.
• Brief bios of team members who would be involved in the work, and the roles they would play.
• Fees and anticipated expenses. The anticipated budget range for this project is $35,000 - $40,000 not including optional services you may suggest. For these services, please provide rates/overall estimates.
• Client references from two projects where you would view the assignment comparable to this proposal.

Deliverables

Written report (with executive summary) setting out:

• Assessment findings, ideally to include an articulation of a shared desired culture that supports the objectives of this plan.
• Organizational development plan that provides clear, comprehensive and actionable recommendations and priorities to address the gap between the current and ideal state. This should cover areas such as systems-level changes, competencies, professional development/learning areas and options, leadership development, individual development plan considerations, etc.
• Implementation roadmap, including timetable, ideal sequencing, roles, responsibilities and resource requirements.
• Communication/change management considerations.
• Metrics for evaluating organizational and individual progress toward the goal.
• Progress reporting/checkpoints.
• Findings and final report presentations to senior management.
• Findings and final report presentations to staff.

Evaluation criteria

All proposals will be evaluated based on the following key criteria:

• Understanding of HCF environment, (programs, structure and strategic objectives) and commitment to HCF mission and values.
• Performance capability—the extent to which the proposal demonstrates the firm’s depth and breadth of experience, skills, knowledge, sensitivity and creativity required to successfully complete this project.
• Completeness and quality of response, including clear deliverables and reasonable approach.
• Cost effectiveness.
• References.

Process and selection timetable

Short-listed firms may have an opportunity to expand on their proposal in person. This will consist of a presentation of 15-20 minutes by the firm, and 15-20 minutes for questions.

Process

Submission deadline

12 p.m. June 8, 2026

Shortlisted candidates notified

By June 17, 2026

Presentations by candidates

Week of June 22, 2026

Successful candidate informed

By July 15, 2026

Contract begins

August 4, 2026

RFP Terms

• The proponent firm shall bear all costs associated with responding to this RFP.
• HCF is not bound to explain its decisions regarding submitted proposals.
• By accepting a proposal, HCF does not intend to bind itself legally in any way. HCF intends solely to begin negotiating a contract on the subject matter of the proposal. Unless HCF states otherwise in writing at the time, oral or written communications between the firm and HCF, the subject matter of the proposal is always to be considered subject to the execution of a formal written agreement. In addition, the execution of a contract in no way binds HCF to an ongoing relationship with the vendor. A contract should be considered as a standalone.
• Prior to the closing date of the RFP, respondents should not establish contact with anyone (staff or board) inside the organization regarding this RFP, other than the representative identified. Failure to abide by this requirement could be grounds for rejection of your proposal.

For more information

Our website is hamiltoncommunityfoundation.ca, with more information available in our Annual Report and fact sheet on our publications webpage.

HCF contact

Please direct all submissions and questions to:

Mary Anne Grant, Corporate Secretary

Phone: 905.523.5600 x 227

Email: m.grant@hamiltoncommunityfoundation.ca

Hamilton Community Foundation is committed to inclusive, barrier-free procurement and selection processes. We encourage proposals from diverse populations and equitydeserving groups, including applicants who require accessibility accommodations. If contacted for a procurement opportunity, please advise us if you require an accommodation.