Written by Dave Nyczepir
The Federal General Services Administration’s Procurement Policy Advisory Committee announced its inaugural 28 members, who will make recommendations to the agency’s administrator on pressing procurement issues like climate change, during its first public meeting on Thursday.
The co-chairs of the committee, Troy Cribb, director of policy for the Partnership for Public Service, and Cassius Butts, director of strategy for the Global Leader Group, indicated that the committee will initially focus on the integration of regulations, policies and climate and sustainability process in federal procurement.
The GSA announced its intention to establish a panel of top procurement experts from the public and private sectors known in April and has since reviewed more than 100 nominations for industry members, including small businesses; federal, state and local governments; and academia.
“The GSA plays a leadership role through our Federal Procurement Service,” said Administrator Robin Carnahan, in his welcoming remarks. “It’s our responsibility to bring together top experts from across the country with hands-on, on-the-ground experience to help generate ideas about how we can improve the way government buys things and leverage the power of government purchase to advance important policy objectives.
Part of addressing climate and sustainability issues will include recommending steps for the GSA to support labor and industry partners on this front when purchasing.
Federal members of the committee are Jennie Romer, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention at the Environmental Protection Agency, and Antonio Doss, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Government Procurement and Business Development at the Small Business Administration. . Nonfederal members include Kristin Seaver, vice president of strategic customer engagement at General Dynamics IT, and Farad Ali, president and CEO of Associater LLC.
“We are grateful that these highly experienced and knowledgeable experts have agreed to volunteer their time and talents to assist us,” said Krystal Brumfield, Associate Administrator of the Office of Government Policy. “I look forward to their recommendations for an acquisition policy that advances GSA’s mission as a U.S. buyer, a future-ready acquisition workforce, and an incentivized domestic supplier base to provide innovative offerings to the federal government.”
