How each leader sees procurement has a directional impact on what the team is able to achieve for their larger organization and the community they serve. Savings is often described as ‘table stakes’ for procurement, but even those savings are not just dollars and cents. Whether procurement is working in the public sector or private, there has to be a connection between the numbers and what they mean in a real world sense.

In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Iris Cooper. Iris is a dedicated procurement professional who has worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Treasury and who is now the Assistant Secretary for Procurement, Contracts & Grants at North Carolina Department of Health and Human Service. All of her work is mission-connected and based on her belief that each procurement team can - and must - make a significant impact in the community they serve.

In this conversation, Iris is open about the passion and techniques she relies upon to positively impact communities through her procurement work and leadership:

• Positioning the mission of procurement in the context of public sector health and human services