Center for Innovation and the Arts Project Management Services

Center for Innovation and the Arts Project Management Services Request for Qualifications SOLICITING AGENCY: Brooklyn Park Economic Development Authority 5200 85th Avenue N Brooklyn Park, MN 55443 DUE BY: October 28, 2021, by 5:00 p.m. CONTACT: Kim Berggren Community Development Director Executive Director, Brooklyn Park Economic Development Authority 763-493-8050 Kimberly.Berggren@brooklynpark.org Overview The Brooklyn Park Economic Development Authority (EDA) and North Hennepin Community College (NHCC) are seeking a Project Manager to coordinate collaborative work and fundraising for the Center for Innovation and the Arts, a dynamic and inclusive center that will increase educational opportunities for students, increase economic prosperity, and advance the quality of life in Brooklyn Park and surrounding communities. In 2017 a partnership between the City of Brooklyn Park, North Hennepin Community College

(NHCC), Hennepin County, and Osseo Area Schools was launched to create and advance the vision for the Center for Innovation and the Arts. Initial visioning, planning, and pre- design has successfully raised awareness and support for the project. The vision has now advanced to where there is a critical need for a Project Manager to: 1. Facilitate collaborative work through shared messaging, action, and strategy; 2. Amplify existing and support the development of more arts programming in the community that inspires investment in the facility; and 3. Coordinate with partners for the successful execution of fundraising strategies. The purpose of this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is to contract with a Project Manager to work collaboratively with partners and continue to advance the critical work to make this project a success. Center for Innovation and the Arts The Center for Innovation and the Arts is imagined to be a dynamic and inclusive center focused on leveraging resources of multiple partners to create a flexible facility that will greatly increase educational opportunities for students, increase economic prosperity, and advance the quality of life in Brooklyn Park and surrounding communities. The Center will enhance and accelerate secondary to post- secondary academic programs and pathways in the arts and STEAM areas, increase baccalaureate completion, and provide equitable and inclusive access to arts, technology, and cross-cultural programming to a richly diverse population. The Center will provide access and opportunity to residents of the northwest suburban region in promoting engagement in education and will support and increase economic development and advance the quality of life. This project matches NHCC, one of the most diverse community colleges in the Minnesota State system, with Brooklyn Park, a community where over 60% of the residents represent people of color, new Americans, and immigrant communities. It fills a gap for arts programming in the northwest metro and will serve the region with unique opportunities to engage in education and the arts. It will replace the existing Fine Arts Center at NHCC and is located just off a future METRO Blue Line Extension Light Rail station stop, making it more accessible and connected to economic development opportunities across the region. The City of Brooklyn Park, NHCC, and project partners have completed extensive work since 2017, including completing a feasibility study, completing a Predesign Submittal for Minnesota State College and Universities (MNSCU) in application for state bonding, and establishing Plaza Park at the Center’s future location to promote arts activities and programming at that site. The City of Brooklyn Park and NHCC continue to meet regularly to discuss the project and have established a 50/50 cost sharing model with shared leadership. The Center is also guided by an Advisory Council made up of 26 people representing a variety of sectors. It includes representatives from the Cities of Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, and Maple Grove, as well as the Brooklyn Bridge Alliance for Youth (BBA), Hennepin County, NHCC and the NHCC Foundation, Osseo Area Schools, Anoka-Hennepin School District, Northwest Tourism, and multiple local arts leaders as well as community members. The Advisory Council meets quarterly and provides advocacy and fundraising support to the project as well as guidance to ensure the Center meets diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. About the community The Center for Innovation and the Arts is envisioned to serve the entire northwest metro. It will be located in Brooklyn Park at the intersection of 85th Avenue North and West Broadway Avenue, near Hennepin County’s Brooklyn Park library. The community within 10 miles of the proposed location has over 525,000 people of which 37% are people of color and 14% were born outside of the United States. NHCC, situated just across the street, has over 9,000 students with 54% being students of color, one third being low-income, and 61% first generation. The site is located next to a future METRO Blue Line Extension Light Rail station which will connect communities from Brooklyn Park to Minneapolis. The community in the northwest metro is large, diverse, and growing, and the Center for Innovation and the Arts provides a unique opportunity to fill a gap for arts programming and advance equity and inclusion across the region. Role of Project Manager The Project Manager will work with the Center’s existing leadership team and will primarily report to Kim Berggren, Community Development Director and Executive Director of the Brooklyn Park EDA. The Project Manager will mobilize the existing team to accomplish the following tasks and deliverables: 1. Facilitate collaborative work through shared messaging, action, and strategy. a. Create a shared 1-year action plan complete with a schedule, tasks, and accountability assignments. b. Coordinate the development and implementation of a marketing and communication plan (immediate deliverable) that leverages NHCC, the City of Brooklyn Park, Northwest Tourism, BBA, and any other members of the Advisory Council. c. Coordinate preparation for the legislative session. 2. Support the development of more arts programming in the community that inspires investment in the facility. a. Raise awareness of the Center and cultivate project advocates/ambassadors. Work with partners to capture the names of participants/benefactors who can be potential voices for campaign efforts (e.g. a high school art teacher at Park Center who can actively talk about the direct benefit to students and why the Center for Innovation and the Arts is critical for student success in our community). b. Facilitate connections with local arts leaders and other individual and group stakeholders such as area high school arts teachers, nonprofit arts organizations, and local artists. c. Build a database of project supporters, including leaders and in particular BIPOC leaders from local communities who are advocates of the equity intentions of this project. d. Amplify arts programming that already exists and promote arts activities with the City’s Recreation and Parks Department and Arts Engagement Specialist. 3. Coordinate with partners for the successful execution of fundraising strategies. a. Coordinate with the Capital Counsel consultant, project partners, and other project staff on the fundraising feasibility study and plan. b. Coordinate collaborative meetings, advance action items, and facilitate shared accountability among partners. c. May be asked to support cultivating donor relationships. The contract will be month-to-month with an hourly rate of $80-125, based on qualifications. Qualifications The Project Manager must have the following qualifications: • Strong project management skills as demonstrated by successful experience organizing and executing projects across sectors. • Demonstrated experience working with cross sector leadership groups. • Ability to professionally exhibit cultural sensitivity, patience and understanding in the course of project responsibilities. • Ability to provide a level of customer service that meets or exceeds customer expectation and satisfaction. The ideal Project Manager would also have one or more of the following desired qualifications: • Experience navigating legislative processes. • Experience in the advancement, fundraising, and procurement of funding related to the arts. • Experience strategizing, managing, or directing capital campaigns. • Understanding anti-racist framework that includes the following knowledge, skills, and attitudes: • Acknowledges the history in our country of the oppression of black and indigenous peoples, and the power, privilege, and access disparities along the lines of social identities; • Review, examine, and rework existing policies and procedures that create barriers and perpetuate inequities for certain groups of people based on race, ethnicity, class, gender, etc.; • Create deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain equity (racial and other) through proactive, preventative, and restorative measures; and • Believes in the humanity of all peoples, that racial groups are equals in all their apparent differences, and that there is nothing right or wrong with any racial group. Submission requirements Please submit the below qualifications via email to Sarah Abe, Development Project Coordinator, at Sarah.Abe@brooklynpark.org with the subject line “Project Manager RFQ – Applicant Name” by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 28, 2021. Please note that the EDA is not obligated to award any contract and reserves the right to seek clarification of responses and waive minor irregularities and informalities. Estimated cost will be a factor in the qualification evaluation, but the EDA may choose not to select the lowest cost estimate. Proposals and interviews will be evaluated by a committee of NHCC and City of Brooklyn Park staff. Please provide the following in your submission: • Applicant name, contact information, and resume that includes applicant’s project management history. • Give two (2) examples of collaborative projects you managed. Who were the project partners and what were the project goals and outcomes? Did the project successfully meet its goals? • If applicable, describe applicant experience in managing legislative processes and/or your experience in the advancement, fundraising, and procurement of funding related to the arts. • In 250 words or less, describe your approach to anti-racist work. How would you apply an anti-racist lens to managing this project? • Name and contact information for two (2) project references who can speak to your ability to effectively manage a collaborative project. • Hourly rate for services. Timeline Below is a tentative schedule, subject to change, for Project Manager selection. ACTIVITY DATE RFQ posted October 19, 2021 RFQ due October 28, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. Notification of interview November 1, 2021 Interviews (tentative date) Afternoon of November 3, 2021 Contract start date Mid to Late November, 2021 mailto:Sarah.Abe@brooklynpark.org Questions If you have any questions about this RFQ, please contact Kim Berggren, Community Development Director and Executive Director of the EDA, at 763-493-8050 or Kimberly.Berggren@brooklynpark.org. Submissions should be emailed to Sarah Abe, Development Project Coordinator, at Sarah.Abe@brooklynpark.org with the subject line “Project Manager RFQ – Applicant Name” by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 28, 2021. We look forward to receiving qualifications for this position! mailto:Kimberly.Berggren@brooklynpark.org mailto:Sarah.Abe@brooklynpark.org