Agenda Item 3b: GTOPs 2020 Award Recommendations — original pdf

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TO: Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission M E M O R A N D U M FROM: Jesse Rodriguez, Business Process Specialist Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs DATE: February 12, 2020 SUBJECT: 2020 Grant for Technology Opportunities (GTOPs) Awardees The purpose of this memorandum is to request the Commission approve 1) the GTOPs Grant Review Committee’s recommended fourteen (14) 2020 GTOPs Core Awards, as ratified by the Committee at the February 11, 2020 Final Deliberation and 2) one (1) GTOPs Collaborative Award, as determined by Committee scoring. GRANT PROGRAM PURPOSE GTOPs provides matching grant funds to Austin organizations that promote resident access to information technology, or that offer literacy programs that create digital opportunities and foster digital inclusion, particularly in underserved segments of our community. The goals of the program are to: ○ Increase use of digital and communications technology devices ○ Increase knowledge and skills of digital and communications technology ○ Increase access to and usage of the Internet AWARDEE SELECTION PROCESS Letters of Interest for the 2020 grant were accepted from October 1, 2019 through October 25, 2019 and grant applications were accepted from November 4, 2019 through November 29, 2019. The Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission appointed a volunteer Grant Review Committee comprised of seven (7) qualified community representatives, all of whom remained on the committee for the duration of the process. The City received a total of twenty-one (21) applications for both the GTOPs 2020 Core and Collaborative grants. The Committee scored the sixteen (16) GTOPs Core and five (5) GTOPs Collaborative applications based on the selection criteria outlined by the Commission including: alignment with GTOPs, community impact, evaluation of success, and budget/fiscal responsibility. The applicants proceeding to Round 2 scoring were given the opportunity to respond to questions generated by the Committee. After the final scores were tallied and discussed, staff developed recommendations for full and partial awards based on the funding & ranking guidelines as detailed in the next section. The Committee then selected the most preferred option, represented by the recommendation in this memorandum. 1 FUNDING & RANKING GUIDELINES 1) Full and partial awards will be evaluated for each GTOPs goal area. 2) $300,000 in GTOPs Core funds and $50,000 in GTOPs Collaborative funds available. 3) The minimum amount any organization may be awarded is 70% of their requested amount. 4) To ensure scores are consistent as well as fair, each judge's scores are normalized so that their average score across all applicants is 80%. 5) The highest scores receive the highest awards recommendation. 6) Lower scoring but still above average applicants receive a partial awards recommendation as appropriate (including devices). CONSENSUS The Grant Review Committee achieved a majority consensus and all reviewers assigned a similar score to proposals from the assessment criteria and program goals. The funding recommendation represents a vote of six (6) of seven (7) reviewers. FUNDING RECOMMENDATION The Committee recommends GTOPs fourteen (14) organizations receive funding through GTOPs Core as represented in Attachment A and one (1) organization receive funding through GTOPs Collaborative as represented in Attachment B. GTOPs Core Recommendation Methodology Funding is available per the $300,000 allocated by City Council in the FY 2020 budget. The methodology for selection of the grantees is as follows: • Fourteen (14) organizations are funded • The top scoring organization for each GTOPs Goal area received funding regardless of score • The top two scoring organizations with organization income of $0-$499,999 and $500,000- $999,999 received funding regardless of their score. • Organizations receive less funding the lower their score is. • The second-place awardee received 3% less funding than first place, with each subsequent organization receiving 2% less of their request than the previous organization. • The organization in last place receives an additional 1.2% less than their request (for a total 3.2% decline from the next highest organization) Of the organizations recommended for GTOPs 2020 Core funding, ten (10) programs have received GTOPs funding in the past and four (4) programs are new organizations funded by GTOPs. GTOPs Collaborative Recommendation Methodology A single award of $50,000 is available per the City Council FY 2020 budget. Since only one award is available, the highest scoring organization is recommended for funding. Staff requests the Commission approve the GTOPs Grant Review Committee’s recommended 2020 GTOPs Core and GTOPs Collaborative Awards. Upon your ratification and approval, the recommended GTOPs 2020 Awards will be submitted to the Program Manager of the Community Technology Division in the Office of Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs for authorization to begin contract negotiations. 2 Please feel free to contact me at 512.974.7676 if you need additional information. ____________________________________ Jesse Rodriguez, Business Process Specialist 02/12/2020 ____________ Date cc: John Speirs, Program Manager, Office of Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs Attachments Attachment A – Grant Review Committee Recommendation for GTOPs 2020 Core Funding Attachment B – Grant Review Committee Recommendation for GTOPs 2020 Collaborative Funding 3  Attachment A: Grant Review Committee Recommendation for GTOPs 2020 Core Funding Agency GTOPs Priority Org Income Award Normalization Amount GTOPs Average Requested GTOPs Focus Area Percent Awarded 100% The Arc of the Capital Area El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission HACA Scholarship Foundation Austin Speech Labs Austin Children's Museum Girl Scouts of Central Texas E4 Youth, Inc. TEXAS FOLKLIFE RESOURCES INC. Foundation for Inspiration & Recognition Science & Technology in Texas Knowbility Motion Media Arts Center ChickTech Front Steps, Inc. AFTV Five (AFTV5) Not Funded Boys & Girls Clubs of Austin and Travis County, Inc. Easter Seals - Central Texas, Inc. Legend Top 1 or 2 scoring in a category 89.82 89.17 88.52 87.99 87.52 87.30 86.94 86.80 80.76 77.20 76.36 67.29 54.99 74.94 64.72 $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills $2,000,000+ 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills $2,000,000+ 24,000.00 Knowledge and Skills 25,000.00 Devices 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills $2,000,000+ $500,000-999,999 $2,000,000+ 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills $2,000,000+ Core Core Core Core Core Core 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills $0-499,999 Creative Media 25,000.00 Devices $500,000-999,999 Creative Media 80.79 $ 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills $2,000,000+ Core 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills $1,000,000-1,999,999 Core 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills $500,000-999,999 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills 25,000.00 Internet Access 25,000.00 Knowledge and Skills $500,000-999,999 $2,000,000+ $0-499,999 Core Core Core Core 97% 95% 93% 91% 89% 87% 85% 83% 81% 79% 77% 75% 72% $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 25,000.00 24,250.00 22,800.00 23,250.00 22,750.00 22,250.00 21,750.00 21,250.00 20,750.00 20,250.00 19,750.00 19,250.00 18,750.00 17,950.00 300,000.00 21,808.00 Knowledge and Skills $2,000,000+ Creative Media 18,300.00 Internet Access $2,000,000+ Core 14 organizations are funded. Organizations receive less funding the lower their score is. 2nd place received 3% less than 1st place, each subsequent organization receives 2% less, last place receives an additional 1.2% decrease. Attachment B: Grant Review Committee Recommendation for GTOPs 2020 Collaborative Funding Normalization Average Agency 88.453 Creative Action 85.927 Foundation for Inspiration & Recognition Science & Technology in Texas 83.451 Community Tech Network Knowbility 75.159 Young Women's Christian Association of Greater Austin67.010 Amount GTOPs Requested $ 50,000.00 Award $ 50,000.00 Don't Award $ 50,000.00 Don't Award $ 50,000.00 Don't Award $ 50,000.00 Don't Award Recommendation