Request for Proposal
United States Institute of Peace
Copyediting of the Gender Informed Community Engagement and Trauma Informed Policing Trainer Manuals for USIP’s Border Security Training Program
Remote
Release Date: September 18, 2023
RFP Due Date: 5:00PM pm EST on October 4, 2023
Submit Questions and Proposals to:
Victoria Rivera, vhudspeth@usip.org
The final proposal must be submitted by time and date listed above to be considered.
Introduction and Background
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is a national, nonpartisan, independent institute, founded by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical, and essential for U.S. and global security. In conflict zones abroad, the Institute works with local partners to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflict. For more information, please visit http://www.usip.org.
As part of USIP's Gandhi-King Global Academy and recognizing that core American values, including de-escalation, nonviolence, and inclusive governance, are essential to sustainable peace, the Curriculum and Training Design team (CTD) adopts the American approach to peacebuilding when supporting governments and civil society to address conflict. CTD equips civil society and governments through training to engage one another at the community level to reduce conflict in countries of strategic importance to the United States. With this strengthened capability, civil society and governments are more prepared to ultimately participate in peacebuilding mechanisms that require effective engagement to sustain peace, including national dialogues, peace processes, or governance reform.
Purpose of the RFP
USIP seeks an individual or organization to provide copyediting services for two trainer manuals for CTD’s Border Security Training Program (BSTP). The selected Offeror will have experience copyediting extensive trainer manuals and/or curricula. Ideally, the Offeror will have prior experience copyediting materials for educational purposes given the pedagogical design of these manuals. It is expected that the selected Offeror will be able to create one voice throughout and across each trainer manual by editing for consistency in grammar, formatting, and tone, and ensure the use of simplified and non-jargony language to make the content accessible to all English speakers (e.g., no US-specific idioms or acronyms).
Scope of Work
BSTP is finalizing two trainer manuals for its 1) Gender Informed Community Engagement (GICE) and 2) Trauma Informed Policing (TIP) trainings. These trainer manuals will be used by USIP staff and contractors to train Kenyan border police officers to more effectively engage with the communities they serve to reduce justice-related drivers of violent extremism.
The GICE manual is approximately 160 pages long and the TIP manual is approximately 195 pages long and both require copyediting before they can go to graphic design and printing.
USIP will provide the two trainer manuals to the selected Offeror upon contract award. Selected Offeror will review the trainer manuals prior to an initial meeting with USIP to be able to provide USIP with an estimated timeline/completion outline. USIP and Selected Offeror will share questions, revision guidance, and discuss all other necessary components to enable Selected Offeror to commence copyediting. Upon submission of a first draft, the Offeror will be provided with any necessary revisions from USIP. Offeror will edit and provide a second draft. Revisions can continue within the contract term until the final version is approved by USIP. Successful completion of the contract will result in the Offeror submitting two fully copyedited trainer manuals to USIP by the deadline. The copyedited materials should be ready to be sent for graphic design and printing.
It is anticipated that the selected Offeror, through ongoing consultation with USIP, will provide various types of copyediting of the two manuals, including technical, style, and correlation; some substantive editing may be required to ensure clarity of ideas. A final proofreading to catch any typos and other errors throughout the copyediting process will also be required. To note, some content sessions across the two manuals are identical and thus may require only review in one manual to be copied into the other (less unique editing required).
Estimated Timeline
No.
Timeline
Estimated Due Date
1.
USIP Provides Manuals and Schedules Initial Meeting
October 20, 2023
2.
Initial Meeting
October 27, 2023
3.
Initial Draft for each Trainer Manual Provided to USIP for Review
November 19, 2023
4.
Second Meeting to Discuss Additional Edits
December 1, 2023
5.
Second Draft for each Trainer Manual Provided to USIP for Review
December 15, 2023
6.
Third Meeting to Discuss Additional Edits
December 22, 2023
7.
Final Draft for each Trainer Manual Provided to USIP for Review
January 12, 2024
8.
Monthly Narrative and Financial Reports
Monthly, November and December
9.
Final Narrative and Financial Report covering entire contract period
Contract End Date
*Revisions can continue within the contract’s period of performance as needed.
Expected Contract Type: Labor hour (by page)
Submission Requirements
Any proposal that does not contain all items listed below may be considered nonresponsive. For more detail on the selection process, including corresponding evaluation criteria, please see Section IV below. To be considered under this RFP, please submit the following:
Technical Narrative Proposal
The technical narrative proposal should be no more than two (2) pages and include the following sections:
- Prior Experience and References: Describe at least two projects of similar scope and complexity the Offeror has worked on previously. Provide a point of contact with telephone number and email address for each of the described projects to serve as references.
- Key Personnel and Specific Experience: If the key personnel working on this project will differ (i.e., the offeror is a company who has multiple employees, one of whom will take on this project), provide a description of the key personnel and their expertise. Please note that personnel may be non-US citizens and do not require a security clearance.
There should be only one individual working on this project to maintain stylistic and voice integrity across the two manuals.
- Overall Approach: Based on the Background and Scope section above, describe the proposed approach to complete the contract. Include any additional information you may require from USIP, an estimate of the time it will take to complete the contract, and any other information that would provide a detailed overview of your approach.
B. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
If the key personnel working on this project will differ (i.e., the Offeror is a company who has multiple employees, one of whom will take on this project), provide the CV for the individual the Offeror plans to assign to this project.
Copyediting Samples
If the key personnel working on this project will differ (i.e., the Offeror is a company who has multiple employees, one of whom will take on this project), provide two recent examples of no more than five pages each that demonstrate the ability of the individual assigned to this project to copyedit documents. Provide both the originals and the copyedited versions to demonstrate edits. These may be the same or different from what you describe in Prior Experience above.
Cost Proposal
Provide a cost proposal in US dollars that outlines the rate(s) for providing the services described above. Please note that USIP allows nonprofit organizations to include up to 15% indirect cost recovery on total direct costs for contracts.
Certification Page
Complete and sign the Certification Page below and submit with the proposal.
Selection Process
Schedule
Date
Schedule
September 18, 2023
RFP issued
September 26, 2023
Questions concerning RFP and project emailed to vhudspeth@usip.org no later than September 26 at 5:00pm EST.
September 28, 2023
Answers to questions will be made available to all offerors.
October 4, 2023
Proposals are due no later than 5:00PM EST. Late submissions may not be accepted.
October 11, 2023
Notification to selected offeror
October 20, 2023
Estimated project commencement date
January 12, 2024
Estimated project completion date
USIP may adjust dates in the schedule or cancel this RFP at any time prior to contract award.
Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on the criteria below. For more detail on each submission requirement, see Section IV of this RFP. The USIP Selection Committee will review all proposals received on time using the evaluation criteria established below based on the best value offered to USIP. The Selection Committee reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, in whole or in part, to award multiple contracts, and/or to enter into negotiations with any party, in the best interests of the Institute.
Evaluation Criteria
Weight
Technical Narrative Proposal
- Prior Experience
25%
- Key Personnel and Specific Experience
20%
- Overall Approach
10%
Copyediting Samples
20%
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
15%
Budget
10%
General Instructions and Terms
Complete proposals must be submitted by email to Victoria Rivera (vhudspeth@usip.org) by 5:00PM EST on Wednesday, October 4, 2023.
The Institute is not liable for any costs incurred by offerors prior to issuance of an executed contract with the Institute.
Submissions must be typed and submitted electronically and must include all submission requirements outlined in the Submission of Requirements section of this RFP. No changes or corrections to a response will be allowed after the deadline.
All submissions should be in English and US dollars.
Any questions concerning this RFP should be directed to Victoria Rivera (vhudspeth@usip.org). Pertinent responses will be made available to all offerors by email. No inquiries will be accepted after specified time and date.
Any proposal not addressing all RFP requirements may be considered non-responsive. Late proposals may be rejected as non-responsive.
This RFP is not an offer to enter into an agreement with any party, but rather a request to receive proposals from offerors (organizations or persons) interested in providing the services outlined herein. Such proposals shall be considered and treated by USIP as offers to enter into a contract.
USIP shall not be obligated for the payment of any sums whatsoever to any recipient of this RFP until and unless a written contract between the parties is executed.
Unless stated otherwise within this RFP, the selected Contractor shall be responsible for providing all equipment and/or supplies required to perform the services.
The selected Contractor shall not discriminate against any person in accordance with Federal, state, or local law.
The submission of any materials to USIP in response to this RFP will constitute (i) a representation that the Offeror owns or has unrestricted license to use and license such materials and all intellectual property expressed therein; and (ii) the grant of a non-exclusive license to USIP to use such materials and intellectual property for any purpose, including specifically the evaluation, negotiation, and documentation of a contract with any party.
Offeror will commit to adhering to the attached USIP Terms & Conditions, else risk removal from consideration. Exceptions to these terms must be clearly outlined in an annex to the Technical Narrative Proposal. Please reach out to Victoria Rivera (vhudspeth@usip.org) to request a copy of USIP Terms and Conditions if they are not attached to the solicitation.
Certification Page
(Please submit with the proposal)
1) The Offeror certifies that: (1) Prices in the offer have been arrived at independently without consultation, communication, or agreement with any other competitor; (2) Prices in the offer have not been and will not be knowingly disclosed by the offeror, directly or indirectly, to any other competitor before bid opening or contract award unless otherwise required by law; and (3) No attempt has been made or will be made by the offeror to induce any other competitor to/not to submit an offer for the purpose of restricting competition.
2) Has the offeror received funding from USIP? Yes/NO
If yes, provide the grant or contract number and the offeror’s main point of contact at USIP:___________________________________________________________________________________
On Behalf of Offeror:
Name of Organization or Independent Contractor
Signature of Authorized Official
Printed Name of Authorized Official
Title
Date
How to apply
To apply for this position, please use the following URL:
https://ars2.equest.com/?response_id=49acd851877f107e35ce83e17d2a76e6