Sustainable Procurement: From Buzzword to Action

Every year, around 3.6 million kids get opportunities to pursue their dreams with the support of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. That incredible impact takes the work of hundreds of thousands of people in more than 5,000 club locations across the country.

Among them, hustling behind the scenes at the national office, is BGCA’s hard-working procurement team led by Director of Procurement, Chris Burton. From large federal grants to generous private donations, every dollar that passes through the BGCA national office is strategically allocated by his team to ensure each club has the resources it needs.

It’s a massive responsibility to bear. But it’s also a big part of what keeps Chris and his team improving processes, strengthening relationships, and striving to be their best every day.

In this episode of Inside Public Procurement, Bonfire host Maria Volakhava sits down with Chris and his colleague Jordan Rodges for a journey into the world of purpose-driven nonprofit procurement.

The pair share their firsthand experience managing procurement at one of America’s top youth organizations—diving into these hot topics, and more:

● What makes nonprofit procurement unique

● The biggest challenges that nonprofit procurement teams face

● How BGCA navigates challenges like vendor diversity, complex contracts, and financial planning

● Managing the ebbs and flows of nonprofit budgets

● Strategies for measuring procurement’s cost-saving successes

Enjoy the show! And don’t forget to connect with Chris and Jordan on LinkedIn.

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast.

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.

Procurement departments know that federal grants play an important part in achieving their community goals. The good news is that there’s never been more funding to go around. The bad news? Making sure all that money gets to the right places-and stays there-requires a lot of work in the form of reporting and compliance, and the rules are always changing. 

In this week’s episode, we invite you to listen in on a roundtable discussion at the 2023 NIGP Forum, where Stephen Cook from Bonfire, a Euna Solutions brand, sits down with Sherry Weir (partner at Kearney & Company) and Andrew Janos (Director of Procurement and Material Management for Fairfax County) to discuss how you can help your organization stay accountable. 

Hear about: 

• The importance of understanding grant requirements 
• The journey of a federal grant, from “pre-award” to “post-award” 
• The difference between a subrecipient and a contractor 
• How to optimize your grant compliance  

Plus much more! 

A “one-size-fits-all" solution is not something that applies to the procurement capacity puzzle, as so many factors can influence how your team handles projects: staffing, process, demand, technology, etc. It’s a tough conundrum but it is solvable. 

Our guest on this episode of Inside Public Procurement, Danny “Rockstar” Mays, Director of Procurement at Maryland Judiciary, chats with Euna’s Ian Roberts about how you can start creating solutions to these multi-faceted challenges. 

They talk about: 

• Why the phrase “do more with less” should be retired 
• Procurement’s secret advantage for bringing in new talent 
• How becoming a strategic partner to your customers improves capacity, among other things 
• The marriage of the procurement and grants offices 

And so much more! 

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast.  

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.  

In the day-to-day of public procurement, things like sound recordkeeping or rigorous compliance checks can often get lost in the shuffle. 

Now, with so much grant funding coming to fruition, a lot of heavy reporting requirements are coming with it. If the thought of adhering to these regulations makes you sweat, this episode can help! 

This episode of Inside Public Procurement listens in on a webinar we held with the California Association of Public Procurement Officials (CAPPO). Jen Riddell from Bonfire, a Euna Solutions brand, and Cliff Chroust from Ventura County, CA took a deep dive into reporting and compliance for grant funding—and how to turn these practices into standard operating procedures in your organization. 

Listen to the full episode to learn more about: 

• Education and standardization of policies and procedures 
• Why you should take the time to create ironclad digital document storage 
• The benefits of digital evaluations 
• Increasing stakeholder engagement and accountability 
• How to keep up with changing reporting, compliance, and best practices 

And so much more. 

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast.  

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.  

Sustainability is not the buzz word it once was. Nowadays, it’s a tangible initiative. The private sector has been increasingly pushing sustainability in their procurement over the past few years, and it’s now starting to take hold in the public space. 

The idea of sustainable procurement has been around for a while, but it’s important to point out that the definition has changed a little bit. It’s not just about environmental sustainability anymore; it brings in the social aspect as well. Supplier diversity and other diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are hugely important to impactful sustainable procurement. 

This seems like a huge project to take on—and it is. However, it’s important to lean on your peers, start small, and really determine what sustainability means to you and your organization. Our guests on this episode say the key is mindfulness—being conscious of what you’re buying, why, and where it’s coming from. 

We had the pleasure of chatting with two sustainable procurement champions from the Ontario College Procurement Managers Association (OCPMA). Carol Izzio, Director of Procurement at Sheridan College, and Christine McParland, Director of Residence & Ancillary Services at St. Lawrence College, have been in the trenches of creating sustainable procurement policies and procedures. There’s a lot of experience between them, and they have so much wisdom to give anyone interested in starting their own initiatives. 

Tune in to hear more about: 

• The importance of planning and incremental progress 
• Busting old school misconceptions about sustainability 
• Being more mindful in your purchasing 
• Ways to get started on your sustainability policies 
• The importance of procurement visibility in these initiatives 

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast.  

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.  

The crusade against paper-based processes is still very prevalent in some cases—and when you think about digital transformation, that’s most likely what comes to mind—but it’s a lot deeper than that. Digital transformation encompasses a lot of the moving parts needed to be efficient, effective, and scalable as a procurement department in a modern digital landscape. 

On this episode of Inside Public Procurement, we sat down for a chat with Bonfire’s own Anthony Berry and Willow Stuart about their experiences working alongside public procurement teams all day, every day. 

Listen in to hear more about: 

• What procurement tech is and the different functions it can support 
• The three tiers of procurement tech readiness and need 
• Solving the capacity conundrum and scalability 
• Your internal and external stakeholders’ role in choosing tools 
• A weird amount of food and lake-related metaphors 

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast.  

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.  

Procurement is the behind-the-scenes team keeping the show running for end users—whoever that may be in the public sector. 

With so many little complexities allowing procurement to function as intended, engaging with your leadership, end users, and vendors makes the process so much smoother. 

On this episode of Inside Public Procurement, we had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Dr. Avona McHoney, Contract Services Administrator for the Atlanta Public Schools’ Facility Services. We cover a lot in this discussion, but it all hinges on two themes: vendor relationships and procurement visibility. 

We touch on: 

• How to strengthen your vendor relationships 
• Showing face in your organization and actively engaging with your end users 
• The importance of scheduling and time management for collaborative procurement 
• Effectively working as part of centralized procurement  

And, perhaps most importantly, we answer the hotly debated question: is a hot dog a sandwich? Listen to the full conversation with Dr. Avona McHoney to hear her take on all of these topics and more. 

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast. 

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player. 

Compliance and internal risk management in procurement is tricky business. A lot can go wrong, landing your team—and sometimes your whole organization—in hot water. 

We had the opportunity to host a panel discussion with four seasoned procurement pros during our OntarioTalk event, and they had a lot of great advice on the subject. While this discussion was intended for public procurement departments in Ontario, most of this advice applies to any and all public agencies. 

In this episode, Bonfire’s Barb Lima moderates a conversation between: 

• Hend Salem, Manager of Strategic Sourcing - Non Clinical at The Ottawa Hospital 
• Carol Izzio, Director of Procurement at Sheridan College 
• Christine McParland, Director of Residence and Ancillary Services at St. Lawrence College 
• Luca Del Grosso, Manager of Procurement at Technical Standards and Safety Authority 

Tune in as panelists give their take on creating clear and accessible policies and procedures, the importance of leadership support, how to approach internal client education, creating a system of checks and balances, and introducing sustainable procurement initiatives in the mix. 

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast. 

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player. 

How many procurement pros cringe when they hear “do more with less”?

You’re far from alone. Tightening operations budgets, hiring challenges, tech struggles, lack of buy-in—these are all things stressing everyone in public procurement out.

We recently had the opportunity to get together with Bonfire clients at our Atlanta, Georgia User Meetup and talk about the concept of “do more with less”. Our panelists—Lynn Lewis, Procurement Team Lead for Henry County Public Schools and Arnita Watson, District Coordinating Supervisor - Purchasing at Clayton County Public Schools—had a lot to say about this.

From navigating the marriage of new tech and legacy systems, to implementing and enforcing best practices, to being strategic about workload distribution, we cover a lot in this chat.

Listen in to hear these seasoned public procurement veterans give their take on tackling these challenges for smoother outcomes.

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast.

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.

Public procurement is a team sport, and you know what a winning team prioritizes? Communication!

Even a small misunderstanding can mean costly errors and lost trust from everyone involved in a solicitation, so an emphasis on communication is key.

No matter who you’re speaking with—your internal requestor, evaluators, or vendors—making sure you’re communicating all expectations early on and quickly responding to questions can open up new opportunities and overcome a lot of common hurdles procurement pros face.

It adds an element of professional courtesy to help bolster relationships with the people you’re working with. Outlining expectations and doing a little research on the goods or services you’re purchasing shows you respect their time and are willing to work more collaboratively. All this goes a long way to ensuring everything is getting completed accurately and on schedule.

On this episode of Inside Public Procurement, we had the pleasure of chatting with Edward McAdoo, Senior Buyer for Sandy Springs, Georgia at Bonfire’s Atlanta User Meetup. Edward brings a unique perspective into how professionalism and communication have changed the game in his role—and why others should adopt a similar approach.

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast.

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.