REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

 

Community Green Infrastructure Technical Assistance for Baltimore Greater Regional Environmental Equity Network

 

Date Issued: June 10, 2024

Qualifications Due on: July 1, 2024 by 5:00 PM

Notification of Decisions: July 15, 2024

 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION 

 

Overview

The Baltimore Greater Regional Equity Network (B-GREEN) is seeking qualified planning, engineering, landscape, and engagement professionals to assist traditionally underserved communities in Baltimore City and Baltimore County with the creation of community master plans (prioritizing green infrastructure when possible) and/or other community planning needs.

 

Context and Background

B-GREEN is a network of Non-government Organizations working on environmental and social issues in Baltimore City and County. The partners came together in 2022 with a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust under their Regional Capacity Building Initiative (RCBI), the goal of which is “to enhance local networks comprised of cross-sector organizations who are committed to working collaboratively. RCBI will increase collective grassroots capacity to accomplish shared goals at the intersection of community and watershed health and enhance local networks’ ability to advance programs and policies to improve regions beyond the term of the initiative.”

One of the primary goals of B-GREEN is to strengthen the capacity, connectedness, sustainability and resilience of community-based organizers and organizations (CBOs) in the Baltimore region. Helping our CBOs with visioning and planning efforts for their communities is one approach that we believe could be an effective starting point.

Work Plan

B-GREEN is currently working with five CBO partners in Baltimore City and County and hopes to add an additional 1-2 CBOs each year going forward. We anticipate that many of these partners will want community planning assistance. We are looking for planning consultants who can commit to working with 1-2 CBO partners per year, including hosting community charrettes & pop-up survey events, developing and managing online surveys (if deemed useful), analyzing and synthesizing all survey responses, helping to identify small community projects that B-GREEN can undertake to build community interest & support, and preparing final plans to help guide community revitalization and resilience efforts.

Timeframe

B-GREEN has funding for the next three years to help our CBO partners, including community planning. We would like to limit the planning process with each CBO partner to no more than one year.

Deliverables

Though the ultimate product will vary for each community, we anticipate each CBO partner will require a final community plan that includes a prioritized list of greening/revitalization projects, cost estimates to design and implement those projects, a rough timeline to complete the work, and a list of funding opportunities pertinent to the identified projects.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

B-GREEN is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

All responses to the RFQ shall include the following information: 

  1. Cover Letter – A letter of interest for the project.
  2. Statement of Qualifications and Staffing – Provide a qualifications profile of the lead consultant and sub-consultants, including indication of the lead consultant, the proposed role of each consultant on the team. Also provide detailed information on each consultant, including the name of the firm, year established, and contact information.
  3. Summaries of relevant projects (with project cost)– Describe relevant experience on similar projects for each firm and list the work experience of the individuals expected to be involved in the project. Include a minimum of three (3) professional references for whom a similar project has been completed within the last five (5) years.
  4. Page Limit – The proposal, encompassing items 1-3 above, shall not exceed 10 pages including cover letter, project lists and contacts.

All information submitted becomes property of B-GREEN upon submission. B-GREEN reserves the right to issue supplemental information or guidelines relating to the RFQ as well as make modifications to the RFQ or withdraw the RFQ.

Submission Requirements

Respondents should submit one (1) digital copy (PDF) of the proposal by July 1, 2024 to:

​Yorell Tuck

Director of Operations

Stillmeadow Community Projects, Inc.

yorell@stillmeadow.community

 

All applicants will receive a confirmation email upon receipt of their qualifications.

If you have any questions about this project or the RFQ, please address them in writing via email to Ashley Traut at atraut@baltimorewilderness.org. We will respond to all questions in writing within 2 days. Both the question and response will be shared with the other consultants.