Consultant for Resilient States Project - (Minnesota and other states)

United States Programs – Common Ground USA /Consultant – Local (Minnesota) / Remote
Summary Common Ground USA (CG-USA) is seeking a consultant to scope and support the development of Resilient State programming in Minnesota and additional states. The consultant will establish key connections and relationships in Minnesota, provide feedback and outside perspectives on project implementation, and deliver project curriculum and other subject-matter expertise on relevant topics. The consultant will distill lessons learned and apply those to additional states. This consultancy is program-funded.
Context
Common Ground USA Common Ground USA (CG-USA) fosters collaboration across differences to address America’s most significant challenges and build a society where everyone can belong and thrive. As part of Search for Common Ground, with 40 years of global conflict resolution experience, CG-USA transforms conflict into cooperation with programming focused in the United States. At CG-USA, we believe that most Americans want to overcome the divisions we face in our society and that we all have a role to play. Engaging across political and other divides, we view disagreement as an opportunity to transform conflict into cooperation and solve our most pressing problems. All of our work is rooted in an evidence base where we strengthen the five vital signs of peace: safety, social cohesion, institutional legitimacy, personal agency, and resourcing peace.
The Project The Resilient States Project is a collaboration between CG-USA and Over Zero that convenes and empowers broad-based networks of diverse leaders to build resilience and mitigate risks for division and political violence in key states (currently: Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas). Our networks unite diverse leaders across various sectors, ideologies, and geographies. These networks collaborate to mitigate divisions and risks of conflict within their states and unify their communities. 
From 2022 to 2025, the first phase of this project’s four pilot states demonstrated the promise and potential of the Resilient State model in mobilizing and coordinating new and diverse leaders with the aim of reducing risks and harms in their states. This next phase of the project will expand to new states and contexts, further incorporating lessons learned across the project.
Geographic LocationsThe consultant must be based in Minnesota. This role may require significant travel within Minnesota for meetings, training, and other convenings, and occasional travel to other states. This may include multiple trips within a month, and weekend travel is possible. Day trips should be included in the consultant’s proposed costs. Pre-approved overnight travel (within Minnesota and to other states) may be expensed to Common Ground USA.
Logistical SupportThe consultant will be responsible for organizing their logistics, and these costs must be reasonably budgeted into the proposal. CG-USA can provide some support in arranging logistics as agreed upon based on the consultant’s proposal. At least one CG-USA staff member will serve as the primary point of contact and project manager. 
Additionally, the Resilient States Project team will share background materials, including related project curricula, training materials, and existing relationships.

Goals and Objectives: The consultancy should consider the following goals and objectives:

• Provide networking and relationship-building with civil society organizations, networks, and leaders who have some measure of interest, capacity, or influence to prevent political violence in Minnesota;
• Develop a strong working relationship with civil society organizations and leaders who are capable of expanding and building upon work to prevent political violence in Minnesota; 
• Drawing from the Resilient States Project model, deliver technical knowledge and complementary subject-matter expertise on key project topics; and
• Distilling lessons from programming in Minnesota for learning and collaboration through exchanges with other in-state leaders, including new states, and peer organizations. 

In collaboration with the project team, the consultant will:

• Assess the scope of programming and build out the RSP model in Minnesota to seed local leadership. 
• Develop and/or adapt RSP tools for implementation in the state.
• Provide coaching to leaders in 1-5 additional states on the RSP model and lessons.
• Lead rapid response support to Minnesota and other coaching states, as necessary.
• Exchange in learning and collaboration with other RSP states and national peer organizations;
• Provide support to outreach efforts both in-state and nationally, including related to fun