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Request for Proposals: Social Skills Resource Development Consultancy

Department: Leadership & Organizational Development         

SOI Project Lead: Manager, Global Leadership Development

Consultancy Period: 15 months (August 2026 – November 2027)

Estimated Budget: $10,000 USD

Organization Summary:

Founded in 1968, Special Olympics is a global movement to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities. We foster acceptance of all people through the power of sport and programming in education, health, and leadership. With nearly four million athletes and Unified Sports® partners and one million coaches and volunteers in more than 170 countries, Special Olympics delivers more than 30 Olympic-type sports and nearly 50,000 games and competitions every year. Learn more at SpecialOlympics.org.

Project Background:

Special Olympics is seeking a consultant to support the development of a new Social Skills module as part of the Leadership & Skills curriculum within Athlete Leadership.

The target audience for this module is athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have higher support needs in communication. This may include athletes who are less verbal, non-speaking, emerging communicators, or athletes who do not read or write. The module should be designed to support meaningful participation through accessible communication, visual supports, practical activities, modeling, repetition, and opportunities to practice social skills in real-life situations.

The purpose of this consultancy is to create a practical, accessible, and inclusive training module that helps athlete leaders build and practice foundational social skills in ways that are relevant to their daily lives, Special Olympics participation, leadership development, and community engagement.

This project will require working in collaboration with the Athlete Leadership team, athlete leaders, Special Olympics International staff, mentors, Regional and Program staff, and other relevant stakeholders. The consultant must ensure that the materials are easy to understand, inclusive, practical, and appropriate for athletes with diverse communication styles and support needs.

Project Outputs

The consultant will develop a complete training package that can be used by Special Olympics Programs to deliver a Social Skills module for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have higher support needs in communication.

The final package should include:

1. Course Overview
   A clear overview of the module, including purpose, target audience, learning objectives, recommended format, estimated length, accessibility considerations, and suggested implementation approach.
2. Facilitator Guide
   A guide for staff, facilitators, and trainers delivering the module. This should include session instructions, facilitation notes, suggested language, accessibility tips, activity guidance, communication support strategies, reflection prompts, and options for adaptation.
3. Mentor Support Guide
   A guide for mentors, or support persons who will help athletes participate in the training. This should include practical guidance on how to support communication, encourage participation, avoid speaking for the athlete, and help athletes practice the skills outside the session.
4. Visual Guide
   A visual training guide to support delivery of the module.
5. Participant Worksheets / Activity Materials
   Accessible materials for athletes with intellectual disabilities. These may include visual worksheets, matching activities, choice boards, role-play cards, communication cards, scenario cards, emotion cards, practice sheets, or other non-writing-based activities.
6. Practice Activities and Materials
   Tools and activities that help athletes practice the concepts in real-life situations.
7. Implementation Guidance
   Recommendations for how Programs can implement the Social Skills module in a meaningful, accessible, and consistent way across different contexts.

Considerations:

This consultancy will create a new Social Skills module as part of the Leadership & Skills curriculum for Athlete Leadership. The module should be designed specifically for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities who may need higher levels of communication support.

The consultant should consider the needs of athletes who may:

• Communicate with few words or no spoken words.
• Use gestures, facial expressions, pictures, devices, or other forms of communication.
• Need extra time to process information and respond.
• Have limited or no reading and writing skills.
• Benefit from repetition, modeling, visuals, and hands-on practice.
• Need mentor or facilitator support to participate meaningfully.

The module should focus on practical social skills that athletes can use in everyday life, in Special Olympics activities, and in leadership opportunities.

Expected Interim Deliverables:

The consultant will be expected to complete the following deliverables over the 15-month consultancy period:

• Review existing Athlete Leadership and Leadership & Skills curriculum materials.
• Develop the course overview for the Social Skills module, including purpose, target audience, learning objectives, recommended format, estimated length, accessibility considerations, and implementation approach.
• Develop a full module structure with lessons, learning objectives, activities, and practice opportunities.
• Create a facilitator guide with session instructions, facilitation notes, suggested language, accessibility tips, communication support strategies, activity guidance, and adaptation options.
• Create a mentor support guide with guidance for mentors, who will assist athletes during and after the training.
• Create a visual guide to support delivery of the module.
• Create participant worksheets or activity materials designed for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities who may not read, write, or communicate verbally.
• Develop practice materials or activities that help athletes apply the concepts in real-life situations.
• Provide recommendations for best implementation, including group size, session length, mentor role, communication supports, and adaptation options.
• Participate in review meetings with Special Olympics staff, athlete leaders, and relevant stakeholders.
• Revise the final package incorporating feedback from Special Olympics staff, athlete leaders, and relevant stakeholders.
• Submit final editable files for all materials.

Proposal Submission:

Interested applicants should submit a high-level proposal via email to kpadron@specialolympics.org by Wednesday July 15th, 2026. Confirmation of receipt will be provided no later than Friday July 17th, 2026.

Within your proposal, please include the following:

• Relevant experience and qualifications.
• Examples of similar projects, training, or resources developed
• Project timeline for completion of each of the deliverables mentioned above.
• High-level Project Plan
• Costing proposal within the available budget, including rate, estimated hour per deliverable, and any assumptions.

Required Experience:

Applicants should include background and evidence of experience in the following areas:

• Background in education, special education, disability studies, communication, speech-language development, inclusive education, psychology, occupational therapy, curriculum development, or related field.
• Evidence of experience developing educational materials, training, curriculum, or learning resources.
• Experience supporting individuals with higher communication support needs, including people who are less verbal, non-speaking, or who use alternative forms of communication.
• Experience developing resources for an international audience.

Estimated Timelines:

Proposals reviewed: July 17th, 2026

Shortlisted applicants invited to interview: July 27th to July 31st, 2026

Consultant Selected: August 10th, 2026

Consultancy start date: August 17th, 2026

Additional Terms and Conditions

SOI reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to request additional information or best and final offers, and to award or not award a contract in its sole discretion. Submission of a proposal does not create any obligation by SOI to enter into a contract or reimburse any costs incurred in preparing a proposal.

The selected consultant will be engaged as an independent contractor and will not be an employee, agent, partner, or representative of SOI. The consultant will have no authority to bind SOI or make commitments on SOI’s behalf.

All deliverables, drafts, source files, editable files, training materials, visual materials, worksheets, guides, and other work product created under the consultancy will be owned by SOI. The consultant must provide all final materials in editable format.

The consultant must maintain the confidentiality of SOI information and may not use athlete names, images, stories, personal information, or other identifiable information unless specifically authorized by SOI and supported by any required permissions, consents, or releases.

The consultant must comply with applicable SOI policies and expectations relating to safeguarding, data privacy, accessibility, nondiscrimination, and respectful inclusion of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Any proposed use of subcontractors, external contributors, or AI-assisted tools must be disclosed in the proposal and approved by SOI in advance.

Special Olympics provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. 

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. 

**Special Olympics is an E-Verify Employer**