The National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) is pleased to announce the 2024 finalists for the Emerging Leader and Rising Star Awards, which were presented at the 2024 NASPO Annual Conference Awards Dinner in Indianapolis, IN on September 11, 2024.

The Emerging Leader Award recognizes public procurement leaders and managers with 2-5 years of experience who consistently inspire their teams to excel while improving processes. This year’s finalists were:

• Barbara Musick, Procurement Program Team Manager, Colorado. She is described as someone who has an excellent sense of where inefficiencies can be eliminated, and she does a great job of explaining goals and priorities in straightforward terms, which enables her team to strategize creatively about how to achieve those outcomes.

• Catherine Sanders, Purchasing Analyst Supervisor – IT and Special Projects, Florida. She is described as a leader by nature as well as one to lead by example. Though she also handles her own caseload of complex and high-level IT procurements, she is in close contact with her team daily and her working knowledge of the team’s procurements has helped shape her into a solutions-oriented leader.

The Rising Star Award honors professionals with 1-5 years of public procurement experience who demonstrate future leadership potential and champion the profession. This year’s finalists were:

• Julie Aalberg, IT Management Analyst, Washington. She is someone who continuously makes a positive impact on public procurement within her state by voluntarily leading professional development and procurement certification workshops to ensure staff are aware of the certification and educational opportunities available to them.

• Thomas Wilson, Procurement Instructional Designer, Colorado. He consistently demonstrates excellence, surpassing the expectations of his job description. He continually makes extraordinary contributions and has a relentless dedication to public procurement.

Winners were chosen for each award, based on committee vote. The two chosen winners were Barbara Musick and Julie Aalberg. NASPO congratulates these outstanding finalists and all professionals nominated for their exceptional contributions to public procurement.

About NASPO: NASPO is a non–profit association dedicated to advancing public procurement through leadership, excellence, and integrity. It is made up of the directors of the central purchasing offices in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of the United States. NASPO is an organization that helps its members achieve success as public procurement leaders through the promotion of best practices, education, professional development, research, and innovative procurement strategies. www.naspo.org

Media Contact: 
Kate Davila
Director of Marketing and Communications, NASPO
kdavila@naspo.org