Decisions That Matter, a podcast brought to you by Procurated, is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth discussions with procurement leaders and subject matter experts on the most pressing topics in the public sector. Every guest who comes on the show brings their own unique perspective and experiences we all can share and learn from. As our team searches for guests to invite on the show, diversity in all senses of the word is paramount: guests from all levels of government; who work across government, education, healthcare, and nonprofits; from states of all sizes and politics; and representing historically underrepresented perspectives. 

As we near the end of Women's History Month, let's look back on all of the incredible female guests we've learned from in the past year:

FoodCorps' mission involves bringing together local communities to connect kids to healthy food in school. Throughout this episode Jillian does a great job of covering everything from the high-level policy topics that drive a lot of rules and outcomes, to the on-the-ground supply chain challenges involved in feeding and educating kids in school districts across the country. Listen to the episode.

Co-hosts Alex Stonehouse and Bernadette Launi meet with North Carolina's Tammie Hall to discuss how she has created on of the most successful programs for historically underutilized businesses (HUB) in the country. Her work within North Carolina's Department of Administration includes and in-depth disparity study to lay the groundwork for diversity and inclusion policies, a no-strings-attached grant program to help HUBs during the coronavirus pandemic, and so much more. Listen to the episode. 

Kara Daniel, along with her colleague Dave Pelletier, are two purchasing leaders at the School District of Springfield in Missouri. In this episode, Kara and Dave share their stories from the last year, including details on topics like implementing an e-bidding system, handling the initial pandemic response for their district and surrounding areas, and reopening public classrooms from K-12. Listen now.

On this week's episode of Decisions That Matter we are joined by Brooke Smith for a discussion about women in government, advancing their careers through education and mentorship, and advice on conquering imposter syndrome. Since recording this episode, Brooke has accepted a new role as City Recorder at Murray City. Listen to the episode.

Genna Gold, the Director of Partner Engagement & Business Development at Procurated, joined the team after long stints at Yelp and TripAdvisor. She shares how that experience has prepared her to lead community engagement initiatives at Procurated to better understand, serve and bring innovation to procurement professionals. Listen now.

Jenn Myers, NIGP-CPP, CPPB  has been with the City of Tucson for 8 years, currently in the role of Procurement Manager. She was selected as the 2020 Young Professional of the Year Recipient.  On this episode, Jenn Myers discusses her start in procurement and the path she took to rise to her current position. She shares lessons learned through her participation in Arizona's local NIGP chapters, and she also emphasizes the importance of the experience she has gained through NIGP's national programs. The procurement community is a collaborative one where people lift each other up, and Jenn is a great example of what can happen when you take the advice of others to heart. Jenn also goes into detail about how she found and fostered her relationship with her mentor, a story full of lessons that we can all benefit from. Listen to the episode. 

On this episode Judy Smith discusses procurement in higher education. Judy has an impressive background in both healthcare and higher education, and she served as the Director of Procurement at the University of Michigan, where she worked for nearly 10 years. We dove into the main differences between purchasing for colleges and universities compared to state and local government procurement, how higher education is handling the pandemic and the warehousing issues that were caused by the PPE shortage earlier this year, and Judy also shares advice for up-and-coming procurement leaders to help them learn and grow in a positive way. Listen to the episode.

Co-hosts Alex Stonehouse and Bernadette Launi are joined by procurement rockstar, Stacy Gregg, from the University of South Carolina. Stacy does a wonderful job of pairing her years of procurement experience with her compelling storytelling ability, to give listeners seemingly endless anecdotes to learn from and act upon. She details the idea behind Procurement being hurdle, not a roadblock, that stakeholders and end users should look forward to working with because the relationship can and should be mutually beneficial. Stacy also discusses a range of other ideas, from the important of procurement ethics and doing what you know is right, to details on how the University of South Carolina has approached opening school in the fall for faculty and students in the COVID-19 era. Listen to the episode.

Jess Einstein is the Senior Director of Operations and Strategy for Procurated.  Focused on high-priority initiatives, she conceives, designs, and executes projects to drive the business forward. With the transition to a remote work environment Jess is focusing her efforts on hiring talented new candidates and building a thriving company culture. The lessons that Jess shares about her work at a technology startup are applicable across multiple organizations, governments, schools, etc. Listen to the episode.

Becca Moran joined Procurated in 2019, where she is responsible for maintaining a deep understanding of procurement professionals and the challenges they face. That understanding is used to craft Procurated’s vision, strategy, and product roadmap. In this episode, Becca shares how she and her team work to achieve that vision by creating innovative technology solutions for procurement’s biggest problems. Listen to the episode.

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