NIGP 2024: Procurement with a purpose: Re-imagining city contracting for more equitable and sustainable results

Many local governments in the United States are striving to build stronger, fairer and greener communities where local businesses and residents can thrive. Public procurement is one of the most promising untapped solutions to create economic opportunities, promote sustainability, improve social service delivery and build trust between government agencies, residents and companies. In this session, participants will hear from two city governments, Boston and Newark, and the Open Contracting Partnership, a global non-profit, that are using procurement to build more inclusive and sustainable communities. Join us to learn about tested procurement practices in the areas of data and digitization, vendor management and inclusion and change management.

Make sure to join our workshop at this year’s NIGP Forum with Kathrin Frauscher, Our Deputy Executive Director, as well as Natalia Gulick de Torres, Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellow in the City of Newark, and Laura Melle, Director of Procurement Planning and Support Services at the City of Boston.

Attendees will gain a better understanding of how to:

• Discover how to leverage procurement through concrete policy, data and processes changes to promote greater vendor inclusion and sustainabilities in their local governments.
• Explore approaches in data, vendor outreach and change management strategies to get better results.
• Gain access to new guidance, case stories and tools that OCP and the three cities will share that others can use.
• Establish connections to peers who are working on similar project for continued learning and support.