Organization Overview

The News Literacy Project is a growing national nonpartisan education nonprofit leveraging EdTech tools, practices, procedures and requirements to partner with K12 school districts to deliver digital resources to teach news literacy in the classroom. As the organization expands, we are seeking an experienced IT consultant to assess our current technology environment, evaluate external compliance requirements, and develop a strategic roadmap for the next three years to strengthen our technology systems, security and compliance while planning for growth.

Purpose

The purpose of this engagement is to:

• Conduct an internal review of technology systems, processes, capacity, and risks
• Conduct an external review of K-12 EdTech regulatory and compliance expectations
• Identify gaps, risks, and opportunities
• Provide actionable recommendations for near-term improvements
• Develop a practical three-year technology roadmap including staffing and resourcing guidance

Scope of Work

The selected consultant will evaluate the following workstreams to inform the key deliverables:

A. Internal/Enterprise Technology Assessment

Review of the organizations current state environment, including:

• Systems, tools, infrastructure, hardware, and cloud services
• IT operations, procurement, and vendor management
• Data management, privacy practices, and access controls
• Security posture, vulnerabilities, and risk exposure
• Organizational IT capacity, staffing, and outsourcing structure

B. External Compliance & Regulatory Review

Assessment of the K-12 EdTech risk and compliance environment, including:

• All applicable U.S. federal and state regulations
• District technology approval and procurement expectations
• Data privacy agreements and vendor onboarding standards
• Emerging district security and risk considerations

Activities may include interviews, system inventory review, policy review, and maturity assessment.

Key Deliverables

The consultant will deliver an evaluation and three-year technology roadmap to ensure NLPs competitiveness in the K-12 EdTech landscape and its ability to continue to rapidly scale, including:

• Immediate recommendations (012 months)
• High-priority security and compliance actions
• Modernization and operational efficiency opportunities
• Sequenced implementation priorities

The three-year roadmap should include:

• Future-state technology vision & maturity targets
• Recommended systems, tools and integrations
• IT governance models that include data and security governance
• Staffing and organizational structure guidance
• In-house versus outsourced service recommendations
• Phased hiring plan and capabilities needed
• Budget ranges and resource implications

The consultant will provide:

1. Internal Technology Assessment Report benchmarked to peers
2. Compliance &…