DEPARTMENT: Office of Equity
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Zan Gibbs
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-Wide
SUBJECT:
Equity Training Consultant
SUMMARY:
An Ordinance authorizing the execution of a professional services agreement in an amount not to exceed $135,000.00 with Cultures Connecting to develop and facilitate an equity train-the-trainer program. The initial term of the agreement will be for one (1) year, with the opportunity to renew for an additional one-year (1) term.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
A widespread, shared understanding of terminology and concepts is necessary to embed equity throughout the organization. While several hundred City employees have participated in facilitated training over the past two years, the sensitive nature of the topics and a limited staff within the Office of Equity, make it challenging to deploy training programs for larger numbers of employees.
Many communities have used “train-the-trainer” models to more effectively and efficiently train staff. The Office of Equity will use this model and recruit 15-20 current City employees to be trained to facilitate bi-monthly diversity, equity, and inclusion seminars for City staff to further embed equity throughout our organization. Trainers will receive in-depth equity and group facilitation training and will serve as primary resources within departments completing equity assessments and action plans.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued on December 6, 2018, to select a qualified and experienced vendor to develop and facilitate this train-the-trainer program for the City of San Antonio. The RFP was advertised in the San Antonio Express-News, TVSA channel, the San Antonio e-Procurement System, notified by email to a list of potential Respondents identified by the Office of Equity, and posted to the City’s Bidding and Contracting opportunities website. Responses were due January 18, 2019. A total of twenty-three (23) firms responded to the RFP and were deemed eligible for review.
The proposals were reviewed by the selection committee which included representatives from the City’s Office of Equity, Human Resources Department, and the Government and Public Affairs Department. Proposals were evaluated and scored based on the published evaluation criteria in the RFP, which included: Experience, Background, and Qualifications (25 points), Proposed Plan (35 points), Price (15 points), Small Business Economic Development Advocacy (SBEDA) Program including Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Prime Contract Program (5 points) and the Minority/Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Prime Contract Program (5 points), Local Preference Program (LPP) (up to 10 points), and the Veteran-Owned Small Business Preference Program (VOSBPP) (5 points).
The evaluation committee met to review, evaluate and score all twenty-three (23) proposals received. After all discussions and scoring were completed by the evaluation committee, the highest ranked firm, Cultures Connecting was selected for award recommendation.
This contract will be awarded in compliance with the Small Business Economic Development Advocacy (SBEDA) Program, which requires contracts be reviewed by a Goal Setting Committee to establish a requirement and/or incentive unique to the particular contract in an effort to maximize the amount of small, minority, and women-owned business participation on the contract. The Goal Setting Committee applied the Small and Minority/ Women-Owned Business Enterprise Prime Contract Program with ten (10) evaluation preference points.
The Local Preference Program was applied in the evaluation of responses received for this contract; however, the highest ranked firm is not a local business.
The Veteran-Owned Small Business Preference Program was applied in the evaluation of responses received for this contract; however, the highest ranked firm is not a veteran-owned small business.
ISSUE:
This ordinance authorizing the execution of a professional services agreement in an amount not to exceed $135,000.00 with Cultures Connecting to develop and facilitate an equity train-the-trainer program. The initial term of the agreement will be for one (1) year, with the opportunity to renew for an additional one-year (1) term.
Cultures Connecting has over ten years of experience in developing and facilitating equity train-the-trainer programs for various communities including the City of Tacoma, City of Seattle, City of Portland, Portland Police Bureau, King County Washington, and many others. Their comprehensive knowledge and experience in this field will facilitate timely execution of the training program, provide tailored internal professional development opportunities for our selected trainers, and will leave the cohort with the skills to not only facilitate conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion, but also apply an equity lens to the policies and practices of their department and across the organization.
ALTERNATIVES:
City Council may elect not to approve this contract and instead rely on Office of Equity staff to delivery equity training to City staff. However, this will substantially decrease the number of City staff that will receive equity training every year. The lack of trained, in-house resources may also impact the completion of departmental equity assessments and action plans.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This ordinance authorizes the execution of Professional Services Agreement with Cultures Connecting in an amount not to exceed $135,000.00. Funding for this contract is available in the Office of Equity’s FY 2019 General Fund Budget. Subsequent funding will be contingent upon City Council appropriations in future fiscal years.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of this contract with Cultures Connecting to facilitate an equity train-the-trainer program.
This contract is procured by means of Request for Proposals and the Contract Disclosure Form is attached.