Review of Equity in Contracting at COO
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September 2021 – February 2022
The renewed BSK levy assigns up to $50 million in capital investments. BSK and COO have provided capacity building in business planning and tax compliance.
Technology and data •
COO uses an effective internal workflow system that helps staff manage contracts as they are signed.
Procurement ecosystem •
COO is a good example of a public-private partnership, a best practice.
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COO has worked with different nonprofit anchors and subcontractors that are well established in the community.
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There is opportunity and willingness to expand public-private partnerships to other larger philanthropies and King County strategies.
Shared knowledge •
COO’s Learning Community is considered a best practice.
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Procurement staff have seen an improvement in organizations’ understanding of the rules and requirements. This may be an indication that communities of practice, training and technical assistance efforts are showing positive results.
COO Areas of Opportunity and Recommendations This report documented where and how COO has been successful in creating more equitable procurement processes, particularly in the area of contracting, and what gaps continue to exist. The review also identified opportunities to strengthen relationships between COO staff, procurement and contracting staff, and community partners. The following is a set of recommendations for COO to continue advancing toward equity in contracting. In many cases, these recommendations are intended for the systems in which COO operates (King County and Best Starts for Kids), given the interdependencies that exist. They are grounded on the above-mentioned best practices. Recommendations identified as high priority/ high urgency are marked with a start (ê).
People
1. ê Shift more power to the COO staff who actually are on the ground with the organizations. COO has hired a valuable and diverse team of people to serve. Community partners do not feel that they have the kind of agency to say what is really important to make the decisions. They would like program managers to be closer to being decisionmakers.
Assessment
2. ê Conduct a systematic equity review of all policies and practices related to procurement and contracting, including tools and materials used by staff and community partners. There is very limited capacity among contracting, procurement and COO staff to be introspective— Contacto Consulting for King County Communities of Opportunity
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