NASPO Events & Education NASPO Events & Education NASPO Events & Education 
During the Annual Conference we announce that year’s recipient of the Mazzone Award. The prestigious Mazzone Award recognizes the exemplary service of procurement officials to the public purchasing profession. Today we are catching up with Norma Hall, the 2019 Mazzone Award winner who discusses her career accomplishments and the importance of certification and giving back to the public procurement community. Her passion for public procurement was palpable throughout our interview and incredibly inspiring.
Professional Development Don’t Get Left Behind, Get Certified!
Many professionals reach a point in their career when they ask themselves: Should I get certified? Whether you work in IT or the healthcare industry, public procurement or supply chain management, we all know certifications matter. We also know that getting certified is a big-time commitment and requires financial resources.
NASPO Events & Education A Day in the Life: Louise Terry
This week, NASPO’s own ProcurementU is providing another professional development opportunity by hosting the State Training Training Coordinators Conference (STCC) in Madison, Wisconsin! The goal of STCC is to facilitate the sharing of materials and best practices between state trainers. During the three day conference, ProcurementU has an agenda full of opportunities to learn how to best leverage the training and education provided at the conference to advance state government in participants’ home states. Networking sessions, interactive general sessions, a keynote speaker, an emphasis on collaborative learning efforts and the sharing of resources are just a few things participants will engage in! To highlight the great work state training coordinators across the country do this week Pulse is highlighting the state training coordinator from Oklahoma and an active NASPO member, Louise Terry.
NASPO Events & Education A Day in the Life: Gary Lambert
This week we caught up with Gary Lambert, the Assistant Secretary for Operational Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Gary Lambert was appointed assistant secretary for Operational Services on March 21, 2011. Prior to this appointment, Gary held a number of leadership positions over his 30-plus years in the public and private sector. During his tenure at the Operational Services Division (OSD), Gary and his leadership team have executed a number of programmatic and organizational changes focused on outcomes that benefit OSD’s customers through the use of The 4 Disciplines of Execution. Gary served as an advisor to the TechAmerica Foundation’s State & Local Government Cloud Commission, and he is a member and past president of the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO).
Mr. Lambert is a graduate of Suffolk University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a recipient of NASPO’s Giulio Mazzone Distinguished Service Award in 1998.
NASPO Events & Education A Day in the Life: Rosalyn Ingram
This is an updated post based on highlights from the interview with Rosalyn Ingram, Director of State Purchasing & Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) for the State of Florida Division of Purchasing. Read this blog to learn more about Roz’s role as the Florida CPO and get to know her fun and people-loving personality.
Roz has a B.S. degree in Business from Florida State University. She is also a Project Management Professional, Certified Public Manager, and Florida Certified Negotiator. She has 30 years of state government experience and has worked in several agencies to gain her diverse knowledge of state government and best practices in procurement. The Division of State Purchasing, led by Roz, creates state term contracts that leverages all state agency spend, as well as spend created through cities and counties that are able to use them. Her division also provides training for Certified Contract Managers, Certified Negotiators, and Project Management Professionals. They are also charged with rule promulgation and policy initiatives. She also manages the MyFloridaMarketPlace (MFMP) eProcurement system.
Professional Development Major Procurement Trends: Helping Your Office Move Forward
In the past twelve months, what significant challenges has your procurement office faced? Have you had internal conversation about the struggle to replace a retirement-age workforce? Did you have to adjust in order to overcome a supply chain disruption caused by a major weather event? Chances are that you have- and you are not alone. For every qualified individual, there are six vacancies in the procurement sector, and we all have watched the news as natural and man-made disasters like devastating wildfires have affected millions of people. So, what should you and your fellow procurement officials do in the face of all of this uncertainty?
Read more “Major Procurement Trends: Helping Your Office Move Forward”
NASPO Events & Education A Day in the Life: George Schutter
This week we caught up with GEORGE SCHUTTER, Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) for the District of Columbia to learn more about himself and his current role in the District. George leads the District’s Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP), where he oversees over $5.6 billion worth of acquisitions for over 78 agencies.
Supported by a staff of 228, George and his staff manage the contracts and relationships between the District and industry to acquire the supplies, services, and construction requirements of their client agencies. His previous leadership roles included Chief Financial Officer of the Peace Corps; Chief Financial Officer for TechnoServe (an international non-profit providing business solutions to poverty); and Grant Thornton’s Global Public Sector Executive Director in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, where he opened regional operations in Dubai’s International Financial Center and developed offices in Iraq.
George is a former Major in the U.S. Marine Corps serving for 10 years domestically and abroad, including four years as a Director of a Regional Contracting Office. He has worked and traveled internationally throughout his career (to over 75 countries) and has extensive expertise in finance, procurement and contracts, change management, transparency, as well as capacity building efforts in developing countries.
George is a licensed Certified Public Accountant, Certified Professional Contracts Manager and Chartered Global Management Accountant. He holds degrees in Accounting from the Illinois Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Acquisitions and Contracts Management from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.
He is a resident of the District of Columbia where he lives with his daughter.
NASPO Events & Education A Day in the Life: Jessica Vieira
This week, we caught up with Wisconsin State Training Coordinator, Jessica Vieira. Jessica has a heart for service and a mind for training. Using her background in non-profit organizations, Jessica brings a refreshing view of training to the state employees of Wisconsin. Read below to find out more about this week’s featured Day in the Life interviewee!
Jessica Vieira has been Wisconsin’s State Training Coordinator since early 2017. Before this, she attended California Polytechnic State University on a full scholarship through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Gates Millennium Scholars Program and graduated in 2004 with a B.S. in Psychology. She later completed coursework toward a master’s in education with a focus in special education. She devoted the next decade of her life to working for a non-profit mental health organization, where she was responsible for providing mental health education, training, and recovery tools to those in her community. In addition, she partnered with various California agencies, such as the California Highway Patrol and local technical colleges, to provide mental health crisis trainings to all officers and many EMT-trainees along California’s central coast. In 2016, she decided to broaden her horizons and took an opportunity for a fresh start in Madison, Wisconsin.
NASPO Events & Education A Day in the Life: Cindy Lombardi
This week we caught up with Cindy Lombardi, Chief Procurement Officer for the State of Colorado. Perfect timing too! NASPO’s 2019 Exchange Conference is being hosted in the beautiful capital city of Denver.
Cindy has served as Colorado’s Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) since March of 2015. As CPO, she launched the Procurement Code Modernization Initiative that has resulted in an improved procurement code and procurement rule changes for the state. Cindy has over 20 years of experience in purchasing and contracts for the federal government, the University of Colorado, and several state agencies including the Departments of Personnel & Administration, Public Health & Environment, Revenue, and Human Services. Cindy is a Director at Large on the NASPO Board of Directors and is currently serving as Conference and Events Champion. She has also served on the NASPO ValuePoint Management Board since 2015. Cindy is also currently the 2019 Chairperson of the NASPO Exchange committee and has been instrumental in the conception, planning and execution of the upcoming conference, April 9-11, 2019.
NASPO Events & Education 
Lisa has served as Georgia’s Deputy Commissioner of the State Purchasing Division since August of 2015. She is responsible for the administration of the State’s purchasing card program, the sourcing division which includes the agency sourcing, strategic sourcing, contract management, and data analytics units. She also manages the policy and training division which administers the state’s purchasing training program and the development and oversight of Georgia’s procurement policies and procedures. The Audit and Compliance Division, which is responsible for audits related to P-Cards and the purchasing process, also falls under her purview.