RFI CIGIE24R001 - DEIA Vendor Day - Final .pdf

Request for Information: CIGIE-24-R-001

CIGIE Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEI&A) Committee Vendor Day – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Training Services Vendors Supplier (Business) Diversity Sub-committee

Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) CIGIE DEI&A Committee

RFI CONTRACTING OFFICER: RFI RELEASED: DECEMBER 20, 2023

ROBERT JOHN, III RFI CLOSED: JANUARY 19, 2024

OIG.CIGIE.DEIA.VENDOR.DAY@SSA.GOV VIRTUAL VENDOR DAY: FEB. 22, 2024

mailto:OIG.CIGIE.DEIA.Vendor.Day@ssa.gov

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

CIGIE DEI&A Committee Vendor Day – DEIA Training Services

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REQUEST FOR INFORMATION # CIGIE-24-R-001 : CIGIE Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Committee – Vendor Day – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Training Services

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Quotes (RFQ) or Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue a solicitation or an award in the future. The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), DEI&A Committee is seeking available sources that are interested in and capable of, providing the requirements described in the RFI. This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes (market research) and does not constitute a solicitation or a promise of a solicitation issuance in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government, CIGIE, the CIGIE DEI&A Committee or individual Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs) to contract for any services or to accept any unsolicited quotes or proposals. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense and will not be reimbursed by CIGIE or any other members of the CIGIE community. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future, potential RFQ or RFP.

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1.0 Overview of the Document

What is an RFI?

A Request for Information (RFI) is a market research tool that is used in order to obtain information such as the capabilities available within an industry, gauge the industry’s interest in participating in potential future procurements, and other information for planning purposes.

RFIs are not the same a request for a formal quote or proposal for a specific procurement.

Why are you using an RFI?

It is a key part of the planning stage inside of the federal government acquisition process.

It is to solicit input from industry on the Government’s potential requirements and strategy and to gauge the industry’s capabilities and interest on the subject.

How should I respond?

Follow the format that was identified in the specific RFI. Carefully read and include all of the items requested to ensure a complete submission.

Make sure you clearly identify your business’ size and level of interest on the subject.

Consider detailing relative experiences you and your team may have as it relates to the topic.

Some of the key areas review include :

Description of the Requirement – In Section 2.0 Overview of DEIA Training Services

What to Include in Your Response – In Section 4.0 Submission Contents

Who is the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)?

CIGIE is an independent federal entity established within the executive branch under the authority of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended. CIGIE’s membership includes more than 70 statutorily created OIGs with the mission to address the integrity, economy, and effectiveness challenges that transcend individual government agencies and to increase professionalism among federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) staff.

In this connection, the CIGIE DEI&A Committee is focused on increasing the professionalism and effectiveness of federal OIG staffs by assisting CIGIE in enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in such OIGs and staffs. Enhancing DEIA in an organization is anticipated to increase employee engagement and productivity. The CIGIE DEI&A Committee also provides a forum for OIGs to share information including https://www.ignet.gov/ https://www.ignet.gov/diversity-equity-inclusion-accessibility-committee

CIGIE DEI&A Committee Page 4 of 12 the best practices and strategies for training OIG employees and for managing their organizations and conducting their oversight mission consistent with DEIA principles.

1.1 Overview of the RFI

The CIGIE DEI&A Committee is releasing this RFI to obtain responses from all interested parties, including from small and disadvantaged vendors in particular, on specific DEIA training services that they are capable of providing to federal OIGs.

Executive Order (EO) 14035 issued on June 25, 2021, entitled “Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce,” addresses the requirements for DEIA workforce training for federal agencies. Per OPM, the purpose of the EO is to “reestablish a coordinated Government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the Federal workforce and expand its scope to include equity and accessibility, and to “provide agencies with information, resources, and a methodology to assess the current state of DEIA in their workforce.”

Specifically, this RFI is to assist the CIGIE DEI&A Committee in obtaining information on DEIA training services for:

1- assisting OIGs and OIG senior leadership in managing their offices and conducting their oversight missions and

2- raising awareness regarding the importance of DEIA among OIG employees to increase engagement and overall productivity.

The CIGIE DEI&A Committee plans to hold a Vendor Day event on February 22, 2024, to cover this scope of potential DEIA training services. Please do not respond to this RFI with products or services concerning other topic areas. Any items that are submitted outside of the scope will be disregarded and will not be considered without any further communications.

All vendors are encouraged to respond to this RFI if they meet the requirements. Additionally, vendors that meet the requirements of small, disadvantaged businesses, as defined by the Small Business Administration or which have other small business socioeconomic statuses including HUBZone, Woman owned, and/or service-disabled veteran owned businesses, are asked to identify those requirements in their response.

https://www.ignet.gov/sites/default/files/files/AdvancingDEIAinOIGCommunityVersion10-2023.pdf https://www.ignet.gov/sites/default/files/files/AdvancingDEIAinOIGCommunityVersion10-2023.pdf

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2.0 Overview of DEIA Training Services Requirements

The purpose of this RFI is to obtain responses and industry information to inform the CIGIE DEI&A Committee on the status of training capabilities and tools in the DEIA area to assist OIG organizations in increasing awareness and knowledge of DEIA principles.

Relevant DEIA topics and areas include, but are not limited to, the following –

1. Diversity topics that address: ethnicity, geographic differences, neurodiversity, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background and experience, leadership diversity or diversity in specific organizational levels, bias, privilege, disability/ability differences, intersectionality; and diversity in hiring, recruitment, promotion, and training practices.

2. Inclusion/equity topics that address: inclusion and belonging; rural area/socio-economic inclusion; better understanding coworkers; working with groups and increasing inclusion of people with different personalities and backgrounds; similarities/commonalities and understanding differences; inclusion across different professional fields; equality before the law, treating people as individuals not groups; specific workplace flexibilities that promote inclusion/equity; gender equality, including pay inequality and representation in different professions; cultural intelligence/competence; multi-generational workplaces/ageism; and empowerment (Women, LGBTQ plus, etc.).

3. Communication skills, appropriate terminology, speaking up, and how to disagree productively; difficult/uncomfortable conversations; micro-communications; supervisory courses for handling conflict; facilitating conversations about difficult current events and developments related to DEIA.

4. Leadership related DEIA areas including tone at the top and systems for DEIA accountability; leadership biases and their impact; encouraging diverse candidates to apply for leadership positions, achieving diversity at the executive level, and the organizational benefits of a diverse workforce; thinking strategically about DEIA initiatives; DEIA planning and engagement across organizational levels; leadership transparency and demonstration of DEIA practices/actions; workplace considerations that support diverse and equitable advancement; feedback loops for managers/senior officials; and bias/unconscious bias.

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3.0 Responses

Responses to this RFI will assist OIGs in identifying quality solutions to allow them to better meet their oversight missions and organizational effectiveness. At a minimum, responses to this RFI must include a description of the services available (which can be titled their ‘Vendor Statement’).

The description should include specifics regarding how the services can be used by OIGs and OIG management to accomplish the goals of raising awareness and/or improving their operations as it relates to DEIA in the federal workforce. Responses to this RFI should also include relative experience by giving examples of how the services were previously used or are being used to support government agencies including oversight agencies.

To reiterate, responses to this RFI are open to all vendors who meet the RFI requirements. Vendors should clearly identify if they meet the criteria of small disadvantaged businesses as defined by the Small Business Administration or are vendors that meet other small business socioeconomic statuses including HUBZone, women-owned, service disabled veteran owned businesses.

The CIGIE DEI&A Committee will compile all the responses into a directory or repository that will be available to all CIGIE OIG members for research and reference when individual requirements arise. This resource will be strictly for internal use by CIGIE and its member OIGs.

By submitting a response to this RFI, you are consenting to be included in the referenced directory or repository.

Respondents may be chosen to provide a brief presentation at the CIGIE DEI&A Vendor Day if their submission has been identified as meeting all requirements of the RFI. All respondents who provide relevant responses are not guaranteed a presentation opportunity at the Vendor Day but are guaranteed to be included in the referenced directory. The exact number of presentation slots (and associated time allotted for each presentation) will be determined based on the number of compliant responses received in response to this RFI.

4.0 Submission Contents

In order to streamline responses and provide the most equitable consideration for inclusion in the Vendor Day presentations and the vendor reference directory, responses are required to be in the following format and include the follow items.

• The submission shall be provided in Microsoft Word format.

• The responses will be considered AS IS – including any grammatical or spelling issues.

The Government will not make any edits to correct items after they have been submitted.

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• The RFI response should contain two sections – Business Information and Vendor Statement.

• If your company includes a cover page in addition to the Business Information and Vendor Statement, it DOES NOT count towards the stated page limits.

• Graphics and charts are not required - if they are provided in the respondent’s submission, they will be counted towards the page limit.

The Business Information must not exceed one page and should include the following:

- Vendor name, address, one point of contact with phone number and e-mail address

- Business type – identify subcategory SDB, HUBZone, Woman owned, service disabled veteran owned

- CAGE, UEI, NAICS codes if entity has such numbers assigned

- Any effective, current federal governmentwide contracts, the period of performance, and the sponsoring agency

The Vendor Statement must not exceed five pages and should include the following:

Capabilities Overview and Past Performance - Please address training credentials and accreditations; training techniques utilized (small groups or large groups); whether training is offered virtually or in person; whether you have experience in assessment tools and if so, specify which ones; and whether you have experience with training federal or state government organizations or accountability or law enforcement professionals. Please also include whether your company has experience or credentials in developing and delivering training content.

5. Submission Requirements

Responses to this RFI must be submitted to OIG.CIGIE.DEIA.Vendor.Day@ssa.gov by NLT 5pm EST January 19, 2024. All such submissions become Government property and will not be returned. There is no requirement of follow-up correspondence from the Government in response to this RFI.

The CIGIE DEI&A Committee will compile all the responses into a single PDF document that will become a reference directory for CIGIE and CIGIE member research. This material will be strictly for internal use by CIGIE and its member organizations only and will not be published on a public facing website. The document will be used for market research purposes.

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By submitting an RFI response, you are consenting to be included in the reference directory.

Respondents who provide a response to this RFI are not guaranteed a presentation slot at the referenced CIGIE DEI&A Committee Vendor Day.

However, all respondents who provide a response to this RFI are guaranteed to be included in the vendor reference directory that will be provided to the various CIGIE member organizations.

6. Vendor Day

Respondents may be contacted and invited to provide a brief presentation at the Vendor Day event.

The event will be held virtually on February 22, 2024.

The event will be held virtually utilizing a virtual audio and video conferencing platform .All responses submitted to the RFI are not guaranteed a presentation spot. The number of presentations will be limited due to schedule limitations and will be selected by the government based on submission time and RFI response. Vendors who are selected will be notified by no later than January 29, 2024, by the Adriana Menchaca-Gendron.

Selected respondents will present their capabilities services. Presentations will be limited to PowerPoints and additional details will be made available in the future. Presentations will be due by 5 PM EST on February 9, 2024. If a vendor does not meet the deadlines, they will forfeit their place and may be removed from the event lineup.

The PowerPoints that are selected for the presentation will be made available in PDF format in addition to the Vendor Reference Directory. The PDF will be made available in the same format and method as the Vendor Reference Directory.

Members of industry in addition to Government personnel will be present at the Vendor Day event and will be able to see presentations. Members of industry WILL NOT be given access to the Vendor Reference Directory and WILL NOT be able to see written RFI submissions.

If a member of the industry is interested in securing an audience link to the event, please contact the OIG.CIGIE.DEIA.Vendor.Day@ssa.govby 5 PM EST on February 16, 2024.

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7. Vendor Reference Directory

The CIGIE DEI&A Committee appreciates the effort that companies put into RFI responses and understand that the industry at large would like the Government to review their submission. There is an anticipation of a high-volume of responses.

To maximize the visibility of the RFI submissions, the DEI&A committee will create a single reference directory of ALL responses that meet the RFI requirements. The number of presentation slots are limited due to time. This Directory will be considered a government market research reference tool that will be made available to all of the OIGs.

The vendor reference directory will not be made available to the public.

8. Terms and Conditions, Disclaimers, and Notices

The following clauses and cautions are incorporated into this RFI –

• FAR 52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997) The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

This solicitation is issued for the purpose of gathering information on DEIA training services to be used by the Inspectors General Community.

• By submitting an RFI response, you are consenting to be included in the Vendor Reference Directory. This directory will be made available to all CIGIE member organizations. The directory will NOT be published on a public facing website.

• All respondents who provide a response to the RFI s are guaranteed to be included in the vendor reference directory that will be provided to the various Office of the Inspectors General.

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• CIGIE DEI&A Committee representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential respondents. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements.

• CIGIE DEI&A Committee representatives may or may not contact respondents for Vendor

Day presentation slots.

• All respondents who provide a response to the required specifications identified in the RFI are NOT guaranteed a presentation slot at the referenced CIGIE DEI&A Committee Vendor Day.

• An OIG office may use the Vendor Reference Directory for market research in future procurement planning. Federal employees are subject to the non-disclosure requirements of a criminal statute, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1905. The contents of a submission will not be made available to the general public. The Federal Government may seek the advice of qualified non-Federal personnel in limited circumstance however they will be subject to the non-disclosure requirements identified above. The Federal Government also may use non-Federal personnel to conduct routine, nondiscretionary administrative activities as contractor support. The respondents, by submitting their response, consent to CIGIE DEIA Committee providing their response to non-Federal parties in the identified context. Non-Federal parties given access to responses will be subject to an appropriate obligation of confidentiality prior to being given the access.

• Proprietary, Confidential, or otherwise Sensitive Information:

Because information received in response to this RFI may be used to structure future programs and funding opportunity announcements or otherwise be made available to the public, respondents are strongly advised to NOT include any information in their responses that might be considered business sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential. The Federal Government does not guarantee confidentiality of the information received.

Although CIGIE DEI&A Committee asks that no confidential business information be submitted, it is CIGIE DEI&A Committee practice to protect the provided information and make it available on a need-to-know basis only to CIGIE and CIGIE member organization personnel and contractors who will be using this information on behalf of such entities.

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However, CIGIE DEI&A Committee will have no liability whatsoever for disclosure of such information that is provided.

If a respondent chooses to disregard the RFI’s advisory to NOT submit business sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential information, they should make effort to make their content clearly and conspicuously marked.

Responses containing confidential, proprietary, or privileged information must be conspicuously marked as described below. Failure to comply with these marking requirements may result in the disclosure of the unmarked information under the Freedom of Information Act or otherwise.

The Federal Government is not liable for the disclosure or use of unmarked information and may use or disclose such information for any purpose.

• If your response contains confidential, proprietary, or privileged information, you must include a cover sheet with your response marked as follows identifying the specific pages containing the confidential, proprietary, or privileged information:

Notice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data:

“Pages [list applicable pages by number] of this response may contain confidential, proprietary, or privileged information that is exempt from public disclosure. Such information may be used or disclosed only for the purposes described in this RFI [list the RFI response name]. The Federal Government may use or disclose any information that is not appropriately marked or otherwise restricted, regardless of source.”

In addition, (1) the header and footer of every page that contains confidential, proprietary, or privileged information must be marked as follows: “Contains Confidential, Proprietary or Privileged Information Exempt from Public Disclosure” and (2) every line and paragraph containing proprietary, privileged or trade secret information must be clearly marked with double brackets or highlighting.

8.0 Questions

Questions regarding this RFI shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to OIG.CIGIE.DEIA.Vendor.Day@ssa.gov by NLT 5pm EST January 5, 2024. We will only

CIGIE DEI&A Committee Page 12 of 12 answers questions that have the subject of the e-mail as “DEIA Training – CIGIE Vendor Day,” and we will not accept questions submitted verbally or by phone. Questions should not contain proprietary or sensitive information.

If an individual in the OIG community or industry is interested in participating as an audience member, they must contact OIG.CIGIE.DEIA.Vendor.Day@ssa.gov for registration information.

9.0 Summary

This is an RFI for market research purposes only. The purpose is to identify sources that can provide DEIA training services to CIGIE and its member OIGs. Neither CIGIE or individual OIGs have made a commitment to procure any of the services discussed in this RFI. This RFI cannot be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur costs for which reimbursement is sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Responses are at the expense of the vendor.

Vendor Day will be held virtually on February 22, 2024. If an individual in the OIG community is interested in participating as an audience member, they must OIG.CIGIE.DEIA.Vendor.Day@ssa.gov for registration information.