Kentucky Educators Rising Program and Conference Sponsorship

The Kentucky Department of Education, operating under the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) soliciting one or more sponsors for the Kentucky Educators Rising Program and Conference, a Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) serving middle and high school students pursuing education-related careers. The sponsorship opportunity requires vendors to provide financial support, lunch, supplies, and advertising for the annual conference held in early March, which attracted 986 student registrants and over 100 teachers, chaperones, and judges in 2026. Prospective sponsors must submit responses electronically through the Kentucky Vendor Self Service System by 4:00 p.m. EST on May 15, 2026, with an anticipated award date of June 1, 2026, for a one-year sponsorship term. All bidders must be pre-registered in the Commonwealth eProcurement System prior to submission, and proposals must be organized into three distinct parts: Technical Proposal, Sponsorship/Cost Proposal, and Proprietary Information (if applicable). Evaluation criteria totaling 1,000 points include responsiveness to the solicitation requirements (200 points), sponsor background and mission compatibility with the Kentucky Department of Education (200 points), and the sponsorship and cost proposal (600 points). The Commonwealth retains the right to utilize all monetary sponsorships for additional conference expenses and may reject any or all offers at its discretion.

Four sponsorship levels are available with corresponding financial commitments and recognition benefits: Presenting Sponsor ($45,000 and up), Gold Sponsor ($20,000 and up), Silver Sponsor ($10,000 and up), and Bronze Sponsor ($5,000 and up). Each sponsorship tier provides varying degrees of recognition including logo placement on marketing materials, event merchandise, the GoTeachKY website, and media coverage, along with post-conference acknowledgments. No specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises, minority-owned businesses, or other restricted classifications are referenced in the solicitation documents. No incumbent vendors, current contractors, or pre-existing infrastructure or technology integration requirements are identified. No site visits or bidders' conferences are scheduled, and the sponsorship award values range from a minimum of $5,000 for Bronze level sponsorships to unlimited amounts for Presenting Sponsor designations, with the Commonwealth authorized to allocate funds across various conference expenses as needed.