Working with NWEA
NWEA believes in building trusted partnerships with our suppliers. We ask that you engage early with the Procurement team to help guide you through the contracting, security, and new supplier onboarding processes. The sections below outline the practices for each of the areas listed.
If confidential information is going to be shared with NWEA, please work with the point of contact to obtain a non-disclosure agreement. In most cases, a signed contract is required prior to doing business with NWEA. The NWEA Procurement team will assist during this process. Once approved by NWEA Legal, the contract will be sent to the designated supplier’s authorized signer via electronic signature.
In order to expedite the process, we urge our suppliers to use our standard contract terms. The NWEA buyer will send them to you at the appropriate time.
NWEA is compliant with data privacy laws around the world. To meet compliance NWEA may require suppliers to sign additional documentation to ensure suppliers are compliant with those laws.
Any supplier who will have access to personally identifiable information (PII) through work with our products or for our employees will have to comply with the following:
- AICPA SOC 2 Type 2 for Security and Availability Trust Principles from a reputable third-party auditing firm. Confidentiality and Privacy Trust Principles preferred. Minimum 6-month period. 12-month period preferred.
- Network Security and Privacy Insurance – $3,000,000. Contractor shall provide proof of insurance and name NWEA as an additional insured. Such coverage shall provide that it is primary, on a noncontributory basis, and is occurrence-based, and shall grant waiver of subrogation. Insurance must be provided by a carrier with an A.M. Best rating of A or higher.
- Ability to sign European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses as a sub-processor.
- Pass NWEA NIST CSF screening assessment (assigned upon request)
- Agree to NWEA Data Security Addendum, including, but not limited to, compliance with NIST 800-53 and 800-61 (most recent revision). Addendum attached for reference.
General Liability: $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate;
Auto Liability: if contractor will drive to or from NWEA’s offices – $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate;
Professional Liability: $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate [NOTE: If contractor is acting as a subcontractor to NWEA, this amount must match the requirements for insurance under NWEA’s contract.]; and
Network Security & Privacy: $1,000,000 if contractor has access to internal use or confidential information; $3,000,000 if contractor has access to restricted information.
Invoicing cannot occur until a purchase order number (PO#) is issued to your organization.
- Reference PO# on your invoice and send it to AccountsPayable2@NWEA.org
- Invoices without a PO# will be returned to the supplier for identification.
- Include the PO# on the shipping label/packing slip.
To complete the supplier onboarding process, we must have the following forms completed and returned to your Purchasing contact.
- W9 (tax form)
- Supplier diversity form (See Supplier Diversity section)
- ACH form for electronic payment. Electronic payment is the preferred method of payment. Any other payment method will likely result in delayed payment turnaround time.
Diversity has always been an important part of NWEA— now more than ever.
All companies need a healthy and growing economy to succeed, and diverse companies are essential to help recreate this economy. Here at NWEA we strive to reflect our students in the US and that means being as diverse as our country’s population.
From our CEO:
“Being the best partner you’ll ever have is one of our core values. It applies to the schools we serve, internal teams, and external suppliers. As part of our overall commitment to DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility), supplier diversity is important as we strive to create a more inclusive environment for all our kids.“
And from everyone who works here: NWEA strives to make diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) practices the center of our work. Our organization’s mission, partnering to help all kids learn, is the foundation for our DEIA commitment as we work to reflect, value, and support the educators, students, colleagues, and communities we serve. We seek to empower and engage all stakeholders in the research, services, solutions, and products we provide; our organizational culture; and the partnerships we establish with schools, districts, states, and countries.
If you are a diverse-certified company and would like to be considered for a project when it becomes available, please fill out the supplier diversity form located under Supplier Onboarding.
NWEA is committed to our environment and operational sustainability. We are proud to be certified by the US Green Building Council for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (EBOM) at a LEED Platinum level. In addition, NWEA is certified Gold by Sustainability at Work, a certification issued by the City of Portland that recognizes when organizations focus on making a positive impact on the environment and our community. As such, we value those suppliers who are committed to sustainable operations, which can include regulatory compliance, energy conservation, recycling and asset retirement programs, and carbon footprint monitoring.