Request Proposals National Geographic Society + Conservancy Externship External

Project Overview

National Geographic Society (NGS) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) seek an evaluation of the Externship Program, which provides 8‑week experiential learning for youth aged 18‑25 in conservation fields. The evaluation will measure impacts on participants and their communities, the effectiveness of seed‑funding, and learning outcomes in leadership, career development, and environmental action.

Contractors will collaborate with NGS and TNC staff to design, conduct, analyze and report on an evaluation study focused on youth audiences and conservation topics.

• Collaborate with Externship Program staff from NGS and TNC
• Interview staff on program learnings to date
• Conduct site visits with selected seed‑funding recipients
• Review and recommend revisions to existing pre‑ and post‑surveys for the 8‑week externship
• Collect data from the Fall 2026 externship cohort (September 14 – November 8) using revised surveys and participatory methods
• Collect data from previous externship participants (2022–2024) using revised surveys and/or participatory methods
• Conduct 1:1 interviews with up to 15 seed‑funding recipients
• Conduct a landscape scan to identify similar youth‑oriented programs and potential improvements to the Externship Program
• Send a thank‑you message that includes research findings to participants of focus groups or 1:1 interviews
• Develop a report in both prose and PowerPoint formats by December 2026, consolidating findings and including recommendations for NGS and TNC
• Present findings and answer questions to various groups of NGS and TNC staff and key stakeholders, at least five virtual presentations

• Revised pre‑ and post‑survey instruments
• Data collection instruments and protocols
• One comprehensive evaluation report (prose & PowerPoint)
• Presentation deck for stakeholder briefings
• Documentation of participatory method processes