RFP-26095 - MWBE Disparity Study

Baltimore City Public Schools is requesting proposals for a comprehensive MWBE disparity study to assess discrimination against minority and women-owned business enterprises in the Baltimore region's contracting and procurement under RFP-26095, with proposals due September 21, 2026. This is a fixed-price contract with an 15% MBE participation goal and a 10% WBE participation goal on the resulting work.

The study must analyze five years of City Schools contracting data from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026 across at least four major procurement categories: construction, construction-related professional services, other professional and general services, and commodities/supplies/equipment. The contractor must conduct a minimum of 100–150 firm interviews across industry cross-sections via surveys, focus groups, and community engagement to gather qualitative evidence of discrimination. Deliverables include a Draft Final Report by March 1, 2027, and a Final Report by April 30, 2027; the contractor must attend up to four presentations to City Schools staff and the Board on findings. All work papers, databases, and documentation must be provided to City Schools upon completion.

Proposers must demonstrate completion of at least three comparable MWBE disparity studies for entities of comparable size within the past five years. Subcontractors must be certified with the City of Baltimore, not the State of Maryland, County, or Federal entities. Proposals must be submitted as three separate PDF documents (technical, financial, and MWBE files) exclusively through eMaryland Marketplace Advantage and must include identifiable project management costs with optional up to two revision cycles for the draft and final reports. There is no page limit for proposals.

Contract term is anticipated to be no more than twelve months following Board of School Commissioners approval. The anticipated contract award date is November–December 2026. Written questions were due August 27, 2026; Addendum No. 2, issued September 11, extended the proposal deadline from September 17 to September 21, 2026. A pre-proposal conference was held August 18, 2026.