Department of Financial Management 411 West Ocean Boulevard, 6th Floor

Long Beach, CA 90802

(562) 570-6200

December 18, 2025

Subject: NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS No. RFP HR-25-654

The City of Long Beach (City) has completed its evaluation of Request for Proposals (RFP) No.

RFP HR-25-654 Connecting Vulnerable Populations to City Services. Nineteen proposals were received and evaluated. Based on evaluation criteria set forth in the RFP, and analysis of responses, it is the City’s intent to award a contract to Embers and Oak Storyworks, of Long Beach, CA.

Thank you for your participation in the procurement process. The City of Long Beach regards your firm as an important and valuable provider of goods and/or services. If I can answer any further questions, please feel free to contact me at 562-570-5664 during normal business hours or by e-mail at RFPPurchasing@longbeach.gov.

Sincerely, Tommy Ryan Tommy Ryan, Procurement Analyst III

NOTE: This notice of Intent to Award does not constitute an award. The awarded vendor will receive a purchase order from the City of Long Beach. Work shall not commence without a signed purchase order.

mailto:RFPPurchasing@longbeach.gov

Memorandum

Date:

To:

From:

Subject:

December 18, 2025

Michelle Wilson, Purchasing Agent, Department of Financial Management

Leslee Abrego, Public Affairs Assistant, Community Development LA

Michael Quinn, Administrative Analyst, Human Resources Department MQ

Selection of RFP HR-25-654 – Connecting Vulnerable Populations to City Services

Request for Proposals (RFP) HR-25-654 was released on August 15, 2025, seeking innovative solutions to improve how residents and visitors, especially vulnerable populations, discover and access City services by overcoming barriers related to awareness, access, and digital equity.

Nineteen proposals were submitted, which were reviewed by a panel of individuals from the Community Development Department, Human Resources Department, City Manager’s Office, Technology and Innovation Department, and four residents. The proposals were evaluated based upon the following criteria:

• Qualifications are defined as: professional and academic experience of project team; tenure and financial viability of company to sustain the project period and potential contract; company milestones and recent successes; and lastly, bandwidth and staff to dedicate to the project. – 20%

• Feasibility will account for the actions and resources required by the City for project success and the reasonableness of the anticipated costs to scale the project to an implemented solution. – 20%

• Impact is measured by the product or service’s ability to lead to short-term and/or long-term outcomes that will benefit residents, community stakeholders, and the City. – 20%

• Originality is determined by the novelty of the proposed solution and if the City’s normal purchasing process would have omitted or overlooked the solution. –

20%

• To demonstrate the understanding of the challenge, vendors should be prepared to define: why they are best positioned to work on this project; and provide any recommendations to the community working group that can improve the scope or outcome of the project. – 20%

After reviewing all proposals, the evaluation committee shortlisted and invited the top three organizations to participate in Long Beach Co-Lab Demo Day. Scoring for all nineteen organizations is shown below:

Vendor Name Score (out of possible 100%)

Civic Confidence LLC 54%

EINHARJER INNOVATIVE

SOLUTIONS

53%

Embers and Oak Storyworks 72%

EVE.CALLS INC 48%

Exygy Benefit Corp 47%

FUZE Technology 61%

Hi There Solutions LLC 47%

LILT 43%

Mercurio Analytics 51%

ONYX POWER LLC 47%

Polymorphic 46%

SimpliGov LLC 53%

Simtech Solutions 33%

Sound Intelligence 49%

T-Mobile USA, Inc 63%

TranslateLive LLC 49%

Trellyz 52%

User1st 45%

Yoni Rubin 24%

After the Demo Day presentation, public feedback, and an interview, the evaluation committee selected Embers and Oak Storyworks as the organization to provide the best value to the City. Embers and Oak Storyworks was selected based on their demonstrated understanding of the challenge, their experience working with vulnerable populations, their experience collaborating with municipalities, potential long term benefit to the City, and the reasonableness of cost of their proposal. The final scoring can be seen below:

Embers and Oak Storyworks FUZE Technology T-Mobile USA, Inc

Total 54% 43% 34%

Should additional information be required, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Approved by Purchasing:

Michelle Wilson, Purchasing Agent Date

12/18/25