Freelance Academy - Physical Hub Support

With funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mercy Corps (MC) is implementing the FORSA II (Fostering Resilience by Strengthening Abilities) program in Lebanon to increase access to education and employment for vulnerable youth from the host and refugee communities. The program will be implemented from December 2019 to May 2023 in the Bekaa and the South of Lebanon.

However, the Lebanese context and in particular the employment landscape have changed significantly: the country is in the midst of an escalating humanitarian crisis arising from the compounding effects of the massive economic and financial collapse. Against this backdrop, Mercy Corps’ field team was able to identify new opportunities in an economy in transition and to build on emerging trends to ensure that youth from all communities do have better access to education and employment, as per the programme's original objective. A promising trend was the transition from fixed jobs to gig jobs as most employers are not able to pay for full time employees anymore; and the rise of “on demand” freelancers. Freelancing is particularly well suited for Lebanese youth as a significant and under-served part of this population has a high level of education, including digital and English literacy. In addition, and with the sharp depreciation of the LBP, Lebanese labor has become more affordable and therefore more competitive on international markets, making outsourcing a realistic option for Lebanese. 

Accordingly, the FORSA II team has been implementing a comprehensive “Freelance Academy” program that equips the youth having a digital skills background (graphic designers, web developers, web design, videographers, translation, 3D animation…) with the necessary tools to become successful freelancers and obtain gig work in their sector. The Freelance Academy is composed of two tracks:

Professional track: The training leverages the competitive profiles of participants, where they learn how to create a winning profile on regional and international job platforms, how to price their services, how to draft a proposal and how to negotiate with potential clients.

Junior track: is a sector specific training program designed for juniors having good technical skills but lacking enough professional experience. The training links the junior participants to digital industry professionals and are assigned projects that aim to build their portfolio and introduce them to specific online platforms.

The project is showing excellent results and proving to be a successful model for hard currency generation via remote work: 70% of participants landed gig projects on international platforms and generated more than 40,000 USD in hard currency. In order to further leverage on this potential, MC is frequently adapting and developing the strategy for this component and is aiming to scale the intervention, build the local capacity of freelance trainers, establish a virtual hub that will serve as the “online digital gateway” of the Freelance Academy, assess the feasibility of a physical hub that will host freelancers from all over lebanon and ensure reliable access to electricity and internet; and explore potential partnerships, including with the Lebanese diaspora and Lebanese associations. 

Physical Hub Support Description:

A major challenge for the program was to enable the freelancers community especially that most of the training (70%) is being conducted online along with some face to face sessions. The online modality has been majorly selected since the program is relying on only one foreign trainer and it has still not been possible to identify a Lebanese trainer, and we were relying on the offline sessions to nurture the network and communication between participants

Mercy Corps is seeking to support existing entities that have physical spaces and that will serve as the HUB of the Freelance Academy. On the short and medium term, the objective and advantages of the physical hub would be to:

Ensure a reliable access to electricity and internet;

Allow for face-to-face training sessions for the Freelance Academy training or other training types;

Identify and train potential Lebanese trainers that would deliver the Freelance Academy curricula;

Host events and workshops on a weekly/monthly basis depending on the needs and requests of the trainees;

Enhance the engagement of the participants with each other, allowing junior freelancers with little to no experience in the field to explore new skills and increase their knowledge through interacting and working with more developed and experienced freelancers;

Enhance team work and networking opportunities among trainees, making it easier for them to submit joint proposals for bigger gig projects that require several skill sets to be completed.

In the long term the physical hub will be an effective center for freelance activities where people will be exchanging their expertise and knowledge, that will leverage the freelance ecosystem in Lebanon and build a community around it.

Which entities are considered as physical hubs?

Examples of potential hubs include - but are not limited to: coworking spaces, universities, local community based organizations... To be considered as a physical hub for the Freelance Academy the entity should have the following minimum elements:

Align with the vision of MC Lebanon and FORSA team to support freelancers in Lebanon, and have identified the opportunity via remote working and is ready/willing to invest in it

Have a shared workspace where training sessions can be implemented and/or where freelancers can work together

Have the capacity and potential to conduct training activities 

Have the minimum infrastructure in place (Electricity, secure and stable internet, HVAC, furniture, safe environment, …)

Has an existing or potential network of stakeholders be it trainers, students, freelancers, organizations…

Prepare/develop a feasibility study that shows the cost benefits of the physical hub, and have the vision for a sustainable business model

Willingness and ability to cost share (this cost share is on the level of human resources, financial resources, marketing and visibility…)

What is the provided support?

Mercy Corps will provide technical (business development, marketing and outreach, ...) and in-kind assistance (furniture, laptops, solar panels, etc..) to ONE physical hub operating in Lebanon and targeting freelancers in the digital ecosystem. The duration of support and type of support provided to the business will vary according to need and criteria determined by MC and FORSA II program duration.

Application Process:

Mercy Corps is issuing this call for applications for existing entities (coworking spaces, universities, local community based organizations … ) serving as  physical hubs for the Freelance Academy in particular and the freelancers in the digital ecosystem located in Lebanon in general.

Eligibility Criteria: 

Serves as a hub for freelancers in digital ecosystem, especifically as a training hub for the freelance academy (a preliminary feasibility study is recommended)

The entity is smoothly operating its business operations (have the infrastructure, welcoming audience, etc..) and have a constant cash flow.

The entity has at least one conference/ training room, and has the capacity to conduct training activities.

The entity has at least 2 employees

The entity has been established for at least a year

**Noting that all the documents and information shared with FORSA II and Freelance Academy team members are treated as highly confidential and will not be shared publicly or with any 3rd party, and will solely be used for the purpose of FORSA II and Freelance Academy program.