State of Hawai‘i
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
RFP NO. RE 2026-005
COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY MARKET
STUDY
ISSUE DATE: Friday, November 7, 2025
DUE DATE: Tuesday, December 8, 2025, 2:00 p.m. HST
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs
560 N. Nimitz Highway, Suite 200
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96817
Notice to Interested Parties: Offerors interested in submitting a proposal are encouraged to
register your company by completing the Registration Form and submitting it to the OHA RFP
Coordinator via email at proposals@oha.org. See Attachment 2 – RFP Registration Form.
Notice to Offerors
(Chapter 103D, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (“hereinafter “RFP”) No. RE 2026-005
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to Chapter 103D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as
amended, (hereinafter “HRS”), the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (hereinafter “OHA”) will be
accepting proposals from qualified firms to conduct a market research study on OHA’s
communication and engagement strategy.
This RFP may be downloaded from either the State Procurement Office (hereinafter
“SPO”) website at https://hiepro.ehawaii.gov or the OHA website at www.oha.org/solicitations
beginning Friday, November 7, 2025.
Proposals shall be submitted via HIePRO by no later than 2:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time
(hereinafter “HST”), December 8, 2025.
The OHA reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to accept any proposal in whole
or in part when in the best interest of the OHA and the State. Questions relating to this
solicitation shall be sent to the HIePRO website.
OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS
Kaiali’i Kahele
Board of Trustees Chairperson,
Chief Procurement Officer, Head of Purchasing Agency
Table of Contents
Section 1 – Administrative Overview............................................................................................. 4
Section 2 – Scope of Services ....................................................................................................... 16
Section 3 – Proposal Format and Instructions .............................................................................. 33
Section 4 – Proposal Evaluation & Award ................................................................................... 39
Section 5 - Attachments ................................................................................................................ 44
Attachment 1 - Proposal Submittal Checklist
Attachment 2 – RFP Registration Form
Attachment 3 – Sample Cover Letter
Attachment 4 - Acknowledgement of Addenda
Attachment 5 – Wage Certificate
Attachment 6 – Offer Form OF-1 and OF-2
Attachment 7 – General Terms and Conditions
Attachment 8 - 2025-2026 Hawaii State Government Observed Holidays
Section 1 – Administrative Overview
I. Authority
In 1978, the Article XII of the State of Hawai‘i Constitutional Convention established the
Office of Hawaiian Affairs (hereinafter “OHA”) to address the historical injustices and
challenges arising out of those circumstances. Chapter 10 of the Hawaiʻi Revised
Statutes, as amended, outlines the OHA’s duties and purposes, including promoting and
protecting the rights of Native Hawaiians.
The OHA is a semi-autonomous public agency of the State of Hawai‘i, with the legal
mandate of bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians. The OHA’s mission is “To
mālama (protect) Hawaiʻi’s people and environmental resources and the OHA’s assets
toward ensuring the perpetuation of the culture, the enhancement of lifestyle, and the
protection of entitlements of Native Hawaiians while enabling the building of a strong
and healthy Hawaiian people and nation, recognized nationally and internationally.”
The OHA seeks to competitively procure and engage a qualified Offeror to provide a
Communications & Engagement Strategy Market Study to the OHA to assess public
awareness, perceptions, and understanding of OHA’s mission, programs, and initiatives
among Hawaiʻi’s population, including both Native Hawaiian and non-Native Hawaiian
residents.
A determination has been made that the OHA is unable to secure these services through a
low bid process. Factors included in the determination are: 1) price is not the primary
consideration in determining an award; 2) the resulting contract may need to be other
than a fixed price type; 3) the specifications for the services cannot be sufficiently
described through low bid process; 4) oral or written discussion need to be conducted
with Offerors concerning their proposals; 5) Offerors may need to revise their proposal,
including price; and 6) the award needs to be based on a comparative evaluation in order
to determine the most advantageous offering to the OHA. To that end, a low bid process
is not practicable.
This RFP is issued under the provisions of Chapter 103D, HRS, as amended, and its
companion administrative rules. Offerors are charged with presumptive knowledge of all
requirements of the cited authorities. Submission of a valid executed proposal by any
Offeror will constitute admission of such knowledge on the part of such Offeror.
Administrative Overview
4
RFP No. RE 2026-005 COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY MARKET
STUDY
II. RFP Organization
This RFP is organized into five (5) sections:
Section 1: Administrative Overview – Provides Offeror with an overview of the
procurement and contracting process.
Section 2: Scope of Services – Provides Offeror with a general description of the tasks to
be performed, delineates Offeror’s responsibilities, and defines deliverables as
applicable.
Section 3: Proposal Form and Instruction – Describes the required format and content for
the proposal.
Section 4: Proposal Evaluation & Award – Describes how proposals will be evaluated.
Section 5: Attachments
III. Contracting Office
The Contracting Office is responsible for overseeing the procurement and issuing the
Contract resulting from this RFP. The Contracting Office is:
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Procurement Services Program
560 North Nimitz Highway, Suite 200
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96817
Telephone: 808-594-1888
The RFP Coordinator or his/her designated representative is listed below:
Gregory Chang
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Procurement Services Program
560 North Nimitz Highway, Suite 200
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96817
The OHA reserves the right to change the RFP Coordinator without prior written notice.
The OHA Research and Evaluation Division is responsible for administering and
monitoring the Contract. The designated Contract Administrator or his/her designated
representative is responsible for monitoring the activities performed under the Contract
and is identified as:
Charene Haliniak
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Administrative Overview
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RFP No. RE 2026-005 COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY MARKET
STUDY
This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.
