NLCU: Beyond Compliance: Collaborating with Procurement to Deliver for Residents

Procurement is often seen as a bureaucratic hurdle that slows important projects down. But for cities that get it right, procurement is a strategic lever for delivering better services, advancing policy goals, supporting local businesses, and building public trust.

Participants will leave with a grounded understanding of how public procurement works, as well as practical strategies for collaborating with procurement teams to navigate common friction points. Case examples from peer cities will illustrate how collaborative approaches have led to faster contract awards, stronger vendor competition, and improved project outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the foundational principles of public procurement (competition, transparency, and stewardship of city funds) and why they exist.
• Identify the key stages of a procurement process and recognize where better collaboration can unlock additional value.
• Apply strategies for working upstream with procurement teams, including framing project needs, setting realistic timelines, and aligning procurement approaches with program goals before a solicitation is drafted.
• Describe how procurement decisions can advance broader policy priorities—including workforce goals, local economic development, and environmental sustainability—and identify mechanisms available in your city to pursue these goals.

Course Instructors:

Emily Royall and Damonique Sonnier both support the Procurement Excellence Network, an initiative of Partners for Public Good that supports a growing community of over 3100 public sector leaders to drive public procurement reform in their governments through dynamic training, capacity-building, research, and peer engagement. Together, they bring more than 15 years of public sector experience, spanning procurement, technology, project management, and community and economic development.